Small Stem "Points" and "Scrapers" that Ain't.

[CMD]

Hey Charlie, I'm looking at your original post second picture. Similar artifacts have been found at bison jumps and called blunts. I have no idea whether that took place where you are finding these quartz points.

Thanks, Ron. I know blunts is a term collectors have used to describe such forms as designed to stun prey. At least I think that's the idea. I wonder how they use the term at those jumps, the purpose that is? Maybe not the same sense as I'm describing, which far as I know, is not accepted any more, if it ever was beyond collectors. I'll have to get photos of the leading edge on some of those sometime. Quartz is tough to photo closeup, but one of these days, I'll give it a shot. At least study them a bit more. They seem like a cutting edge. So It did always puzzle me since the tool name suggest a scraping motion, and our Ma artifact guide mentions beveled edge as part of the description for end scrapers specifically. It doesn't 't describe end scrapers per se as straight edged. Of course there are quite a few other scraper tools, like side scrapers, etc. Never thought of it before, but the shape on these is often enough a crescent cutting edge like a miniaturized ulu. Probably a silly thought. Jay's got the advantage of working with processing game, and stone tools, so that's good insight.

[Ron Kelley]

Hey Charlie, The theory as I read it was to rump shoot bison with blunts to stampede the herd over a cliff.

[CMD]

Well, that really makes a lot of sense, doesn't it, Ron? That I can easily see. Or a slingshot with rock had they had that:-)

[CMD]

Just a slight detour. I mentioned that argillite was quarried in southern New England, but that, at least for small stems, pebbles were utilized. I noticed last night that I do have a large argillite end pick( a soapstone industry tool ) from the field where I found so many small stem quartz points, and a few argillite small stems.
And it's a great example of an argillite tool made from a cobble, not quarried. You can see the skin or cortex of the cobble on both sides of the tool. I covered part of the legend, since it names the farm precisely. Guess it shouldn't surprise us if glacial cobbles/pebbles of various lithics would be taken advantage of when found. Probably a common enough practice....

[Hoss]

Great discussion I always figured Lamoka and other points with that unfinished base look were made this way on purpose. The hafting would be socketed just as Jay has described. This was done on purpose in my opinion so the point would not be driven back into the shaft and all forward momentum from the atlatl would be so great that a tiny thin point like that could actually pass right through a critter.

I also feel Jay is correct when he states early literature about tool descriptions is not correct. Much of what was written was based on theory. Not on first hand accounts of what certain tools were made for.
Seeing Charlies collection of un-beveled scrapers I think of some form of food process. Rather than that type of tool being at a right angle to the handle like a hafted scraper what if it was hafted like a knife and used to open clams? What if the blunted end was just a simple tool for scraping the emulsion along the back bone inside of a fish? A lot of times we think in terms of modern man. What we fail to do is think of how it would have been to actually butcher a critter with stone. The things we tend to cook are store bought. Look at how many things we have in our kitchen just to prepare something that was store bought. These foods are already cleaned, cured , aged, scaled, stripped of everything but a slight bit of fat left by the butcher to help flavor. We use a spoon to stir while cooking in a pot ! What if the blunted items Charlie has were just hafted to a wood handle and used fo stringing a pot of beans . Perhaps even a small spatula type deal just to flip food in a camp fire. Often fish was prepared by putting it into clay and just dropping it into the embers of a fire. The fish would bake inside the clay, once it was done you need to retrieve that some how. Where all chipped artifacts made to cut? Perhaps they were but perhaps they were used to pry things as well as scrape and cut. SOme of these things we may never know for sure.

Sure is a great discussion. Thank you all for the food for thought.

[CMD]

Great insights, Hoss. Thanks. I agree, it helps to think outside the box, and it helps to add practical experience to the equation, and not just depend on "received wisdom" passed down as truisms.

[Hoss]

Sorry guys I was a little late to this post. I have not been feeling well lately? I see some spelling errors I made LOL I will go back and fix them in a moment.

[Hoss]

I hope my last post reads better now. LOL