New finds and questions

[filmiracl]

My place keeps on giving... Philly area... two points, a scraper, a nice jasper preform. Also my second ever piece of pottery. On to the questions... I found the pointy black point off the beach so it's not so water worn. Anyone have any idea on the lithic? It almost feels like I can break it in half... it feels quite brittle. Any info on the pot sherd... like type?

[pkfrey]

The pottery shard is from the top of a vessel going toward the rim. It's cob impressed ( yep, corn cob ), and late Owasco, Late Woodland, ca. 1200 - 1400 A.D. I could be more specific if I saw the rim, which would exhibit a different incised pattern. This would go with any Fox Creeks or Jacks Reef points you might find. The jasper piece may, or may not, be a preform. It could be a some what cruder ovate knife. The two dark pieces are tough. They both look like argillite, but so abused by the water, they're hard to type. But probably Archaic in time. The little black piece looks like a strike - a - light, used with another piece of flint to make sparks. That's probably a piece from what's called " cobble chert ", which is any glacial cobble carried down and left behind by the glaciers. Cobble cherts are found every where, and often used, and sometimes the chert represented is one of a kind, often originating hundreds of miles from the find area. I believe everything your finding has been eroded out of nearby banks by the water, and is now very mixed up in cultures. Your finding Woodland points with Archaic points, broad points with pottery, etc.

[filmiracl]

Thanks, Paul! You're a wealth of knowledge. And I think you're correct, everything is just getting churned up by the water and everything is mixed up. I'd sure love to dig on the nearby property... I'm sure the owners would let me because they're always interested in the stuff I find when I show them.

[pkfrey]

Is there any plowed field near by? I mean really close to where your hunting.

[filmiracl]

There are small tilled fields that I very rarely find anything in. I never find anything because it's not heavily plowed, I mean, it's just turned over like just a few inches so and other people hunt for projectile points there too (they usually stay in the few main fields here.) There's also a few large fields that don't get used for anything... they grow in with weeds, then they cut them. I have a feeling this place is loaded, but just a bit deeper under the surface.

[pkfrey]

It's probably not even turned over, it's called " no till " farming. But you can find things if it rains hard enough. There's even a worse farming method called " drilling ". The machine is coordinated to punch a hole in the ground every 6 - 8 in., and then drop a seed in the hole! It's just terrible! I think Trump should pass a bill making it illegal to no till your fields. They must be plowed deep, or suffer the consequences!! The broad point is a good indication that you will probably find more good stuff. Just keep on looking!!

[sailorjoe]

Hi Paul. Absolutely hilarious! LOL And while Trump and Co. are at mandating deep plowing of all fields they should dictate that all fields lying on a slope greater than one degree must be plowed in a uphill-downhill direction so we collectors could get maximum benefit from water erosion. ;-)

[pkfrey]

And if it doesn't rain for two weeks, the farmers must go out and water down the fields with a hose! If they don't comply, they could be facing 5 - 7 years to think about what they did!!! Or didn't do !

[filmiracl]

I did some brief digging on google but couldn't find much info. What cultures were exactly over here in the Philly area? I know that this was the site of a Lenape camp, but I can't imagine it was the Lenape who were there thousands of years before during the archaic period? Or would it be the same people?

[pkfrey]

The Lenni-Lenape did live in your area, but not until roughly 1600 A.D. You have a large mixed assortment of artifacts dating back to the Archaic, about 6500 B.C., and Transitional points from about 1500 B.C., and Woodland points from about 1000 B.C. to 1500 A.D., and the all the historic cultures moved in from 1600 to mid 1700s. Your in an area that provided a lot of water, and flat grasslands that attracted a lot of game animals, which in turn attracted these early hunters/gatherers. The Delaware River provided transportation to known lithic quarry sites, and later, provided transportation for the Natives to travel and open up trade routes to acquire essential materials needed for every day living. When searching you will probably have to expand your search for areas, rather than just Philly area. Search for something like, " Archaic Indians in southeastern Pa./NJ. "

[filmiracl]

Thanks for the info!

[SDhunter]

I thought the pointy black one looked like pottery, that just happens to be pointy. I see sand in it. Sometimes the pottery splits open showing the insides. I can't really tell from this. Do you feel it's stone?

[pkfrey]

Looking at it again, I think you may be right. I can see the gritty texture and what looks like temper, so that probably is a split piece of pottery. Good eye!!

[filmiracl]

Sorry, missed that reply... I'm 98% sure they are points. I am 100% sure it's not pottery. I believe what you're seeing are some inclusions in the stone. Is it maybe rhyolite or metarhyolite? They feel brittle, but not brittle like pottery (the pottery I find has almost a moist brittleness, like chocolate... these feel rough and sandy like they would break like a cracker... haha... if any of that makes sense.) Granted this photo does the pieces no justice and they don't look like points... I have three nearly identical pieces from the same place and one of them clearly shows flaking (the first one,) the others have a worn but visible scalloped edge in places.

[SDhunter]

They do look more like points in this pic. Have you shown us the other side too? The other side should answer the question. Wonder why they would be britttle?