Meet The Brewerton's

[Looks2Much]

Brewerton's, in all forms, have mostly eluded capture in my short time collecting points. I have found several broken pieces, but only one complete example, shown below. Further, I've never found even a piece of a Brewerton Corner Notch. I'd like to see some more examples, so please post your finest Brewerton. These too will be used to populate the Typology section. Please shoot your pics on a contrasting background with a coin or ruler to show scale and list any pertinent stats or info that you think might be of use.

Brewerton Side-Notch
Size: 2-3/8" x 3/4"
Material: Blue Argillite
Found in a dry stream bed in SE Massachusetts
(I'm not 100% sure if this is an side-notch or an eared triangle, but the base seems to feature notches more than ears, so I went with the notch, please let me know if you think I'm correct/incorrect)



Let's see what you got!

[pkfrey]

Just my opinion, I think you would have a Meadowood there. The elongated point with shallow notches, and slightly expanded base is more characteristic of the Meadowood points. Here's a few for comparison, the photos are points in frames on the wa.., and I hate taking them down all the time, so I could have better pics, but I think these will do.

[Looks2Much]

It's funny, I thought the same thing, but I showed it to someone with more time under their point-hunting belt and they seemed certain it was a brewerton. But it really does resemble a Meadowood, looks sort of similar to your second example.

[pkfrey]

Brewertons will normally have deeper notches, either side or corner notches, and the base will be narrower than the blade, and the basal ears will come out to more of a point, rather than be squared. There are variants on all point type bases, and the characteristic Meadowood would be the second and third example. In the second photo, the notched vein quartz point to the right would actually be a Brewerton type.

[CMD]

I agree with Paul that that more closely resembles a Meadowood. One thing I might differ on is the lithic. In New England, the overwhelming percentage of Meadowoods will be made of Onondaga chert from western New York. Boudreau's sample size, for instance, consists of 19 specimens. 18 are Onondaga chert, and one appears to be Marblehead Rhyolite. And that might be the actual expected ratio around these parts. I'm not sure that point is argillite, though I'm not holding it in hand, and maybe there is some staining involved. That said, I have never seen a Meadowood made of our regional argillite. It's probably our crappuest material, and I would be surprised to see it used for that point type. All mine, and I only have found a few, are made from Onondaga, but one, and that one also appears to be Marblehead rhyolite. Jeff Matteson did find one made from Jasper, whether from RI or Pa I'm not certain. Those Jaspers can't be distinguished by eyeball alone. But, argillite would be very unusual. I've never seen one, but I haven't seen everything. It can't be impossible I'm sure.....

[pkfrey]

Charlie, I suspect this point is heavily patinated and stained rhyolite. I don't think it's argillite.

[Looks2Much]

I will say that it doesn't show the layering that the other argillite points I have do. It feels like argy, but looks bluer than the many green examples I have, so I assumed that it was blue argillite and thought maybe the blue variety was a little finer to work with. I have another point that's probably a Meadowood now that I'm learning the finer points of this style, it's broken, but made of what I assumed is Rhyolite. I'll dig it out and take a pic tomorrow.

[CMD]

Thanks, Paul. One of our regional rhyolites was my guess as well, after enlarging the photo to max.....

[CMD]

BTW, Boudreau includes a series of line drawings in his guide, in which he superimposes every example of a specific type atop each other, one, to show the range within a type, but, two, by placing these superimposition of the different types aside each other on one page, to show the sometimes very subtle differences between the Otter Creek and the Brewerton Side Notch; the Brewerton Eared Triangle and the Brewerton Eared-Notched, and the Brewerton Eared-Notched and the Vosburg. I am absolutely certain these subtle differences have in fact defeated me time and time again. I am sure there are mistakes in the Northeast typology section of the info center that I made in just this fashion. The differences between the types I am mentioning can be very subtle, and make a positive ID challenging at times. Just as resharpening can make an ID difficult, and even lead to a confusion among types.

[Looks2Much]

Can you post a few examples of what Marblehead Rhyolite looks like?

[CMD]

I posted examples in this thread:

http://forums.arrowheads.com/forum/general-discussion-gc5/learn-about-lithic-material-types-gc24/239673-felsite-rhyolite-felsitic-rhyolite

[CMD]

They are made from other materials. I show one from Ma in typology that's made of a material I can't identify, but there are so many rhyolites out there that were used, and I am relatively weak in lithic ID.

[TSUMS]

Classic Meadowood from Ontario County New York..

[-=METACOM=-]

Give it time. Just keep on looking, and keep finding sites to add to your list. Eventually you will start finding some of the ones you seldom come across. You just never know...

[Looks2Much]

I'm not losing sleep over it but, I do agree. As I've branched out I've found a lot of stuff I thought I'd never find

[-=METACOM=-]

Since I have one, I feel obligated to post it.

edit: My meadowood, that is.

[pkfrey]

Yep, that's a Meadowood alright, resharpened down to exhaustion!

[CMD]

Dave, almost like this has become a Meadowood thread. Just want to emphasize if others in the Brewerton family get posted here, just how difficult it can be to separate Vosburgs and Brewerton Eared-Notched, and Brewerton Side Notched and Otter Creeks. I cannot be the only one that runs into that problem at times, and Boudreau specifically draws attention to it. Overall, I can type a point when it is just plain obvious, when it is somehow an easy call. Otherwise, it's like a crap shoot as far as my own experience is concerned. Throw in how resharpening changes the morphology at times, and typing is one tough task....

[CMD]

Dave, you have the handbook edition of Boudreau. Recall he notes some Meadowood bases show scars from use as scrapers. With bases that can be straight or convex, I'm guessing the convex base examples might apply in that respect. In this first example, the base edge is even beveled, and may have been used as a scraper. Onondaga chert. The second example MIGHT be a Meadowood, and it might be Marblehead rhyolite or Marblehead felsite. Not certain because I'm not used to seeing any gloss with Marblehead, but Marblehead is black with white inclusions. The last example was perfect until I dropped it and nicked the tip:-( Onondaga chert. Personal finds of the Mrs. and I from the same field.....

Well, I guess we need to get more Brewertons posted here, because it has become a Meadowood thread otherwise. Education on the fly!

[Looks2Much]

Thank's Charlie, I read Boudreau's notes last night, interesting to say the least.

With regard to the material that my point is made from, it's very dull in luster, feels slightly grainy (like argillite) but as noted above, it lacks the layering I am used to seeing with definite argillite points, the flaking, as you can see, is pretty heavy.

Below is a broken point that I believe may be another Meadowood. This came from the same streambed... it's a washout really that sometimes has standing water in it, but runs hard when it rains, like today... maybe I should go look for another one this afternoon lol. This one I have always thought to be Rhyolite, am I right?

[CMD]

Maybe. But if I can't ID a material, I almost always assume rhyolite/felsite, not exactly the best approach.