KNAPPED slate????

[CMD]

Thanks for that info, Butch. All my hair-splittin may seem like needless obscuration.
I just felt, since Chris lived in the same region as me, that he might as well know what the lithic material is known as here.
Charlie

[Butch Wilson]

CMD wrote:

Thanks for that info, Butch. All my hair-splittin may seem like needless obscuration.
I just felt, since Chris lived in the same region as me, that he might as well know what the lithic material is known as here.
Charlie

Thanks for the lesson in the differences between slate and argillite. (What the heck is obscuration? Now I gotta look that up.)
Butch

[cgode]

Thanks for splittin the hairs Charlie, I'd rather have the correct info in my tool box. 

[CMD]

Butch Wilson wrote:

CMD wrote:

Thanks for that info, Butch. All my hair-splittin may seem like needless obscuration.
I just felt, since Chris lived in the same region as me, that he might as well know what the lithic material is known as here.
Charlie

Thanks for the lesson in the differences between slate and argillite. (What the heck is obscuration? Now I gotta look that up.)
Butch

  LOL. I might have made the word up, Butch. Just meant didn't mean to make things more confusing then they needed to be.
Charlie

[CMD]

cgode wrote:

Thanks for splittin the hairs Charlie, I'd rather have the correct info in my tool box. 

Your welcome, Chris.
Charlie

[Hoss]

I do have some knapped slate by the way Just Saying! I will try and get some pictures up I have some polished stuff too. The point on the left in this frame is a slate point. I have seen folks try and call argillite points polished slate it just isn't the same.
There are some other slates in this frame too but not projectiles. Some nice gorgets at the top and the small pendant top left with  a turtle carved into it.
Thanks for the education Charlie. I put the clue in about the image tab because half the fun is in doing the research work for me. I Love the rush of discovery but it is a shadow of the past for me. I have not been able to walk a field for two years now.

[cgode]

I'm kinda surprised you didn't put the link for your website here too Hoss.....just sayin.

[Bill]

Sorry everybody, but Wilkipedia et al are wrong about the formation of Slate, Argillite, and Shale.
Shale (metamorphosed dirt) forms first
Slate, a more highly metaformphosed form of Shale, is the the next step on the way to Argillite
Argillite is the next step up.
Everything depends upon the conditions during the formativite process. Highly mortamorphosed Argillite can be down-right decent stuff. It has a kind-of-decent conchoidal fracture property that allows it to be knapped. However since it also retains a slatey fracture cleavage property I'll bet when it was worked prehistorically, Argillite just as easily separated into sheets instead of finished points at the wrong time.
Argillite was used by folks troughout the prehistorical period throughout the SC/NC (Carolina) Slate Belt. I'm sure those folks would have preferred chert but you gotta dance with what brung you!

[CMD]

Other then quartz, which probably beats all other lithics combined in southern New England, argillite was the next choice. On average, the points are low quality, but sometimes they show nice work. Quartz being the first choice around here does speak to a lack of chert. Felsites, ryolite, quartzite, hornfels are all common enough but at least in RI and southeast Ma. argillite is more common. It does make the few flint and jasper finds very appreciated.
Charlie

[Hoss]

I have not created a page for the frame yet. The Artifacts are so unique that they deserve to be shown one at a time rather than grouped. All of my photos need to be changed too. I am waiting on a table stand and lighting set. Once I upgrade the equipment you will see more changes to the site.

[south fork]

I find a lot of slate points here in California the point at the top is a little over 3 inches long.

[shartis]

I find a good amount of slate around here. Most of the larger pieces and lots of the smaller ones show some knapping. Most are kinda crude but a few look pretty good.

[huntsman]

They look great to me Samuel.  They look alot like the ones I find here.  I especially like the one that has the redish on the median ridge.  I have a couple where they left that redness.  Do ya think that trait was on purpose?  I ask this because I have read about Stanly's; that 1/2 of them (and this is documented by Coe, I believe) were made with darker areas of rock on the tip of Stanly's.  According to the paper 1/2 of all Stanly's found exhibited this 'darkness on the tip' trait. I don't understand the purpose or significance of this but I thought I'd throw it out there.  Anyone else hear this or care to elaborate?  Nice slate Samuel.

[ZmajSnoshaj]

I bet that slate gave the meat a nice gritty seasoning.
Nice points!