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  • Debitage question

    I have a question on debitage. I recently hunted a new field with a fellow artifact friend I recently made, who is quite experienced. Upon arriving he looked around and pointed to a certain spot he thought looked good. Sure enough he finds three broken points. I found only some debitage, the closet I have ever come to finding any kind of point, broken or whole, in my year of hunting. It was a no-till field so there wasn’t much on the surface.
    I got to looking at the various pieces of chert I have found, both from fields and creeks and got to wondering whether it was man-made or natural. After a little study on knapping (which I suppose can be misleading depending on the source), I learned that man-made debitage should have what is called a “bulb of force,” which comes as a result of a blow to the chert by a hammerstone. Looking at only the chert found in fields, I found that very few have such a bulb. None of these fields were rocky and what rocks were there were mainly limestone. So were these pieces without bulbs natural or man-made? My inclination is man-made for a few reasons, but I could be wrong and thus misleading myself in marking these as debitage sites for future hunting. Here are my reasons: First, these fields are deep in soil with no rock outcroppings, so chert should not be there naturally. Second, the chert pieces were in clusters and not scattered throughout, possibly indicating a campsite. What are your observations? Thanks

  • #2
    Everywhere I find flakes of flint( and I find ALOT) I always end up finding a point sooner or later. Percussion flakes have the " bulb of force" and pressure flakes not so much. Any flaked piece of flint counts as debtage to me especially if its found on an archealogical site.

    Click image for larger version

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    Indiana debtage and misc. objects
    Last edited by painshill; 04-13-2020, 06:38 AM.

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    • #3
      Hi Thomas
      This is what statisticians call a “one-tailed test”. The presence of particular features on a lithic piece can tell you whether it has been subjected to human modification (as debitage or as an artefact), but the absence of those features doesn’t enable you to say for sure that it hasn’t.
      With apologies for the poor quality picture, these are the features we most usually look for:

      And here [picture by Pam Douglas, annotated by me] is a classic piece of debitage that exhibits many of those features:

      When these features are absent (or ambiguous with respect to whether or not they were produced by simple mechanical damage or frost-shattering) then the likelihood of the piece being debitage is hugely reduced. It’s not legitimate to claim “debitage” in those circumstances unless there are compelling indications related to the circumstances of the find.
      Does that help?
      I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.

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      • #4
        Mule, next time you go hunting with your friend, if he finds a point, tell him to leave it be and have you find it as well. I'm helping my sister this way. Found a point on the beach Tuesday, walked away from it, told her the general area, and let her find it. A friend like that can really help you find your first point by gaining experience the way I've described. And yes, if the field has flakes, it should have artifacts, unless it's been completely exhausted by earlier generations of collectors.
        Rhode Island

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        • #5
          Hunting no til is a Pain in my honest opinion. Thomas when hunting no till walk very slow. Snail pace. If you see foot prints walking north you walk south you will get a different line of site and perspective. You are almost there man. Hunting with a friend is fine and it is a great way to learn. But don't make the mistake of being  hung up on he found three broke and you found chips. I used to walk with my cousin. One day he found 12 points we were walking a very good corn field. He was two rows away from me and about the same pace walking. He just found one after the other that day and I found zip. We met again two weeks later and walked a different field and I found 13 that day and zip for him. It just happens that way some times. Being new to it you might think your doing something wrong because he found three and you found just flint. Finding flint is a mile stone. The question you just asked is another milestone. Your well on your way man. Keep your eye on the ground and learn as much as you can from your walking partner. Ask him how he knew that section of the field was good? Information like that will help you at other fields.
          TN formerly CT Visit our store http://stores.arrowheads.com/store.p...m-Trading-Post

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          • #6
            All of your replies have been helpful, thanks guys.  The photo with the various percussion features really helped, as I was able to recognize these other features (besides the bulb) on various pieces I have. The picture with the debitage mixed in with historical artifacts reminds me of some of the creeks I have walked, especially the chunks of stoneware.  The friend I hunted with had me come over and look at the artifacts in place before they were pulled.  It was cool to see them In-Situ.  The field we hunted had been in pasture for quite sometime and was in the last year put into corn. Because of its location, I don't think it has been hunted too much. My friend was impressed with the one spot where the broken points were found.  If only it has been plowed.   I will seek permission to do a little digging there this fall after the harvest.

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            • #7
              Excellent replies to a very good and basic question. I love this site.
              Rick, East Central Missouri

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              • #8
                What I have learned is to acquire what is called the "EYE' meaning look for the type of material artifacts are made from in your area....Once you learn to recognize what these look like in the field (turning over a bunch of flakes)..Then you start to see the way man has changed the look on pieces  my thought is if something looks different about the flake or rock that is different than others around it it is worth a closer look. I have tried to teach others to SEE what I see but lots have given up but I wish they hadn't because it does take time to learn. Not many people finds point after point when first learning. I have found points right next to anothers foot print and sure others have found them next to mine. All it takes is seeing it at the right angle that it catches your eye. So don't get discouraged you will find artifacts. There has been many trips and many hours that I find nothing. And I'm sure I'm not alone in this. So keep on hunting and you will be rewarded
                I Have Never Met A Rock I Didn\'t Like

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                • #9
                  My eyes have been trained to find lots of these. (Which seem to always turn out to be the edge of a large piece of rock!)

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                  • #10
                    robshap wrote:

                    My eyes have been trained to find lots of these. (Which seem to always turn out to be the edge of a large piece of rock!)
                      LOL we all been there
                    I Have Never Met A Rock I Didn\'t Like

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