Fluted Tip

[hudson]

IA cousin brought this by yeaterday. Ive never seen one like it

[OBION]

I have a few like that and a seasoned collector( that is also a great knapper) told me that is a impact fracture flake ; most likely lost when that tip got busted.  Beautiful point though.

[pkfrey]

An impact fracture is correct, caused when the point probably missed the target, and  hit something hard, like an oak tree or rock.

[sneakygroundbuzzard]

beautiful point and some sweet looking material
but yes, an impact fracture

[Ron Kelley]

Hey Rodney, I think the impact fracture is really cool. :woohoo:  The ancient hunter may have seen a huge elk. He was so flustered by that huge 7X7 rack. When he hurled the dart it hit the antler rather than the chest.

[gregszybala]

Like when you find an impacted tip, gives you a good idea it was actually used! That's a nice point too!

[painshill]

Agree on impact fracture, but - as an aside - tip-fluting is not an unknown technology.
There was some discussion here, as well as some great illustrations from Tyson:

http://forums.arrowheads.com/forum/general-discussion-gc5/artifact-questions-answers-gc9/62838-need-some-info

[chase]

I agree that is an impact fracture. But I must disagree about the tip fluting of the Folsom point. Tyson is a good friend of mine and a fabulous illustrator of artifacts. Dr. Kornfeld I respect and even sat in for lecture this Fall. His book   The First Rocky Mountaineers: Coloradans Before Colorado.  is about Barger Gulch and other sites  in the Rocky Mountains. But from what I have seen the platforms for fluting, are at the base. JMO

[CoachG]

Really nice piece.  I agree that it is an impact fracture.

[orari]

Yep.  That point got  "self-fluted" when it hit something hard "just right."  On a lot of these, the flute goes a little bit awry because of the randomness of the fluting incident.  However, once upon a time, I was walking across a Mississippian site that had just been plowed and found a large, bifurcate base point whose tip had hit something just right too.  It had one of the nicest, straightest, and deepest Clovis-like flutes I had ever seen.  Sometimes the randomness of Mother Nature does her work just right.

[Kyflintguy]

Cool find! Here's the link to a thread I started,  were you could show your impact fracture finds, Joshinmo added one to this thread that was "fluted" from the impact like like yours. Thanks for Sharing!

http://www.arrowheads.com/index.php/forum/in-situ/82991-impact-fractures-let-s-see-yours#137027

[OBION]

I've always wondered what this big ole pickwick hit!! :dunno:

[Adena]

Looks like we have agreement on the impact fracture. Not sure of the type, but it's sure a sweet find!

[orari]

Never saw a a double-barreled flute like that one---wonder what that did hit?