Local Quartz Types from Carolina

[Lookn4pnts]

That's some nice points there guys!  What awesome collections!  I don't have many "whole" quartz points, in fact I only have one. 
Here it is.  Guilford straight base I believe.  At least, if you know you found them yourself, their authentic!  Most all of these pics posted by everyone look legit to me.  HH

[JoeM]

Well, being a home boy I better get some quartz pics in here.
Don't think I have any Squibnockets in here, but I agree with Cliff that quartz is the hardest
material to read. Because of the way it breaks sometimes it's even hard to tell if it's a flake
or natural breakage.
Here's my pile from a stretch about a mile long in southeastern Wake County.

http://www.varockhounder.com/uploads...2106398067.jpg not found

The jar on the left is broke pirnts and the one on the right is broke bottoms.
The pile in the middle is from one field that I kept separated and gives you a general idea of
the ratio of quartz to rhyolite found in this area.

http://www.varockhounder.com/uploads...2106437049.jpg not found

I've posted this pic before but here it is again. Close-up of the Side-Notched Hardaway.

http://www.varockhounder.com/uploads...2106475247.jpg not found

Now here in the Piedmont we have a lot of quartz, but go down toward the coast or up to the
mountains and you will find a lot more Quartzite than Quartz. I don't hunt much in the mountains
but here are a few from the Asheville area just for comparison.

http://www.varockhounder.com/uploads...2106565604.jpg not found

Most of the quartz points I find these days are something like this 3 incher from Montgomery Co., NC.

http://www.varockhounder.com/uploads...2107008028.jpg not found

Joe

[Hoss]

I have to agree with Cliff on this one. Connecticut where I hunt in CT we are close enough to New York where the Indians where close enough to the other states to get lithics imported. We find New Jersey Argilite, Pennsylvania Jasper, New York State Flints, Rhyolit from MA but the main stone used was quartz. Most often these quartz points arre made from pebble quartz which is found in riverbeds and beaches. One problem with crystal quartz is where did you find the raw material to make point? My collection is a second generation collection. My dad had gotten so many people interested in this hobby it's is amazing Between all of our collections and I am probably talking about 20,000 + artifacts and to be generous I will only double that to count the broken ones although I really feel that number would be X4. All of that being said and with good quantities of lithic grade quartz here naturally occurring. I have seen maybe ten points of crystal quartz and all are between 3/4" of an inch to about 1 and 1/2". It would have to take a pretty good sized quartz crystal to make a fluted point and just finding the raw stone would take a lifetime. The next step would be getting it into the right hands for production. Well thats just my two cents worth I shouldn't be so long winded. I probably should have just agreed with Cliff all of this typing is killing my toes!

[CMD]

What a great thread, Butch! 4 months and still going strong!  As with Virginia, North Carolina, and elsewhere in the US, quartz was widely utilized in RI and eastern Ma.  Indeed, no other lithic material in this area comes even remotely close to quartz in terms of sheer abundance.  And I admit, there have been more then a few times when either my wife or myself have found ourselves saying, in so many words, "God, but I wish I could find something other then quartz!!"  But that doesn't stop us from picking them up and taking them home :laugh:
Here are a few examples from RI.  All the ones in this first frame are typed as Wading River points.
The most recent typology shows no fewer then 8 varieties of that style, varying slightly in shape from each other.  They were used for a great length of time, beginning about 5000 years ago in the Late Archaic, extending into Late Woodland times.  Perhaps because of that "shelf life", they are the most common point style in southeastern New England, the vast majority being made of quartz.  They're small, the smallest in this frame being 3/4".

The top row of this 2nd frame shows Squibnocket Stemmed and Squibnocket triangles. Both are named after Squibnocket Pond on Martha's Vineyard, where New York archaeologist William Ritchie first excavated them in a dated context. They date to the Late Archaic.  The middle row shows Woodland triangles. In the bottom row is a Middle Archaic Neville point, a common type but rare in quartz, and 2 Middle-Late Archaic Merrimack points, considered the last of the Neville complex types.

When I saw this thread re-start in recent days, I read through it again from the start. Most enjoyable and folks have posted outstanding examples of fine points made of quartz!
Charlie

[CliffJ]

"But, you gotta be careful 90%Of em are no good"
I'd guess it's more like 99% modern for crystal Clovises. They'd make more if they could get the crystal easier, I'm certain.
Crystal (quartz in general actually) should scare the crap out of collectors. It is one of the hardest lithics used and can be so pure as to have no mineral precipitation on the surface. Any impurity in the lithic can be easily confused with patinization- such as an iron rust vein inside. I have seen many glass points passed as crystal, and there is usually at least one in every "old" collection. Glass has somewhat different concoidal fracture than quartz, and can have air bubbles in it.
The other quartzes- milky, citrine, smoky, rose, and amethyst are all basically crystal with impurities that make the color. In our region of NC, the only natural lithic is quartz and quartzite, with rhyolite and argillite imported in. (There are regional minor sources of other lithics like chalcedony) So, many of the points we find are made of quartz. Most are fat and ugly, but the best are super. Whenever a super quartz point is offered for sale, a buyer wants to look for rechipping on the tip (hard to spot, mineralization (signs of it being in the ground for thousands of years- NOT dirt), and correct flaking for the type.
Quartz is the one material in this region (and elsewhere I'd say)that if you don't see the true signs of age, it's best to pass on it. I was photographing points for a published archaeologist several years ago when a lady came by with 3 "crystal" birdpoints. The archie looked at them a minute, then was telling the lady how rare and fine they were. He handed them to me to photograph, and through the lens I could easily see the tiny air bubbles in the glass. After he saw that, he backpedaled quickly!
Here is a citrine quartz blade from my collection. I was standing next to my friend when he uncovered it in the field. It is 5 1/2" long and very thin. It took me ten years and buying his entire collection to get that blade!

[Weepingeyegorget]

About from 1"-1 1/2" like nice birdpoints.. Palmer
And Madison.. I would like to get a Clovis of it.
But, you gotta be careful 90%Of em are no good

[ZmajSnoshaj]

Wow, those are amazing!  How big are they?
~Noah

[Butch Wilson]

'Em are some nicuns, those crystal points are fantastic

[Weepingeyegorget]

My 3 favorite quartz points, from Alleghany co. NC
Crystal Quartz

[turkeytail]

Very cool displays Matt!!!

[turkeytail]

Love that orange! And Ryan that Dalton? is awesome!

[Butch Wilson]

Weepingeyegorget wrote:

This is the first point I ever found its made of red/orange quartz... I found it when I was 7 in the Chowan river in NC.. I've loved quartz ever since!

  That's a beauty !

[Weepingeyegorget]

This is the first point I ever found its made of red/orange quartz... I found it when I was 7 in the Chowan river in NC.. I've loved quartz ever since!

[RyanVa]

  Here's some local Va. quartz types I frequently find. It ranges from coarse grained low grade quartzite to finer grained crystal and milky and vein quartz. Great thread here, it's good to see all the variety from around the country.

[Weepingeyegorget]

Nice stuff!! Quartz is pretty crude or not.. My first point I ever found was in
NC it was well made of blood quartz really pretty.. I own a few high quality quartz points I'll p
Post soon