Southern New England Hornfels

[CMD]

Hornfels is a metamorphic rock, usually fine grained. In southern New England, it was a popular lithic material, esp. during Middle and Late Woodland times. For the culture that produced Jack's Reef points, it was second only to Pennsylvania jasper as a lithic material of choice. The best known quarry is the Braintree hornfels/Braintree slate quarry in Milton, Ma. It was added to the National Register of Historic places in 1980, and the workings there date as early as 7000 bp. Further south, my wife and I walk a coastal site in RI where more then half the points we've found are made of hornfels, leading me to believe there was a nearby source. Three of the 4 Jack's Reef points shown here are from that site.
This large example is made of a light grey hornfels and shows a basal notch present on a minority of specimens.
In the grouping of 3 Jack's Reef points, the middle example, with a rounded and polished tip, closely resembles Braintree hornfels, and may be such.

Hornfels seems like a good material for knapping, as evidenced by this Levanna made from grey hornfels, and from the same site as the aforementioned Jack's Reefs. I'm not familiar with this lithic from outside my region, but it must have been used elsewhere. If anybody has examples from elsewhere, I'd love to see them.

[chase]

Nice point! looks like hard material to work with.

[greywolf22]

Thanks for the info. Very interesting/
Jack

[greywolf22]

Thanks for the info. Very interesting.
Jack

[cgode]

Great info Charlie and nice examples of points, I like the little basal notch....very interesting, I have not seen one like that. I MAY have an example of hornfels at home (working today).....it's made from a material that I was unsure of but seeing your examples......well.....maybe...it's quite beach tumbled though, I'll have to post a pic and see what you think.

[Hoss]

Charlie that Levanna point has what appears to me in the photo to have a quartzite like texture. Is all Hornfels like that? Some nice examples you have there. Tell me does Hornfels ever come in red? I have an Agate Basin shaped point that looks like the same material but is a buff red color.

[RyanVa]

Good post and info. I've got some of that and I always thought it was felsite or argilite. It's good to see pictures along with your description. Thanks.

[ksrocks]

Very good Charlie! Nice point,Joe.

[CMD]

Chase, the material is probably easier to work then many other common southern New England lithics, such as quartz, argillite, felsite, etc.  I think that's why the Jack's Reef people preferred both it, and Pa jasper first and foremost.  For whatever reason, that culture seemed to insist on the best lithics. So, much jasper arrived from west of the region, and locally, they really liked hornfels.  I'm not a knapper but have noticed that points made from hornfels are often better made then most of our regional materials.
Matt, the texture may be grainier in the Levanna, although it's also not a high res photo.  In person, it's velvety in feel, not the grainy feel quartzite has.  In person, it does not actually resemble quartzite enough to ever confuse it with quartzite.  There are various kinds of hornfels. Biotite hornfels is the most common, ranging dark brown to gray to black.  Biotite hornfels originate from shale, slate, and clay.  Calcite-Silicate hornfels derive from limestone and range from white to yellow, to pale green and brown.  Not certain about red, but I don't know hornfels as well as a geologist would, so perhaps. More technical info in this Wikipedeia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornfels
Matt, Chris, my understanding is that in Ct. hornfels only outcrops in the Hartford Basin. It does show up in Ct. artifact assemblages, but the source quarry or quarries is unknown and Ct. samples are not from the Braintree hornfels quarry. The rounded off point shown here is what most of the hornfels points from southeastern Ma look like as far as color.
Charlie
P.S. Thanks for the comments, guys!

[Hoss]

We should thank you that is a great thread. You have quite a bit of knowledge my friend!

[CMD]

Hoss1958usa wrote:

We should thank you that is a great thread. You have quite a bit of knowledge my friend!

Thanks, Matt, but I'll be a "rookie" at this till the day I die :lol: There will always be more questions than answers, but we never stop looking. For the answers as well as the artifacts!
Charlie

[turkeytail]

The workmanship on that triangular is outstanding!

[Hoss]

[QUOTE]CMD wrote:

We should thank you that is a great thread. You have quite a bit of knowledge my friend!

Thanks, Matt, but I'll be a "rookie" at this till the day I die :lol: There will always be more questions than answers, but we never stop looking. For the answers as well as the artifacts!
Charlie
I agree Charlie I just wanted to say thanks.

ever see this material? It has that velvety feel you speak of. I am starting a new post with this point!

[CMD]

Appreciate it, Matt.  Yes, brother, that be "Attleboro Red" felsite!
Charlie

[CMD]

turkeytail wrote:

The workmanship on that triangular is outstanding!

Thanks, Mark.  My wife found that one and it's one of her favorites.
Charlie