Material Identification

[-=METACOM=-]

Hey guys,


So I'm trying to get familiar with as many New England materials as I can, and I have some here that I've been wondering about. I'm hoping I can get some help here. I'd also like to know where the material sources are located if it's not in the name.


Where I have pieces paired I am assuming they are the same material, please correct me where I am wrong.

So here's the first one. I find this at some of my sites but I've never found a point or a tool made out of it. I love it, and if anyone has points made out of it please post them here.





This next one I believe I have found at all of my sites, and I also have one point made out of it. Always thought it looked like an unlikely material.





This one I think is a really pretty material but I've only ever found this one flake at a site I can no longer hunt. It has nice shades of pink, violet, purple... I hope someone knows what this is, I'm really curious.







Next one is another that I have only ever found one flake of. Not one tool, not one other flake. It's tough to tell from the pictures but it's sort of pink or violet in color. I'd love to know what this is.





Never found a point made from this next one either, I'd like to see any examples made out of any of these.





This next one I think is a rhyolite, anyone recognize it?





And this one?



Here's the last one.




Thanks in advance guys.

[Pointhead]

The first two remind me of a hornfels type material

[CMD]

Ben is correct. The first two photos are flakes of Braintree Hornfels. It was one of two preferred lithics of the Jack's Reef people. The other preferred lithic being jasper, mostly Pa jasper. In the first photo below, that's a JR Corner Notch with a basal Notch.

See this earlier thread. The second artifact shown in this thread was collected at the quarry site:

https://forums.arrowheads.com/forum/...-massachusetts

See the article titled "Discovery of a New Major Aborriginal Lithic Source:

http://library.bridgew.edu/exhibits/...MAS-v38n03.pdf

https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.p...Slate%20Quarry

This stuff is probably the highest quality metavolcanic in our region, making for nicely flaked, thin points....

Correction. It's not a metavolcanic, but rather a highly metamorphosed slate....

[CMD]

A few more Hornfels points, all from a small field in RI. The JR far left has a tip worn blunt....

[-=METACOM=-]

Those are killer Charlie. Love those, especially the first two. The levanna in the second picture must have made for an awesome hunt, love it. I'm wondering why I don't have any points made out of it... the material must be tough to spot.

Any idea on the 3rd set of pictures? I was wondering if maybe it was Hingham Rhyolite? I'm going to jump for joy if I find a point made out of a pretty rhyolite like that.

Thanks for the help.

[CMD]

On your third set, It reminds me of a certain lithic I always collect, and keep in a bag of exotic flakes. But it might not be the same, and I'm uncertain of what it is anyway. I only have a few Hingham finds, maybe that's a flake of it, just not enough experience with it.

[-=METACOM=-]

I wish I could have found more of it... haven't seen it anywhere else yet. I've said it before, I wish there was a book I could buy on this subject.

[chase]

Thanks Charlie

[Pointhead]

Very very informative and cool! I've noticed that the hornfels is very hard to spot but have found a few flakes of it here and there. Great thread metacom, something I have wondered about myself.

[-=METACOM=-]

I'm just as fascinated by the materials as I am the artifacts. I also think we have really cool materials around here, I love the different rhyolites.

[SDhunter]

Thanks Charlie

[SDhunter]

I sent you a pm

[CMD]

I did not get your PM, Gary. Did it bounce back? I thought I was under quota....

[awassamog]

Hi Metacom,

Your third group, w/ purple shading looks very similar to stone I've found on my own property. Close by is an outcrop and a boulder of it. I assume it to be some kind of ryolite/felsite but just a guess. Heres three examples, all i could locate at the moment.

[-=METACOM=-]

Hi awassamog. I've actually since narrowed it down to Hingham Rhyolite. Now I don't know what type of stone you have there, but if it's not in flake or artifact form, I probably wouldn't be able to tell what it is. As far as the coloring goes it does certainly look similar.

[-=METACOM=-]

A little blurry, but...

[Tam]

Very informative thread . I was going to ask about rhyolites !

[CMD]

My favorite piece made of Hingham Rhyolite, and one of my favorite pieces, period. I think I used it as my avatar for a spell. My wife found this one day. After spending many hours miles distant from home, for naught, she stopped near home on her way back, and found this just before it would have fallen into a stream....

[CMD]

Because of its appearance viewed from this position, we know this as "the owl point"!

[-=METACOM=-]

It's not often you find points that nice. I always enjoy seeing that one.