Is this even debitage?

[Poquonock]

Hi, all. I find this material on most of the fields I hunt in central Connecticut. Each of these fields has produced artifacts of one type or another. Is this some variety of argillite, or is it possibly some remnant of European habitation? I should note that this material is less brown and more gray than shown by the pictures. Also, it feels sort of chalky in hand, and while hard, it is not nearly as hard as quartz or chert. Lastly, the item pictured singly in several photos is the closest thing to a tool that I've found made of this material. Thanks for your input!

[Hoss]

It could be argillite argillite is a sedimentary rock which is derived from clay and mud . When fresh broken it can be very sharp . It just does not weather well at all.

[Lindenmeier-Man]

I think pic #5 is a artifact, score on that one !

[Mattern]

Hi Poquonock. The first thing I do when I enter a field is look at the rock or stones that are everywhere. Than I make my brain block out all of those rocks. Then I look for anything else that sticks out as different. If you do just that you will find artifacts easier. That's just what I do. Kim

[CMD]

It might be Argillite. As Roger explained once, the argillite from RI and Ma is actually argillaceous slate, and the argillite from NJ/Pa is actually argillaceous shale. I can’t be certain from your photos, but then I would not expect the argillite in Ct. to be the same source as SE New England, and you did say your color was off. I don’t think it looks like Lockatong Argillite from NJ/Pa which is found in southern New England, esp. Fox Creek points.

[Poquonock]

Thanks for the comment, Charlie. Just out of curiosity, why wouldn’t you expect the argillite in CT to be the from the same source as SE New England? I agree that it isn’t Lockatong, as I have some other examples of that in my collection. It’s funny/strange that we find this material in fields all around this area, but until that round piece pictured above, we hadn’t found any points/tools made from it, just flakes.

Quick edit - After looking at a posting you made regarding argillite (https://forums.arrowheads.com/forum/...8891-argillite), I think my material is very similar to the fishtail point on the right in the first picture.

[CMD]

Well, shows you what I know. I said “huh?” when I saw the point far right in first photo of the thread you linked to, enlarged it, and it’s not Argillite! Lol. It’s either rhyolite, or maybe even a chert! Not sure what I was thinking, but your material isn’t rhyolite or chert, and I have to look at that point again, but I won’t know the material anyway. Just not sure, but that’s a mistake.The other 3 points in those two photos are argillite.

Far as your question, no specific reason, just figured you might have outcrops there, certainly our argillites could show up in eastern Ct., anyway. I don’t know how far RI and Ma argillites were distributed, I guess it was good enough, pretty common here, second most common lithic other than quartz, but I hunted a very limited geographic area.