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  • secondary sources

    This is just a little experiment. I collected a little pile of pebbles from the Delaware bay (Cape May), the kids helped. The first pic shows the quartz pebbles on top and the chert pebbles on the bottom. I forgot a size reference in there so it will help to know the towel they are on is 13.5 inches wide and 21 inches long.



    The second pic shows each of the chert pebble after one strike. Some broke in half.

    Attachment 2013-06-17_19-18-59_4594.jpg not found

    The next pic shows the results of some novice knapping.
    It turns out some of the materials are excellent quality. Many are chalky or crumbly but here and there is good stuff.

    Attachment pebbleheads.jpg not found

    This one was real good stuff, and has about 30+ minutes of work in it.

    Attachment closup1.jpg not found

    This really makes me wonder why this is considered a secondary source when materials are plentyful and fair to great quality. There are larger pebbles that wash up at times, and I've found a few in the past. It's a beachfront quarry but mostly for small tools.
    Are there and other East coast secondary sources out there?

    Thanks
    Evan
    Last edited by gregszybala; 02-12-2016, 01:26 PM.
    New Jersey

  • #2
    Good post Evan.
    Sure some of the folks will jump in from out east and give you some clues. Also some nice knapping!
    Here around Lake Michigan, much if not most of the lithics found are created from glacial cobbles.
    Get the occasional Bayport, Burlington, Indiana Green and a few others, but all are imported/traded.
    What few finds I have that are old, late paleo, early archaic are largely not made of glacial cobbles.
    Searching the fields of NW Indiana and SW Michigan

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    • #3
      Thanks.  This must interest me more than anyone because it is close to home.  I've got a few more pebbles to work on still from that batch.
      Are there any collectors in NEPA who know anything about Susquehanna river pebbles being a source?
      According to what I recently read in an old AS of Pa. bulletin,  a high percentage
      of tools/points in NEPA are from river pebbles.  I'm in the area but the river is so swollen it's dangerous.  Next time I'm in the area
      I'll look for some rocks that knapp well.  I'd previously thought the river rocks were not cherty/flinty. 
      Here at AH it's great we've had long threads about famous Northeast and Eastern US sources/materials like Pa. Jasper, Argillite, Carolina quartz and Rhyolite.
      How about those lesser known and local "secondary" materials?  Pics?  Speculations?
      New Jersey

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      • #4
        That is an interesting question. But then, you answered it- the "famous" sources get all the study. The "secondary" sources in many places are not so secondary, and just about anywhere that useable lithics were found, they were used, often at a high level for long periods of time. There are cobbles on most river systems that were used heavily during the Middle Archaic when people became more sedentary while raising some crops. On the Roanoke and other NC rivers, you can find cobbles of almost any color of quartz including crystal, plus jasper and others. The secondary sources like this were used heavily, especially further from the "famous" sources such as Morrow Mountain rhyolite.
        Those pieces you found are a little on the small side for anything but smaller arrowheads. Look for fist-sized and up to work with. It looks like you are doing well knapping though!

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        • #5
          Here in southeastern New England, I believe Wading River points, which range from Late Archaic well into Woodland times, are the most common style found. These are 90%+ made from quartz, and they are described as being the product of a quartz pebble industry. Often, Wading River points will not have the basal edge of the stem thinned and you can see the rind of the pebble instead. These pebbles and cobbles are everywhere in the glacial outwash. Places like Ohio were settled by New Englanders looking for better, less rocky soil. And of course the shores of our bays are littered with cobbles and pebbles. Lots of quartzite and some felsite cobbles as well. They were no doubt picked up and utilized at times. Sometimes chalcedony cobbles from northern Rhode Island dumped by the glacier.

          BTW. I'm sure many share your interest, just localized to their particular corner of the universe. I'm saving decent size cobbles of felsite found on the beach for a knapper from Ma.
          Rhode Island

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