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Paleo Field Trip

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  • Paleo Field Trip

    Those of you who subscribe to Gary Fogelman's Indian Artifact Magazine(IAM)will know the Nov. 2013 cover story is about the Sugarloaf Paleo Site in Deerfield, Ma. Here's the cover showing Gary holding the bottom portion of a large fluted point right after its' recovery in Sept., 2013.:

    This site was excavated by Dr. Richard "Mike" Gramly, the organizer of the American Society of Amateur Archaeology(ASAA) and volunteers from that society in 1995. Here's the cover of Dr. Gramly's 1995 monograph on the earlier dig:

    Yesterday, I had the pleasure of joining forum members Jay Langlais and Jeff Matteson for a trip to Norwell, Ma for the Fall meeting of the New England Chapter of the ASAA. It was an opportunity to shake hands at last with a couple of folks I have corresponded with for some time, and a chance for the 3 of us to meet Mike Gramly, one of the most knowledgable and experienced archaeologists working on Paleo studies in the United States. Several members brought great display frames for all to enjoy, including 2 large frames of Paleo material collected at the Sugarloaf site by a private collector prior to the 1995 dig, and which Dr. Gramly documented in his 1995 study. The 3 of us brought up material to show and hopefully get info on. We were all pleased to learn the stuff we had found that we thought was Paleo, was indeed Paleo, and the Early Archaic material among the earliest forms in New England. We had a blast!
    I did not take notes, but a couple of interesting things we learned is that Dr. Gramly believes the fluted point tradition persisted later in New England because the caribou herds hunted by these ancient hunters persisted here later. We also learned that the Sugarloaf Paleo Site is the largest Clovis era habitation site in North Ametica.
    Several of the nicer pieces found in the Sept. 2013 dig were not at the meeting, but were being cast, but here are a couple photos of the newer material found. The base that Gary Fogelman is holding on the cover of IAM was found with it's broken tip in place. It was not far beneath the surface and had been broken, not anciently, but by heavy farm equipment driving over it on the farm lane! The article in IAM shows the big fluted point in-situ. Here Dr. Gramly points to the break:

    Here are both sides of the largest fluted point found in the New England states. Fogelman ID 'd the material as rhyolite in his IAM article, and it looked like rhyolite to me, but Mike said it was felsite and he was very confident the source would soon be pinned down.


    No way could I pass on holding this puppy. It was never finished, but Mike said it's "very close". This is the piece from the cover of IAM above:

    The large piece here was deliberately broken into 3 pieces, according to Dr. Gramly:

      Jay, Jeff, and your's truly in front of a private collection from Sugarloaf:

    We were very glad we attended and we were all in agreement that Mike Gramly is a great guy who shares a collector's enthusiasm and who firmly believes in sharing information with responsible amateurs.
    Rhode Island

  • #2
    That sounds like a great time Charlie. You meet the neatest people at those kind of things. I met Gramly at Olive Branch and he is a super knowledgeable guy that enjoys sharing what he knows.
    Like a drifter I was born to walk alone

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    • #3
      Here's most of what I brought up. 2 Eastern Agate Basin bases with 2 small Paleo lances above them in lower left of frame. Tiny quartzite fluted point, Paleo bases made off flakes lower right, Daltonish triangles.

      With a few exceptions, most of these finds were not recognized by me at the time I or my wife surface collected them. Education never ceases and we recognize then now!
      Rhode Island

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      • #4
        Nice story Charlie It mus have been awesome holding that monster in your hand. Your two above the Agate Basin brokes and the one to the right look so similar in form. It is amazing how all three look broken at the same spot in the tip. Those three are a study within themselves in my honest opinion.
        Nice pictures man thanks for sharing. Yeah Mike is a cool guy I met him last year (2012) at the Ky Dam Village Show We had quite a conversation about my fluted point.
        TN formerly CT Visit our store http://stores.arrowheads.com/store.p...m-Trading-Post

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        • #5
          What an experience. You guys had a great opportunity. The 3 of you manage to get together and find the time to attend an event like this, hear the stories, histories, opinions and theories. Hold the pieces in your hand, congrats on such a learning experience.
          Searching the fields of NW Indiana and SW Michigan

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          • #6
            .
            Looks like a great field trip Guys!
            Interesting points you took with you Charlie - I think lots of quarts pieces in collections aren't recognized for their great age because of their lack of patina and smaller size.
            I'm curious about the four pieces above the broken honker here - are they considered finished works (knives/blades - don't look to be fluted), and if they are: did they exhibit grinding on the bases?

            If the women don\'t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

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            • #7
              Olden, the first on the left is an unused knife, the one next to it an exhausted knife of the same material.
              Rhode Island

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              • #8
                Hoss wrote:

                Nice story Charlie It mus have been awesome holding that monster in your hand. Your two above the Agate Basin brokes and the one to the right look so similar in form. It is amazing how all three look broken at the same spot in the tip. Those three are a study within themselves in my honest opinion.
                Nice pictures man thanks for sharing. Yeah Mike is a cool guy I met him last year (2012) at the Ky Dam Village Show We had quite a conversation about my fluted point.
                  Thanks. You have a nice quartzite example of Paleo lance as I recall Hoss, which I'll add to the Northeast section.
                Rhode Island

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                • #9
                  gregszybala wrote:

                  What an experience. You guys had a great opportunity. The 3 of you manage to get together and find the time to attend an event like this, hear the stories, histories, opinions and theories. Hold the pieces in your hand, congrats on such a learning experience.
                    It was a great learning experience. Dr. Gramly's talk on Sugarloaf was very informative and he really makes you feel like you are part of the process of unraveling the Paleo landscape.
                  Rhode Island

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                  • #10
                    i had a blast marveling at all the incredible stuff i have NO chance of ever personally findin! :laugh: but really though, it was awesome, lots of really nice, intelligent people who where more than willing to share their knowladge and input with me.and the artifacts!!!  hmy:  guys,gals,whoever, you wouldnt believe!they where incredible! there was stuff there from private collections that would blow your minds!and it was great having some of my stuff checked out and i.d.'d in person.(everyone loved my little jasper scraper and pipe preform too!)plus any chance for me,charlie and jeff to get together is always a good time and something to look forward too.all in all a great day!thanks guys!
                    call me Jay, i live in R.I.

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                    • #11
                      [quote=Olden post=107657].
                      Looks like a great field trip Guys!
                      Interesting points you took with you Charlie - I think lots of quarts pieces in collections aren't recognized for their great age because of their lack of patina and smaller size.
                      I'm curious about the four pieces above the broken honker here - are they considered finished works (knives/blades - don't look to be fluted), and if they are: did they exhibit grinding on the bases?
                        Olden, here is a video taped at the meeting yesterday, and Dr. Gramly talks about the knives you were wondering about:

                      Rhode Island

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                      • #12
                        In the video above, Dr. Gramly shows a fluted point with reattached channel flake. Here's that point. Normanskill Chert:


                        Rhode Island

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                        • #13
                          Great stuff Charlie ! I never thought the fluting platform would be that large !

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                          • #14
                            Butch Wilson wrote:

                            Great stuff Charlie ! I never thought the fluting platform would be that large !
                              I know, it's wild. They found more then 300 hundred channel flakes during the most recent dig.
                            Rhode Island

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                            • #15
                              Very cool stuff guys, wish I was able to make it!
                              I'm with Butch on the fluting nipple, that is much larger than I would have imagined!!
                              Southern Connecticut

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