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**willjo** · 03-24-2019, 05:44 PM

Some nice finds also interesting pieces.

**tomf** · 03-24-2019, 07:07 PM

Thanks. I'm fascinated by everything I find and want to know as much as I can.

To hold a piece -feeling it's power -and imagine the people who made it, how it was used, how it was lost.

The piece on the far right seems extra interesting to me as it's not the local black obsidian. I think it's a coloured variety or a chert. Odd to find it around here. It also seems strange that it is such a simple unsophisticated tool made out of an exotic material. Any thoughts?

**willjo** · 03-24-2019, 07:18 PM

That could be some kind of hide working tool or scraper, an individual photo of it might help. There is a person here from California and he may be more helpful with material from your area,

**tomf** · 03-24-2019, 08:00 PM

I think it is a scraper. Curious about the material. Is it obsidian? If so, where from?

**tomf** · 03-24-2019, 10:24 PM

Thanks for the reply. What are some signs of heat treatment? Is chert normally heated before knapping?

**SurfaceHunter** · 03-24-2019, 10:31 PM

Heat treated chert will bring the color out of the stone also makes them look glassy. Thanks for sharing your finds I love Creek hunting. Every time I drive by a creek I look to see if there is gravel in it. If it looks interesting I then try to find out who owns it and try to get permission. I have my eyes on one now but I can’t catch the owner at home yet.

**tomf** · 03-24-2019, 11:23 PM

I have access to about a half mile of creek out back of my house. Pretty much everything I've found comes from there. I think it's incredible that such a short stretch has been so productive.
Also, like you, I'm always rubber-necking creek banks, flood-plains and likely spots when I drive. I'm well hooked.

**tomf** · 03-25-2019, 12:06 AM

So the verdict is heat treated chert rather than mahogany obsidian?

Either way it's a weird thing to find around here.

**redrocks** · 03-25-2019, 08:21 AM

Nice finds. Those are pretty . Any basalt?

**Tam** · 03-25-2019, 01:46 PM

Beautiful artifacts . I just love obsidian . Never found a gravel bar yet in SW Georgia .
cant wait .

**tomf** · 03-25-2019, 03:38 PM

Thanks for the comments.

The creek I hunt has gravel and river rocks of all types . Even though we are only a few miles from it's source the creek is already forming some nice curves with small beaches and cut banks. It overflows most winters and recent ones have produced extra big floods. It's an exciting feeling on the first hunt after a flood, like virgin territory, it restores hope.

I often speculate about the movement of material during floods. I know the water has the power to move big rocks and rearrange things considerably. I am inclined to agree that some artifacts are washed down from above while others are uncovered. Some pieces are very worn by water action and others hardly at all, is that the correlation? I'm not sure.

I wish I had a better sense of the age of various finds. Is wearing a good tell of age? Probably not. It must be to do with types and context (depth buried etc) but surface finds in creeks and fields yield many different types and (presumably) represent any period that humans were present. I have never dug for points but I once found one sticking out of the creek bank and it was easily 3' deep. It was a small bird point in good condition and if I had found it in gravel I might have assumed it to be not ancient. So I am very interested in learning ways to guess dates more reasonably.

I'm also very curious about tools other than points. One thing that intrigues me is that the tools I find are crude - totally functional - but crude and unworked beyond the basic utility. Yet points are worked to a degree beyond basic function to a degree in some cases that borders on art (think of some of the complex tiny bird and fish points). Also points are easily lost and could be thought almost disposable whilst tools might be retained for as long as useful. So you might think there would be more work put into every day tools like scrapers and spokeshaves. But it's not so.

Almost everything I've found is black obsidian with the exception of a couple of tiny quartz points and that chert (or mahogany obsidian) tool which is why I'm excited to find it.
How would material like that end up in Napa and if it was traded in why was it only used as a lowly scraper. Could it have been lost by a traveller from somewhere else?

**gregszybala** · 03-25-2019, 06:21 PM

Welcome to the site and thanks for sharing these. Some beauties in there. Can't imagine having artifacts in my own backyard!
Not much help here but be patient. We have some folks from out your way who will help you out.

**south fork** · 03-26-2019, 12:45 PM

Chert is found all over California and you have obsidian sources close by this might help you with types http://projectilepoints.net/

**tomf** · 03-26-2019, 07:03 PM

I have come to the conclusion that the scraper is probably made from Franciscan Chert which could have come from Oakland. The colour and sheen matches better than Mahogany Obsidian which is not found in these parts as far as I know.

I spent ages at http://projectilepoints.net/ but was unable to ID anything. The variations are so subtle and my points seem fall between types. Also most of my points aren't notched and it seems notches are key to type ID. I had hope somebody here might help with anything obvious.

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Obsidian from Napa County, CA

Obsidian from Napa County, CA

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