Obsidian from Napa County, CA

[south fork]

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.

You have some Coastal Contracting Stem points the points without notches . The lower left triangles could be Rattlesnake cluster some are expanded stem shapes or small notches along the coastal mountains and central valley . They don.t look like cottonwoods to me or Western Triangular . there are variations in all point types from the coastal regions to the sierras .

[tomf]

Thanks so much for taking the time to help me ID some points. I'm just starting out with artifacts and don't have the experience or confidence to make determinations. I had thought some of my bird points might be Rattlesnakes and another a Stockton Side Notch. I had no clue about any of these bigger ones, so thanks. Could you tell me what features help you tell they are Coastal Contracting Stem points?

[south fork]

As far as features of contracting stem points found along the coast range they look similar to points found all over the sierras .

[DavidD]

Loved seeing more Napa stuff. The two in the picture were found in eastern Yountville area in a recently plowed vineyard, maybe your area? The others I've posted elsewhere with these were found at Lodi Lane at the trail, the Napa River right there across from the big road cut.

[tomf]

Hey David, I'm in north east up by the Lake County Line. I hunt local creeks mostly. I found my first point by chance, returned the next day and found a second. It's quickly become an obsession.

We are lucky to be in Napa where obsidian is the primary material. It's lovely stuff. You got some nice ones too.

Do you know much about local cultures? I'm always hoping to learn.

[DavidD]

Have you seen the points in the Sharpsteen museum in Calistoga?
Check out the first link below, the long knife was found up at Cobb Mt closer to you. Hammerstone from Lucas Valley area just off 101 in Marin.
One of the reasons I like this site is the people who know more than I do about the Napa area, coupled with the projectile points.net site. As a matter of fact, south fork's comment about the rattlesnake cluster was unknown to me. Checked it out on the projectile points site and that led to other types in the north bay area. I am more familiar with Miwok culture than the Napa indians.
About a year ago we moved to central Ohio, so only come to Napa to visit. If I'm back to visit and have some time, I'd like to see your finds first hand!
BTW, the cultures in Ohio are incredible, points of all types and ages as well as quarries.

https://forums.arrowheads.com/forum/general-discussion-gc5/learn-about-lithic-material-types-gc24/354882-more-obsidian

https://forums.arrowheads.com/forum/general-discussion-gc5/native-american-arrowheads-other-lithic-artifacts-gc7/349444-miwok-hammerstone

[tomf]

I'll certainly check out the museum. Thanks for the tip. As I said, I'm fairly new to this interest and am reading as much as I can. I got my hands on a copy of Archaeology of Napa Region (Heizer, 1953) and it's a superb resource. Tons of interesting detail on Napa and aboriginal archaeology in general. The first thing you realize is it's all about context which is why it's so important to catalogue finds and if there is any perceivable context report it.
Napa is mostly know as home to the tribes the Mexicans named Wappo but my little corner of the county may well have been inhabited by Lake Miwok and Patwin. All three tribes spoke different languages and had different cultural traditions. I think it's extraordinary to have such diversity within such small areas and it demonstrates the complexity and strength of these different peoples.
Anytime you are in Napa feel free to get in touch.

[DavidD]

Here's the two books I have. The Napa one is better than it looks, lots of info in a small book, and I'm sure lots of overlap with your information. Has many first-hand accounts, mostly by George Yount. I've added a couple of pages. Since it's published in 2001, might have some newer stuff. Did most of my field work in Marin, have you been to the Miwok Museum? (actually now The Museum of the American Indian) in Novato?

[tomf]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post this info. I'm going to check out the museum in Novato next time I'm passing and I'm going find a copy of Napa Valley's Natives, which sounds like the kind of little book I love. The SF State paper looks interesting too. I understand Sonoma State is big on local archaeology and has library resources available to the public. I reckon I'll check that out too.

Do you know about the Mammoth Rocks on the Sonoma Coast?

https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=23566

[Sage hen jack]

Pretty cool finds for them parts of CA. California got so overrun in such short time from the Gold Rush and the Logging, Levee’s Dam etc! the Cultures were rich in those parts with Game & Foods/everything abundant. I’ve seen photos of very old collections from those regions of huge Fancy Obsidian Dance blades and ornaments. Those Cultures from CA,OR,etc -traded Shell that made its way along trade routes to the Plains tribes. The Rich South East Cultures had it going on too!! When food was in abundance-more time to Dance and make Plummets,Pipes & Art

[Earthtemple33@yahoo.com]

Hello....I am David and live in Santa Rosa, CA. I would love to own an arrowhead that I know comes from my local area. Might you have any you would trade or sell? Sincerely....David

[Earthtemple33@yahoo.com]

I have quite a bit of that Jasper your scraper is made from. Isn't it Lovely.... It was formed from the Farallon plate subducting under our continental plate. Deep within the earth different minerals were mixed and heated to the almost melting point. This can happen at depths of 15 to 20 miles below the earths crust....This is also how Jade forms.

[troutloco]

Most of your fines are part of the Excelsior typology. These points appear in the latter part of the later character. Sometime after 2000 BC and extending to as late as 500 AD. perhaps later. Baumhof 1985 suggest perhaps as late as 200 AD.

Excelsior distribution ranges from as far north as Round Valley above Willits down to Santa Clara County over to Sacramento and up to the Sutter Buttes. The heaviest concentration of them is found in variety of Napa, Sonoma to the Shell mounds of Emeryville, Berkeley, Tiburon Etc.

Giving their coloring and location I would say it is safe to say they're most likely Napa Glass Mountain obsidian a small percentage may be from the annadel obsidian site in Sonoma County.

Several of your our finds show extensive river polish from churning with gravel during winter floods.

I agree with your assessment of the scraper being what has been proposed. It is most likely Franciscan Chert although Monterey Chert is all so possibility though extremely less likely.

Below are some examples

[Missouri Breaks]

That one lower left corner, whitish colored, wondering if it’s that kind of obsidian covered in patina or mineralization to the extent it doesn’t look like obsidian or is it some other material altogether? Another very nice frame.

[troutloco]

It is actually not obsidian. I believe it's Basalt. It does have lots of mineralized patina for sure.

[TexAg]

Wow, lots of good knowledge sharing going on which makes for a very interesting read. I was hooked from the title having the word “obsidian”, lol! You have some really cool looking pieces, Tomf. I only found 1 obsidian point and an obsidian fetish stone in the sand dunes here in west Texas so can’t assist in the knowledge sharing. They likely were transported here from New Mexico’s Valles Caldera. My SoCal in-laws have a big block of black obsidian they found 60 years ago while camping in Mono County.

[AcornMushForDinner]

TroutLoco, those are amazing examples of Excelsiors! Thanks for sharing those. It's cool to get a sense of the hafting process of those because I can see where they have been resharpened, and some of the more excurvate and ones that have little resharpening on them. I'm not sure if you met him, but there was a man who went by HighSierra on Arrowheadology.com when it was still up. He has since passed away. I remember he had posted an Excelsior blade he found in West Sacramento that was just shy of 7' long! I think it may have been made from Borax Lake Obsidian. Did you ever get to see that one?

[Missouri Breaks]

Acorn Mush with a side order of impeccable Stockton's including a curve. Those are extraordinary... Delta region? I say that loosely because from just seeing your avatar pic I can't tell if they're Sonoma or Napa... maybe Marin? I associate the curves more with the eastern part of the distribution for no other reason than the only ones Ive seen are listed as Sacramento or Stockton area. Just wow! Are you a local collector? I'm in Sonoma.