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Just the Basics

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  • Just the Basics

    I thought this was a good example of maybe the most common low grade lithic we find in SE New England. It's argillite, aka argillaceous slate. So many points of this lithic show barely any flaking to achieve a finished product, and it's for that reason I thought it was a good example of how this particular lithic was often worked. Crude, basic, call it what you will, some points made from our argillite do show nice flaking, but so many are like this instead. At 3", it at least has more size then I'm used to. But I thought it was just a big flake, and was surprised when I picked it up. But, I was pleased just the same, beggars can't be choosers.

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    It turned up yesterday, in a "South County", RI field that I had not visited in at least 10 years. Along with a small quartz knife and some brokes.....

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    Rhode Island

  • #2
    My gosh...that is plain...but still a very cool artifact!
    "The education of a man is never completed until he dies." Robert E. Lee

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    • #3
      Hey Charlie...Nice finds man. ..I like that "plain" point a lot . And Jasper is always nice to find.. its that time .of year again...glad your going out....like your spots .. mine have been hunted for decades...but every now and then illI' find something
      SW Connecticut

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      • #4
        Right on! That’s a great knife! Good to see your getting out too!
        call me Jay, i live in R.I.

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        • CMD
          CMD commented
          Editing a comment
          Thanks, Jay. Don't get out much these days, but it helps now and then, lol....

      • #5
        Charlie good to see you were able to get out ( great finds ) My trip is in May . So many of my finds are crude and simplistic . I believe it got the job done . I always wonder why the West has such detail in their points from base to tip .
        Love the pressure flaking on the jasper . Is that your local ?
        The one place I hunt like Red said has been hunted for decades .. Neighbor said it was raining so hard last night you could not see across the street in Georgia . What I would give to be at that mound today ahhhh
        Been thinking of you when I see those storms on NOAA Radar go up to your neck of the woods .

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        • #6
          A lithic only a local could love...

          In Alaska and British Columbia I have seen a lot of Argillite, Slate & Shale and that reminds me of a preform for a harpoon tip. They had to steep flake the edges to prevent the material from splitting, and then polished it to a sharp edge.

          I assume that was a true dart or spear point, aside from the point it doesn’t look like it was ever sharp enough to cut.
          Hong Kong, but from Indiana/Florida

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          • CMD
            CMD commented
            Editing a comment
            I'm curious about the tip wear. Many of our so-called small stem quartz points show tip wear indicating they were not projectiles, but instead used for scoring, graving, boring, and cutting. So I'm thinking some task is reflected in the appearance of the tip in this case. But, Jay is also right in that fresh argillite was sharp enough, and I believe this was also a knife. Somewhere, and maybe I can find it, the late Jeff Boudreau thought many argillite pieces were not knapped, but somehow fashioned by taking advantage of its tendency to produce platey fractures.

          • CMD
            CMD commented
            Editing a comment
            Ha, yes Joshua, some lithics are indeed like ugly babies only a mother could love, lol! I have found some points made from our argillite that make me wonder "how the heck did they survive around here?". Lol, but it's usage started early. I have several Early Archaic bifurcates made from our argillite. The NJ/Pa argillite, which is argillaceous shale weathers even worse.

          • clovisoid
            clovisoid commented
            Editing a comment
            CMD, Yep, in the couple of county radius where I grew up in Indiana you could almost always be guaranteed to find your favorite color/texture of lithic, as long as your favorite lithic was light beige and chalky. And to be honest, I still love it when I see a great example of it.

        • #7
          Originally posted by Tam View Post
          Charlie good to see you were able to get out ( great finds ) My trip is in May . So many of my finds are crude and simplistic . I believe it got the job done . I always wonder why the West has such detail in their points from base to tip .
          Love the pressure flaking on the jasper . Is that your local ?
          The one place I hunt like Red said has been hunted for decades .. Neighbor said it was raining so hard last night you could not see across the street in Georgia . What I would give to be at that mound today ahhhh
          Been thinking of you when I see those storms on NOAA Radar go up to your neck of the woods .
          A lot of the Martis / Steamboat Cluster / Sierra Stemmed Cluster are made from Slate / Basalt and are plain with little to no flaking they look just like East Coast Points .

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          • #8
            Another good day .

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            • #9
              Great save! Looks like a flaked stone tool behind your hand in the second picture? Glad you found some goodies.

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              • CMD
                CMD commented
                Editing a comment
                That's a chunk of shale displaying a Upper Carboniferous amphibian footprint from the Rhode Island Formation, and collected in Plainville, Ma.

            • #10
              Charlie that’s a nice point you have there!
              I love the blue green color of argillite.
              When it’s dry it’s easy to spot in a field.
              Great find!

              Jeff

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              • #11
                Very glad you showed us a point like that, in my area there is no local source of quality chert but there's lots of slate and quartz so I always wondered if they might have made use of the slate available and have kept my eyes peeled for it but was unsure if it was actually used and now you have confirmed that and shown me a good example of something I might be able to find here.

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                • OnewiththewilD
                  OnewiththewilD commented
                  Editing a comment
                  It actually breaks a bit different than normal slate does, even though it doesn’t look it.

              • #12
                I’m glad you got out some that point is very interesting, thanks for sharing your finds
                NW Georgia,

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                • #13
                  Here is a good example of an argillite point with what seems like not much work went into fashioning it. They always seem to have large, flat areas. Some of the unifacial ones are definetly made from flakes, but that does not seem to be the case here....

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                  Rhode Island

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                  • SurfaceHunter
                    SurfaceHunter commented
                    Editing a comment
                    Very nice edge work not all were made to be pretty but were well used. I’d put that nice example in a frame

                • #14
                  They are interesting, even if they aren’t super pretty. Thanks for sharing them
                  South Dakota

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                  • #15
                    Now imagine those rolling around int the surf for a while then trying to convince someone (or perhaps yourself) that you have an artifact....
                    Great examples Charlie!!

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