Metal points

[11KBP]

CMD wrote:


Photo of the edges of my two triangles, small one on left. Notice the difference in thickness of the two. The small one is typical of all the other such points I've seen or owned. The thicker one is atypical in that respect, and I had some doubts it was an actual point for that reason, when I found it. ( "I thought metal points were thinner then this?)

  If you do a search on trade vessels you will note that the brass and copper vessels came in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some look like kettles, some look like pails, some with lids. Some excavated examples I have seen appeared more like pans with no handles. I really doubt that they were all made of the same gauge of material.
  If the metal was of usable thickness, whether brass, copper or iron the NA’s would try and make points from it.

[chase]

11KBP those are some great examples. Another thing,  trade points were tempered or at least some. I have seen an Native American made point that was not and curled up from an impact. I also have some kettle knives. As I see it,  if it could be used the did it. and if not they tried it.

[11KBP]

chase wrote:

11KBP those are some great examples. Another thing,  trade points were tempered or at least some. I have seen an Native American made point that was not and curled up from an impact.

  When they hit bone the thin brass points bent or curled quite easily.
All it took was one shot into the lungs and the bison was doomed.

[clovisoid]

Great thread, I love relics like that that come from a very short window of time.
In Florida we have a slightly earlier Spanish contact window of time that produces trade material points along with beads.  Flattened iron nails were common, as well as brass triangles, and even some glass -and- porcelain shards that were ground sharp and hafted in the lithic poor southern part of the state.  You see them in collections excavated from sites, but almost never in private collections because most people simply don't recognize them unless they have a classic arrowhead shape.
Kettles in a lot of areas seem to have been used and patched over and over again, they were probably too valuable a trade item to break up into points.