Any Archeologists' in the group?

Bluebark

Junior Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2019
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46
Last summer we were smoothing out a load of fill in my buddies drive way and run into spear point. I believe from some research, this is a paleolithic era artifact but not positive...sorry about the link. When I posted the pic...it took up my whole screen.
https://i.imgur.com/jbGfJou.jpg
 
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Very cool find. Hopefully, someone will be able to help you on this site. I am fortunate to live about 30 miles from Cahokia Mounds. Once a year, they bring in archaeologists and have a free "Ask An Archaeologist Day" when you can bring in arrowheads, ancient tools, etc. and they tell you all about what you have.
 
@orangemetalman I am anti social media, so the data miner site is out. But thanks for the heads up.

@Lee1986 The mound people, now there's an interesting story! I'm a little leery about taking it to the state museum. I've heard they have a habit of keeping things.
 
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She said it is definitely a hoe and from the early woodland to missippians time period when they started to farm. Also said that's not that early as far as time periods go, but it's a very desirable piece to collectors. Could probable get some bucks for it. How much..? I don't know.

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A Hoe? Man was I off on that call...I feel a little deflated lol. Thought I really had something. I took a new set of pics and uploaded them. It is great that your friend is taking the time to look it over. Please convey my respect and thanks for again for giving her professional view on the artifact.

https://i.imgur.com/skUmUQF.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/KGKXMdv.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/hivlShC.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/gTiMwEv.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/EQLTmHf.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/HA7Kzyh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/EE9EIYp.jpg
 
Without holding it in my hand and measuring to gauge size I would just call it a discarded biface. It looks like the maker ran into issues while in the reduction phase. It looks like a stack developed on one side. It really does not look diagnostic of any certain time period or point type. All artifacts are nice to find though.
 
I think the hoe theory is wrong. Reasoning for disputing it's a hoe is edges don't appear to be ground for hafting to a shaft and there is zero hoe polish on the digging end. Utilized hoes and spades would show signs of use polish. Hoe and spade tend to be fairly wide for their length so it's dimensions would be a determining
factor in saying what you have.
 
@longbow62 It is 6.5" x 2.5" at the base. If the tip was still on it it would probably be around 7.5". The thickness around the base is about an inch. I believe the material is chert and the piece has a high resonance when tapped with a metal object. It has a nice lilting sound when moving around in you hand. If you have fondled a lot of stone objects, you know what I am talking about. It also has that waxy look and that's saying something for chert.
 
According to your dimensions It does not really seem wide enough for a hoe. I have never seen one that narrow, but who knows. A nice find regardless.
 
Thanks everyone for taking the time to comment and give an opinion. I just don't understand why he would work on a piece with such a big inclusion? Seems like a whole lot of work for little gain.
 
Could have been a scraper, or if it had a tip; a drill. Or maybe a spear point at one time, that broke or got reworked into another tool. Almost looks like a type of Guilford, but not sure what part of the country you are in. Definitely Something.
 
Yep...it was in two pieces. I did find out that the load came from the white city lake area of Hamilton, NJ. I don't know if had a tip at one time. The end is really rough, not a clean brake like you would expect if the tip were to snap of. It also looks like there is oxidation so it may have been broken for some time. The more I fondle it, the stranger it gets. It is very asymmetrical. Fat and smooth with small flaking on one side, thin and scalloped on the other.
 
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