A Rare Late Paleo, Agate Basin-Found in MA 2017

[MAMucker]

This large heavily patinated point was made from a regional lithic material known locally as Wakefield “Salt & Pepper” Rhyolite.

It was found in 2017 in South Plymouth MA on the perimeter of a construction site. The ground had been machine graded and the rains exposed this point.

One side is finely finished with excellent secondary flaking intact. The opposite side was left somewhat unfinished on the upper-middle edge due to a material defect (best guess) indicated by stacking.

The point was utilized as the base is ground on both sides and bottom. There is a mysterious dark staining on both sides of the tip and a lighter staining at the halting area.

The point is 3-3/8” long x 1-3/8”













View attachment 1730285
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[joshuaream]

I look forward to seeing it, the pics didn’t make through.

 

[arrow86]

Nice point , not sure I would have typed it as Paleo era but not from your area

 

[MosesOfTheSouth]

have you sent it to a local archaeologist to confirm it's legitimacy?

 

[Charl]

Jeff Boudreau included "Eastern Agate Basin" in his expanded "A New England Typology of Native American Projectile Points"(2016). The flaking can be random, oblique, or horizontal. The lithics are regional, not exotic, and rhyolite was commonly used. They are usually sporadic, isolated finds, but a friend found an Eastern Agate Basin component at a site on Martha's Vineyard, and Boudreau illustrated his finds. They are almost always found as bases. I have found a couple of bases at a site with Late Paleo through Contact components. There is a Middle Woodland lanceolate form, known as Greene, which can be confused with earlier forms.

Here are some Eastern Agate Basins from New England:

 

[MAMucker]

Nice point , not sure I would have typed it as Paleo era but not from your area

Thanks Arrow86.

I thought Eastern Maryland is a part of the NE Region.

I have found broken Agate Basin types (thankfully I found the stem end). But, this was the first whole point of this type that I was lucky enough to find.

The type has not been dated in New England to date except by association (9600+ BP). They are found in many regions of the United States and have been consistently dated between 8600 to 10500 BP which falls in the Transitional or Late Paleo through Early Archaic Periods.

Do you think it resembles a different type?

 

[MAMucker]

Jeff Boudreau included "Eastern Agate Basin" in his expanded "A New England Typology of Native American Projectile Points"(2016). The flaking can be random, oblique, or horizontal. The lithics are regional, not exotic, and rhyolite was commonly used. They are usually sporadic, isolated finds, but a friend found an Eastern Agate Basin component at a site on Martha's Vineyard, and Boudreau illustrated his finds. They are almost always found as bases. I have found a couple of bases at a site with Late Paleo through Contact components. There is a Middle Woodland lanceolate form, known as Greene, which can be confused with earlier forms.

Here are some Eastern Agate Basins from New England:

View attachment 1730462

Thank you Charl!

This was a completely random find on a hill about 8 miles inland from Buzzards Bay into Plymouth. It was a twenty+ acre development, cleared and graded. There were no other artifacts found. And, I had the time and opportunity to examine the entire surface.

 

[EccentricInTexas]

Neat find!!!

 

[joshuaream]

Neat relic.

Whether they are directly related to Agate Basin points, or simply part of the broader lanceolate traction that was at least as old as Clovis (Haskett, Jobo) in many areas and hung around for longer afterwards (AB, Angostura, Hell Gap, Cougar Mountain, Ohio Lanceolate), those are pretty cool old points.

Personally I tend to clump those in with Ohio Lanceolate points more than actual Agate Basin points.

 

[ToddsPoint]

Agate Basin points found here in IL are ground on the sides but not the bottom. Gary

 

[MAMucker]

Agate Basin points found here in IL are ground on the sides but not the bottom. Gary

Thank you Todd,

Do you have any thoughts regarding the flaking on this Point?

 

[Charl]

As an aside, and for general information, here is the temporal sequence of Paleo points from the far Northeast....

 

[Charl]

Neat relic.

Whether they are directly related to Agate Basin points, or simply part of the broader lanceolate traction that was at least as old as Clovis (Haskett, Jobo) in many areas and hung around for longer afterwards (AB, Angostura, Hell Gap, Cougar Mountain, Ohio Lanceolate), those are pretty cool old points.

Personally I tend to clump those in with Ohio Lanceolate points more than actual Agate Basin points.

Here is an excellent article by our regional Paleo authorities. One does have to register with JSTOR to read their offerings, but individuals can sign up for free, and do not require academic associations. As the authors state in their discussion of Agate Basin-like points from the New England Maritime region, if and when this particular type is found in a datable context, they will receive a formal regional name:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/40914526

 

[joshuaream]

Charl,

I haven’t read that paper, but I will soon. Thank you for posting the link. For others who don’t like the paywall, it’s easy for anyone with a free gmail account to link to that site and read papers for free. I have a gmail that is just for
google logins on sites like these.

I’ll try to find the paper about similar looking pieces from Ohio and Pennsylvania that at least some people are now calling them Angostura related vs Agate Basin related. Probably splitting hairs, but it’s interesting to see how these types have evolved over the last 50 years.

Joshua

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Great find, congrats! Looking forward to hearing about the possible history of the artifact!