antler pressure flaking artifacts

[GatorBoy]

I have found some antler pressure flaking tools on one of my sites that are always the same section close to the skull. I was hoping someone had the same or knew a bit about why that portion might be preferred. Is that section harder? The larger one appears to have been used for a long time. It has been modified some and is heavily polished on the side that faced the hand

 

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[GatorBoy]

Thanks for replying NC. The material those are made from grooves rather easily. The sand stone feels pretty sturdy and has some weight.... but.... it can't handle impact. Bumping across the bottom on a seign type net it will do fine. Blunt force would destroy it. They have been found in context in direct relation to net material in large numbers. Like with the ones I posted that a toatal of three were found that day..several more over a period of time. I have some more examples.. they are pretty crude. One that came from the same place was made of a sedimentary rock and is solid.... I belive heavier more permanent weights were spaced out along the bottom of the net with quick effective replacement stones were used to fill the bulk of the space.

 

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[GatorBoy]

 

[GatorBoy]

I don't know if you can see the groove on that one it runs away from the hole across the larger part of the stone" I probably should have held it the other way with the hole on the bottom" my assumption is that... by tieing through the hole with that part facing down it would protect the cordage from wear.

 

[tomclark]

Oyster shell I'm sure was used. Here are a few examples. I'm not so sure about someone making a hole to kill an oyster before shucking.. its not like they were going to run away.

View attachment 722596

Classic Arca Net Weights

 

[GatorBoy]

Hi Tom.. Arca is on the money

 

[tomclark]

Well, this thread is all over the place, hahahaha!

Check out this rather small and blah looking piece of shell. If you saw just the shell on a site and you didn't recognize the tool and/or the work on it, you'd have walked right over this piece. Link is to Key Marco collection pics of some perishable stuff and other stuff found in a wet site. Recognizing tools and pieces of them and recognizing work/wear is paramount, yes paramount LOL, when finding and collecting shell tools. Gatorboy those stones are definitely weights. Many times they didn't even have to drill them because they had fossilized wormholes/critterholes in them and they used them as they were, and you see just a little wear if at all where the cordage rubbed. Around here they like Pleistocene stone that had holes in it and they are usually flat and hand sized. "If it was holed, they used it" boom. GB, haven't you found worn/abraded clamshell bits on sites? I've found an awful lot and I'm not talking about shell food debitage/refuse. I find them abraded in all stages until they are a ground up nub or piece.
I believe they used shell powder for some kind of eating, paint, tempering pottery or who knows what, and used a lot of it. But these pieces are found in the middens and on top of them, not just eroding out and rolled around in the surf.
Don't have pics of these yet.
Calcium, chalk...Jeez don't tell me they had bad heartburn!!! Ya know , one of the most common bottles found in dumps is for hearburn/dyspepsia......and is still one of the most common human health problems (if you aint eatin' right@!!@@@).
Key Marco Collection Image Gallery | South Florida Archaeology & Ethnography | Florida Museum

Wonder what this shell piece is from a similar site, not rolled around in the water or surf, found atop a midden?.....!

 

[GatorBoy]

TOM... I know exactly what your talking about! Let me see If I can locate a photo. Also... the key Marco collection.. like Pineland and others in the archives of the South Florida archaeological collections are a great source of information for us local guys... even the historic collections can shed a lot of light on things you might see out there. I think these photos might illustrate the thread spool and the ground shell.

 

[GatorBoy]