Could this base be Paleo?

[oxbowbarefoot]

This Quartz base was found in Western Massachusetts at the same site I found my Clovis point. It has a similar shape to the base of the Clovis and thins enough in the center to possibly be fluted. It was definitely ground at the base like the Clovis. Also found at the site was this chunk of worked Normanskill chert. Is it a tool or a blade core?

 

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[redbeardrelics]

IMO, it looks like it could be Paleo age. The base looks more thinned than fluted, but with that grade of quartz material long flutes probably would not have been possible. The only other diagnostic point "type" with that shaped base would probably be a triangle form, but most of them would not be heavily ground. Since you have already found Paleo artifacts at that site, chances are that the quartz point base is as well. The dark chert piece looks like a core fragment, or possibly just a rock they cracked open to see if a point or tool could be made from it, but with those veins, inclusions, and the way it broke, it was probably just rejected in favor of another piece of material? HH

 

[oxbowbarefoot]

IMO, it looks like it could be Paleo age. The base looks more thinned than fluted, but with that grade of quartz material long flutes probably would not have been possible. The only other diagnostic point "type" with that shaped base would probably be a triangle form, but most of them would not be heavily ground. Since you have already found Paleo artifacts at that site, chances are that the quartz point base is as well. The dark chert piece looks like a core fragment, or possibly just a rock they cracked open to see if a point or tool could be made from it, but with those veins, inclusions, and the way it broke, it was probably just rejected in favor of another piece of material? HH

Thanks for the input. I agree with your assessment of the base. It almost looks more like a Dalton base than Clovis because it is thinned rather than fluted. I don't think it is a triangle, although I have found many of those at the site as well (it's a multi component site in a plow zone). I don't think its a triangle because the edges don't taper inward to nearly the same degree as others from the site. The core is Normanskill chert, which is not local to our area but was traded frequently. I have a feeling it was utilized to exhaustion and discarded after no more viable tools could be made from it. I would estimate that about 30% of the artifacts I find at the site are Normanskill Chert, 60% quartz/quartzite, and 10% other (felsite, basalt, slate, other traded exotic lithics).

I did't realize the picture posted sideways, I'll try to correct and re-post a couple.

 

[Charl]

I think it could very well be Paleo as well. A couple of things to consider. Middle Archaic Snappit points, almost always made of quartz, have grinding on the base. Most would have a deeper concave base then your base, however. Then there is the Late Archaic Beekman triangle. Also with grinding on the base. Usually has a straight base, but some are gently concave. I suppose your base could fall within Beekman range, but I might still lean earlier based on what you're finding there. Finally, just for comparison, here is a likely early piece, basal thinning, and lateral edge/basal grinding, from NW Ma. Specifically, from the town of Deerfield. Finally, this article by Wm. Fowler includes illustrations of fluted point forms from Ma and RI, including some from NW Ma.....

http://library.bridgew.edu/exhibits/BMAS/pdf/MAS-v16n01.pdf

 

[Charl]

Note that the Fowler article shows a "white crystalline quartz" fluted point from the Ct. Valley. So we do know the early hunters used quartz in that neck of the woods.....