Maine Maritime Archaic

[mainejman]

Heres the bottom piece of a hexagonal banded slate bayonet.The stem has grooves cut in the sides..This bayonet could have originally been over a foot long.This bayonet was used to dispatch maritime fish and mammals by the red paint people...mjm

 

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[old digger]

Very Nice! I assume that it was all there it would be similar to the one in your avatar?

 

[Charl]

Here are some slate points, up to bayonet size, from the Maritime Archaic of Maine. 35cm=~14" long. Also, other Late Archaic cultures in the Northeast utilized ground slate weaponry, and the stems were often notched as mjm mentioned.
Example shown from RI showing notched stem.....

Hope you snag a complete bayonet some day, mjm. But you'll be hard pressed to top the point in your avatar!

 

[rock]

Sweet find

 

[Mark Todd]

I always appreciate seeing the artifacts you find up in your neck of the woods mainejman, so different from most areas, but then again it is a somewhat different climate and I assume the coastal sea fishing was the mainstay of that groups culturally distinctive Archaic traits and in fact determined those traits as well. I always appreciate your extra info. as well "charl" , I can tell you've done your homework. I have a question, do either of you know whether the red paint culture was year around present "or" seasonally migratory? I know Indians and Eskimos could endure the harshest climates but also many of the Paleo and Archaic were also constantly on the move depending on the season and the
most obtainable steady food source.
I would imagine that one of those bayonets had an average life span of just one kill before breaking, making a "whole" find very rare outside of a burial context and those are rare in and of themselves. Thanks for showing HH.

 

[Tony in SC]

Good find! I had never seen one until I found this forum. Tony

 

[mainejman]

Thanks Mark I believe I read they wintered near the coast and then traveled up the streams and rivers in the spring.The fish weir discovered at Sebasticook lake had a significant role in changing this pattern.The amount of fish taken from this weir could have impacted the need to head to the coast each fall...mjm