Massive Clovis Preform found this past weekend

[scuba1970]

Have a small knoll that produces some stuff once in a while and pow there it was. This beast is 6 3/8 long by 2 1/4 wide and made of either Hixon quartzite or a local variety of sugar Quartz. Pics do not do it justice, when light hits just right it sparkles like crazy and shows some beautiful paleo flaking. Looks like base was setup for fluting but never was. I've found a nice thumb nail scraper off site and last year found a massive clovis midsection. Have never found anything else on site except for an occasional flake and a few hammerstones. Hope you enjoy looking at as I did finding.

 

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[scuba1970]

Same general shape I agree but knapping different style than the late archaic wadlows. Pics are very bad representation of flaking. Completely different knapping. The archaeologist who looked at specializes in fluted point tradition and materials and agreed completey that is of early paleo/clovis manufacturer.

I appreciate the input though. That's an amazing wadlow you have.

I think it looks more like a Wadlow blade than Clovis....

"Wadlow

Chapman (1975:251-2) notes that Wadlow points are found primarily in Northeast Missouri. The diagnostic feature of this artifact is the fact that the blade is medium to long with edges that are either convex (out curving) or straight. Chapman notes that length ranges from 80 to 250 mm; thickness is ranges from 11 mm to 19 mm. Perino (1968:98) noted that the Wadlow points are often found in caches on blufftop sites. Chapman (1975:252) places this artifact type in the Late Archaic Period (3000 to 1000 BC). Morrow (1984:16) notes that Wadlow points are rare in Iowa and narrows their age to 2000 to 1000 BC."
Wadlow point

Here is Wadlow blade in my collection found on Il side of St Louis, it came from the collection of Tony Bakutis, VP IL. State Archology Society ..

 

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[Treasure_Hunter]

Couple more Wadlows...

 

[Johncoho]

Really nice piece. Congrats.

 

[shoague]

clovis person held that many a year ago and flaked bits of it off to its current shape. If the DNA of that person was still available on that bit of rock, what would it tell us. The daily concerns of providing for the families. Worrying if the kids would be OK today........

 

[scuba1970]

Treasure Hunter, context is key to id'ing these artifacts also, you've shown some similar blades and where if I had found other late archaic artifacts with or even somewhat close to this area I may have thought it could possibly be later culture. But, all that has been found so far on knoll are early paleo items.
It's really easy to throw out choices when not holding item in hand and not knowing area where found. It has been looked at by a early paleo specialist and he agrees with me. I'm also not a newbie when it comes to paleo tools and sites and stand by my claim of this being early paleo/clovis preform. With this material the pictures do not show the true knapping features of this preform, the material washes out scars in pics. This preform does have the classic clovis "outré passe" flaking that wasn't used post clovis period. And while on material, hixton was commonly used in paleo times but don't think I've ever seen a Wadlow made of Hixton or sugar Quartz. Since showing more pics here are a couple clovis preforms from the Topper site...could be wadlow, but not.

 

[scuba1970]

Clovis preform from Lamb site. Not wadlow. We could go on for days but that's not why posted my original post. I hope everyone enjoys the new find. It was amazing to pull out of ground. Wish me luck with more finds on site.

 

[Simon1]

Both scuba1970 and Treasure_Hunter have very nice finds. When we were younger we lived maybe a few hundred yards from what is known as the Carlise Clovis Cache Site. We use to find some neat items there and none of the area was closed. It was still being plowed and used for crops.

 

[CRUSADER]

 

[DMN]

Wow. What else can be said? It's beautiful.

 

[jewelerguy]

dang you could take down a wooly mammoth with that thing. awesome find!

 

[sutphin]

NICE FIND , AND I WONDER HOW MANY ARROW POINTS HAND FORMED STONE UTENSILS AND NATIVE ARTIFACTS THAT I FOUND THOUGHT TO BE NOTHING AND DIDNT KNOW ABOUT AND DISCARDED AWAY . I QUALIFY FOR THE DA AWARD ....

 

[Mark Todd]

Great find congratulations! Finding anything that BIG that escaped plow over all the years is truly amazing!
A good friend of mine found a very nice Clovis made of Hixton silicified sandstone here my County (Fulton,Illinois), so I know how it sparkles in the sunshine.
Having a vivid imagination I would already be dreaming that possibly it's just the first of a cache of preforms thats been forced to the surface. I think I'd have to go back with a probe when the soil was rain soft and poke around a little, I know it's a long shot but if I didn't I would wonder, anyway congratulations again and I hope there's more to come for ya.