My First

[RN4586]

Found at 12000ft, SW mountains of Colorado (Ute territory), in an area treed with very small conifers, just adjacent to a large, flat open alpine meadow. My remedial knowledge and ability to research has led me to believe it is an archaic drill/borer. Yay or nay? Any way to arrive at a date range? I very much appreciate any shared wisdom!

 

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[joshuaream]

Great looking artifact. The material looks like Alibates from the Texas panhandle. I am not sure about pinning it down to the Archaic, I've seen late prehistoric Alibates drills made by the same people who made Harahey knives (the Antelope Creek phase people out on the plains.)

What I would bet you a dollar on is that there are likely other items to be found up in that high altitude site.

 

[RN4586]

We've already got a date to return penned in. Problem is access, the road to the trailhead is only suited for very nimble machines. It was my sister's humble opinion that perhaps I'd stumbled upon a camp, as this is a tool vs. weapon. Thoughts on that?

 

[sandchip]

Great looking drill!

 

[joshuaream]

It was my sister's humble opinion that perhaps I'd stumbled upon a camp, as this is a tool vs. weapon. Thoughts on that?

Your sister is correct. I think tool from a camp more than a weapon.

For a long time collectors didn't really expect to find much really high up in the mountains, simply because living year around isn't easy up there.

It turns out that there was a lot of traffic chasing Elk and Bighorn seasonally at high elevations. And in the last 20 years archaeologists have found a surprising number small sites (likely hunting camps) well above the tree line where groups harvested Mountain Goats, marmots, pikas, etc. Those non-traditional proteins were probably important at times. They might not have supported big groups for generations, but you could hike up and get them in a pinch if you were willing to have kids chase down and eat pika.

One of the benefits of 13K or 14K is that meat is really easy to preserve, it freeze dries and there aren't as many scavengers hanging around.

 

[Tdog]

I was thinking alibates before I read Joshua's response. Great find!

 

[GaRebel1861]

Beautiful drill. I like the material that it is made of.

 

[Tony in SC]

Nice drill. Great color!

 

[Saguache]

Beautiful drill, with it being that well crafted and at a high altiutude recovery my bet's on Uintas time frame as compared to older Puebloan
culture [someting after 1300] and a probable camp utensil.

I don't think it's Alibates though, too brown, and there are several lithic sources in the region that have that look. Just my 2cents...

 

[Tdog]

I don't think it's Alibates though, too brown, and there are several lithic sources in the region that have that look. Just my 2cents...

Maybe so but it doesn't look brown at all on this 23" acer monitor I'm using.

 

[Saguache]

Maybe RN could say what color he sees...

 

[catherine1]

Nice drill recovery.........at 12,000 feet. That thing is a killer artifact.

 

[RN4586]

She sees the top band as red/brown, middle band is white, bottom band is almost opalescent. I didn't mess with the photo is at all, and tried to keep with WB and exposure at natural.

 

[A2coins]

Wowza great first still waiting on mine. Well done. Tommy

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Beautiful Drill. My first thought was Alibates.