ohio river find

[musky44]

im getting better at identifying points and im pretty sure i know what it is, if u dont mind i would like to here your opinions, see if im right. thanks found it on the banks of the ohio, also found some poisin ivy somewhere along the way, worst ive ever had it. its dried up now and yes it was worth it. [attach3]

 

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[donnaplace]

nice

 

[Th3rty7]

Decatur or Kirk would be my guess...nice one musky.

 

[7creeks]

Nice find!

 

[musky44]

thanks guys . i was thinking it may be a snapped base kirk. i am very curious about the material i have never seen these colors before around these parts or even in pictures. im stumped on this one.

 

[Ohioan]

Don't get me started on this snapped base thing That is some cool material, I find some similar to it, actually found a flake of it the other day, but the material I find is more brownish yours seems to have some bueish to it. The cresent shaped specs I think are fossil inclusions if you wanna find out what type of flint that it is I would lookup a type that is likely to have microfossils in it. I never find the time to study flint types, I would like to know more about that topic myself. Could the snapped base theory have been originated by people that just hate heartbreakers ? Killer find

 

[Ohioan]

Nah

 

[Tnmountains]

Don't get me started on this snapped base thing That is some cool material, I find some similar to it, actually found a flake of it the other day, but the material I find is more brownish yours seems to have some bueish to it. The cresent shaped specs I think are fossil inclusions if you wanna find out what type of flint that it is I would lookup a type that is likely to have microfossils in it. I never find the time to study flint types, I would like to know more about that topic myself. Could the snapped base theory have been originated by people that just hate heartbreakers ? Killer find

It's weird how the fragile ears will be there and the base is snapped with good patina. I think it may have been a technology that was used but did not last. Of course not every broken base is made that way but some old ones like Kirks sure seem to have been done that way. I dug a rock shelter once with decent size points and the bases were all snapped. Only years later did I hear of the theory of the snapped base.
If you think of something being propelled at large game it seems the snap base might give more stability. Just a guess though. Be a good theory to try shoot down or even substantiate.

 

[SouthernGirl]

I have a couple that have those snapped looking bases and they still have the outside rind of the stone on the base. Don't know if you can see in this picture but this is the only one I have on this computer.

upper left corner

 

[Ohioan]

It's weird how the fragile ears will be there and the base is snapped with good patina. I think it may have been a technology that was used but did not last. Of course not every broken base is made that way but some old ones like Kirks sure seem to have been done that way. I dug a rock shelter once with decent size points and the bases were all snapped. Only years later did I hear of the theory of the snapped base.
If you think of something being propelled at large game it seems the snap base might give more stability. Just a guess though. Be a good theory to try shoot down or even substantiate.

I think the answer is that most so called 'arrowheads' and 'spear heads' were not projectile points but actually hafted knife blades. With that in mind, it makes sense that many 'snapped base' points are missing their stems which were the tangs. Applying too much pressure during a cutting task -such as skinning a big animal- caused the knife to snap off at the place it was hafted into the antler, bone or wooden handle. That's how an 'arrowhead' or 'spearhead' can be missing its stem but have undamaged barbs/ears.

Definately the most logical explaination.

 

[Th3rty7]

The material looks like Coshocton. I'm not sold on the whole snapped base theory either but there is a consistency in the way these snapped base Kirks are " snapped ". Sometimes the ears are snapped as well. I guess it's something we just have to deal with because it's widely accepted among collectors, dealers, I.D. guides, etc. If it is just a break from heavy use, why isn't there a similar pattern of base breaks in hundreds of other types of hafted knives? I'm sure we've all found points with base breaks but the consistency of Kirks with snapped bases makes me think the theory is possible.

 

[texaspoint]

nice point

 

[*Molly*]

Also maybe, with deer running through the woods, the hunter is bound to hit a few trees, that would also explain the stem breaking rather than the ears..

Molly..

 

[musky44]

wow!! that is some great info. definatly gets my wheels turning. appreciate all your comments and opinions