Ramah Chert

[wells]

This is a personal find in the mid-80's, from Snyder Co. Pa. It is one of only a few pieces of ramah found in the Pa.- Md. area. A few experts think it may be a Lerma point. There's at least a half inch of the tip missing, which would have made it 3 1/2" in length. Can anyone report of other finds of this material ? THANKS.

 

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[wells]

I'd never heard of Ramah chert before. After doing some research I think it's really interesting it travelled as far south as the Chesapeake Bay and inland. More than 3000km according to one source I read. Also fluted types found in the upper north east made of this particular chert type imo support the " Atlantic ice bridge " theory in some degree.

I acquired a large Pa. collection some years ago from Dauphin Co. and there is some material that looks very similar to Ramah chert examples in a google image search I just did.

Particularly this biface.

http://nlarchaeology.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/img_07491.jpg

http://nlarchaeology.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/00071.jpg

INSIDE NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR ARCHAEOLOGY | Digging through the files? | Page 2 scroll down

Maine Memory Network - Native American long knife, ca. 3800 BP

Some eastern Pa. types that look like a match.

I believe all those you pictured are chalcedony which is very common in Pa. I think you would actually have to handle some ramah chert to get the idea.

 

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[wells]

Lookin at 37s I definitely have at least two points in that material.

Found two for now. One of the triangles is that chert.

Nope, no ramah chert in there either. Sorry.

 

[Charl]

Folks trying to recognize Ramah Chert in their collections should understand, while found, it is extraordinarily rare south of Maine, and one should not expect to find any in your collection, and, perhaps most important, despite its name, Ramah Chert is a form of translucent quartzite, and the grain is similar to sugar quartz(quartzite). Look at the Ramah Chert fluted point from Vt.