The thing about flakes

[Airborne80]

I am pretty new at this but am learning a lot and am out an about every chance I get, in search of points. I see from my reading and from photos posted on this site that most of the points have distinctive flaking on them. Now....... I am in Virginia and I rarely find points with clear cut flaking on them. What I have learned is....... the flaking marks really depend upon the material that was used to make the point. In other words... some material just lacks the obvious flaking marks that others have. What are your thoughts on this?

 

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[Cannonman17]

You are 100% right about the flaking scars being more obvious on some materials than others. Various types of quartzites, like you have here I think, can be very difficult to see the flaking scars but in most cases you will still be able to see some, not in the same kind of detail you would with good flint but none the less.. this piece you have here has the shape but no, I don't believe it is an artifact. Don't worry- I won't get in any long winded argument with the others who are sure to come and say nice point- only one mans opinion here, take it for what it's worth. Oh, I have to add one last thing, I see a lot of points made from quartz and similar materials (in some areas it seems to compose 95% of all the points) but I have not seen one made of this type of quartz (doesn't mean they didn't).

 

[Airborne80]

Thank you for your thoughts on this.... I mean it when I say that I appreciate it. A large part of the fun in this ... is the education that I am getting by way of books, investigating the sites on the ground and of course..... hearing form the folks on this site that have experience. The only reason that I picked this one up is because I have been reading about "Morrow Mountain" points in the Overstreet guide. They show some made of Quartzite and Rhyolite that look just like the item that I show here. I will keep these in my "not quite sure" box, haha.

 

[Hugh Mongus]

I'm down here just south of the VA/NC line on I-95. If I had found that shape in higher grade quartz, that is, clearer, not milky, I would be looking very closely at the point edges for signs of being worked. I have found points very similar to that shape with flaking. Hugh

 

[Airborne80]

Thanks Hugh....... I have a couple of these and under lens, I see flaking marks. They are just not very defined. It seems like a tough stone to work with. None of the tips are very sharp either.

 

[*Molly*]

Airborn, Thats what we in Nc/Va call an ugly point, its a Morrow Mountain, looks like its seen better days too. On ugly points you won't see any flaking or sharp edges. still a good find well done.

Molly.

 

[Airborne80]

Thanks Molly..... I did find it in the Overstreet Guide and you are correct! Its a Morrow Mountain I do agree that of all of the arrowheads a guy can find..... its not very attractive hahah. But...... I will take it any way that I can get it at this point. Thanks again.

 

[Airborne80]

Molly.... or anyone..... if you have a Morrow Mountain point, could you please post it here so that I can compare it to this one? That might help resolve the issue of the absence of flakeing marks. I would appreciate it

 

[*Molly*]

Why isn't there an uploader for pics to post?

 

[*Molly*]

GA36 & GA40 are Morrow Mountains.

Molly.

 

[Airborne80]

Wow Molly! Those all rock!! My situation here is that with some of the material that I am dealing with... the flaking is far from obvious. I wish all of the points in this area were easier to I.D. haha. Thanks for showing those awesome points!