These artifacts were found on an 80 acre section of land that is adjacent
to the sod farm and it has two large sites and some smaller ones.
Starting at the top is a large unifacial artifact with rather nice workmanship,
the next two points are St. Albans, followed by a partial Fox Valley.
Second row starts with two Brewerton, the first of which the sod-cutter
didn’t damage. Next we have a Matanzas, followed by two Late Archaic-Woodland
points and these were all found on the front site, along with five broken,
early 18th century English pipe stems, reflecting some type of early contact
before the settlers came to this area I should think. The artifacts
shown below the pipe stems are one uniface in row four, two preforms or
scrapers, and a nice Greenbrier, all found in the back section of the 80
acres. The last row starts with a Kanawha Stemmed bifurcate followed
by what is believed to be another Big Sandy, then possibly a Fox Valley
preform, a Kirk hafted scraper, another little serrated “I don’t know”,
and lastly, a Jack’s Reef........or what is left of one I should
say.
Margo Hupe
Shown in the first row, left, is a large unifacial scraper of exceptional
form and beauty--uniface tools represent the Paleo and Early Archaic
Periods, and were used to work hide, bone, wood and antler into useful
implements or garments. Next are three Fox Valley projectile points--while
damaged, they nonetheless exhibit the type's clean lines and delicate form.
Fox Valley Points are also dated to the Early Archaic Period.
Second row, left to right: Two Brewerton points, whose origins
lie to the
New England states, and which date to the Late Archaic Period.
A Matanzas-type point follows--this type dates to the Late Archaic
and Early Woodland Periods. Two untyped Late Archaic-Woodland points
finish them second row.
The third row displays five broken, early 18th century English pipe
stems, reflecting early contact before the region was settled.
Row 4 offers a fine little uniface scraper, two preforms or possible
late
phase Early Archaic Period scrapers, and an excellent little Greenbrier
Point. Note how often Early Archaic points and knives display serrations
along the blade. Following the close of the Paleo Period, and with
it the
subsequent extinctions of numerous megafauna, Indian Peoples were forced
to become more ingenious in their application of hunting-techniques. To
this end, traps and snares were developed, and as a result of the increases
in game killed by means other than traditional hunting-methods, more knives
were needed to process game with. Projectile points with serrations may
have even served dual purposes, effectively bringing down game in the hunt,
followed by use as a knife for processing both hunted and trapped
game-animals.
The last row shows a Kanawha Stemmed bifurcate, a Big Sandy point,
a preform (Fox Valley ?), a Kirk blunt (hafted scraper), a fine little
Greenbrier, and lastly, a damaged Jack’s Reef-type point.
Again and again, the assembled artifacts from local farmers and collectors
points up the significant numbers of early-period specimens to be found
in
the region, which in turn illustrate the probability that this region
was
productive for Paleo- and Early Archaic-Period peoples. Too, this also
shows that later peoples may not have found the region so productive, due
to environmental changes wrought by the passing of the last glacial period.
Stone Sweet
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