Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
|
Post by Sabre52 on Nov 24, 2010 10:42:08 GMT -5
Howdy folks, I was out feeding the blackbuck herd this morning and I found this 3 1/2" point by the water trough. The critters had kicked it out of the ground and of course it's been trampled upon or broken during use so it's far from perfect. I still get a kick out of it whenever I find one of these just laying around.....Mel
|
|
|
Post by jakesrocks on Nov 24, 2010 10:58:41 GMT -5
Cool find Mel. I occasionally find small game points when I'm digging in the flower beds or garden. I'll dig them out one of these days, and post a pic.
Don
|
|
|
Post by gaetzchamp on Nov 25, 2010 0:42:48 GMT -5
Mel-
That's a really cool find.
|
|
MikeS
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since January 2009
Posts: 1,081
|
Post by MikeS on Nov 26, 2010 23:40:27 GMT -5
awesome find!
|
|
|
Post by mohs on Nov 28, 2010 22:46:37 GMT -5
Wow Mel What a find! Is the rock native to the area? Do you know what kind of rock it is? Do you know the dating and or Indians that made it?
Thanks! Ed
|
|
Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
|
Post by Sabre52 on Nov 29, 2010 0:24:22 GMT -5
Ed: The material is a native flint from right here on the hill by my house. Huge rounded nodules are to be found by the thousands right around our yard. I'd place it early to middle archaic period about five thousand years old. There is a bit of earlier stuff and later stuff here on the ranch but most we find is from these two periods. Apparently there was a huge camp area down by our creek and several flint quarry sites ( tan, Edwards black, Rootbeer flint etc) where the Amerinds worked up blanks for trade to the east of us. Since these are prehistoric Amerinds we don't know their names so they are usually named for the point type or culture. The Pedernales Culture is the most common here but lots of others mixed in too. Most the points are pre bow and arrow ( atl atl darts points). Unfortunately, due to the rocky ground, most hunting losses are broken and whole points are fairly rare. The old timers said when the ranch was laid out, you could pick up a pocket full of perfect points in half an hour *sigh*....Mel
|
|
|
Post by texaswoodie on Nov 29, 2010 7:03:52 GMT -5
Cool Mel. I'd be out there with a shovel every day. They would probably run me off because the whole area would look like a war zone.
Curt
|
|
|
Post by mohs on Nov 29, 2010 10:29:04 GMT -5
That’s fascinating history Mel Would you say that these early Amerinds were attracted to the area because of the flint resources? Because of its value as point making material?
|
|
Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,466
|
Post by Sabre52 on Nov 29, 2010 11:09:11 GMT -5
RD: Judging form the amount and long duration of knapping activity, I'd say the flint resource was a major draw. One should not rule out the combination of fine campsites with good water, oaks for acorns etc etc. Virtually every sheltered site along the creek or by springs shows signs of habitation. It's the loss of topsoil here in the overgrazed hill country that sort of crunches all the artifacts together in the thin topsoil layer and makes the artifact hunting interesting. Strange to find a 5000 year old point on the surface by the mailbox but they cannot be buried deeply because the remaining soil is too shallow. Flint from this area is found as artifacts all over east Texas so it was a valuable resource.....Mel
|
|