jamesp
Cave Dweller 
Member since October 2012
Posts: 35,976
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Post by jamesp on Mar 28, 2022 9:55:59 GMT -5
This is my 3rd trip to south Alabama. It is a new collecting zone I want to explore for rocks and artifacts. Close to home. Youtuber's claim artifacts can be found quite easily in the creeks and rivers, certainly not the case in the piedmont of Georgia. Yesterday proved true ! Judging from the sharp taper, sharp point and heavy weight this point looks like it was on the end of a thrust pole. That makes it useful for one animal - a slow moving mastodon. So it could very likely been an ice age artifact. Otherwise it could have been used as a digging tool or scraper likely by newer era Natives. We will never know. It was found on the quartzite gravel river bar below. It is made of some kind of unrecognizable chert meaning it was imported from at least 40 miles(closest known source). It is well river polished and has slight knicks along the edge that are not polished. It was found right on the Fall Line(shoreline on an ancient ocean beach that was 347 feet deeper than the present ocean). The smaller broken point is made of black quartzite and is also river polished. The quartzite is of high quality and variable in color and particle size. It has not been creek battered and well rounded as it is downstream. There is a layered vein source about 40 miles away. This find was a big victory because some of the quartzite is made of heat compressed sand of extremely fine particles making it glass like. I hope to find the source of this material. This batch has some fine colors and markings. The heavy machinery is used for extracting high grade quartzite landscape gravel. And I had a difficult time getting my 4WD back up the river banks. Quicksand comes to mind. Just as found with tip barely in river's edge:  Better views    Surroundings: Both gravel loaders had been under flood water  Played hell getting out back up the river banks  Lots of quartzite  Still not sure of the exact origin of the quartzite. There is a 1 foot thick vein of quartzite pebbles about halfway up the bankside on top of the blue clay layer. This is an much older deposit than washdown from veins upstream. The upstream vein material is grey, the pebbles in the bank are heavily colored probably due to chemical absorption over the years. The plot thickens.  |
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Post by rockpickerforever on Mar 28, 2022 10:01:07 GMT -5
Nice find, jamesp, congratulations! I'll bet you are over-the-top ecstatic! |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 35,976
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Post by jamesp on Mar 28, 2022 10:52:48 GMT -5
Nice find, jamesp, congratulations! I'll bet you are over-the-top ecstatic! bout crapped my pants Jean. (bit of southern colloquialism for you this fine Monday morning). I had just parked the vehicle and walked to the river's edge. It didn't look real. Seriously. The first creek I stopped at a couple of hours before I tripped over a vine 5 feet up and fell face first flat on a(soft thank God) muddy bar(more but much nastier southern colloquialisms). Georgia always said the missing link is in Alabama. Looks like this might be his spearpoint ! |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 35,976
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Post by jamesp on Mar 28, 2022 10:58:38 GMT -5
This crawl control works but it takes a long time. It was needed and used 1st time yesterday.
Soft Alabama beach sand mixed with gravel will sure stick your vehicle.
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Post by oregon on Mar 28, 2022 11:03:14 GMT -5
jamesp Awesome point. Certainly a lifetime find. So the Tundra got replaced by a FJ Cruiser?!
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Mar 28, 2022 11:06:32 GMT -5
Excellent find, jamesp! That thing is BIG.  |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 35,976
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Post by jamesp on Mar 28, 2022 11:33:39 GMT -5
jamesp Awesome point. Certainly a lifetime find. So the Tundra got replaced by a FJ Cruiser?! The Tundra did get replaced after 400,000 miles of heavy service oregon. It recently met it's final drive against a telephone pole. I couldn't believe that 20 year old bucket of dents still got $5000 in insurance total. Now I have to take another nice paint job and scratch it to pieces ! Rating the FJ a bit better in the off road dept. Just a bit though. |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 35,976
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Post by jamesp on Mar 28, 2022 11:37:44 GMT -5
Excellent find, jamesp! That thing is BIG. It stout design and sharp point really hints at a spear. That means a slow moving animal suggesting an ice age creature. That would be cool. Maybe future trips will result in Paleo/ice age artifacts. They are seriously rare. I ordered a new water toy to help me get around faster and further back in the woods. Check out Mokai. Excited. |
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Post by aDave on Mar 28, 2022 11:40:51 GMT -5
Wow, just wow.  |
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Post by rickb on Mar 28, 2022 12:19:18 GMT -5
Great find jamesp nice paleo point. |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 35,976
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Post by jamesp on Mar 28, 2022 12:25:54 GMT -5
Wow, just wow. Hello aDave ! Thanks for the wows lol. Probably won't repeat that find for years to come. |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 35,976
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Post by jamesp on Mar 28, 2022 12:40:16 GMT -5
Great find jamesp nice paleo point. And next time out I'll get skunked lol. That's the way the ball usually bounces. No much written on large blades like that. Any ideas ? Common scraper ? Digging implement ? Or used for the kill ? In your knapping experience have you ever run up on quartzite that is near shiny at the conchoidal fracture ? Almost no grains at all. I have found occasional chips of such material about Georgia but never the source. The 'pebbles' found with sharp square or rectangular shapes and a light frosting from wear in the river often chip like that from this site. They apparently don't round off as fast. This material rarely happens more than in inch thick plates. It might as well be like glass because it rarely has a crack in it and color varies like the rest of the quartzite from this spot. The other quartzites at this site tend to be very fine grained. Real nice stuff but usually the pebbles are often too small to get a knapping blank larger than 1.5 inches from. Intent is to find it's origin in veins upstream. I'll try for some photos. May not photo well. Thanks |
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Post by jasoninsd on Mar 28, 2022 16:02:35 GMT -5
Congrats James! That is an amazing find. What stories that piece could tell if it could talk...
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Post by Pat on Mar 28, 2022 17:27:45 GMT -5
Looks like a keeper to me!! Thanks for all the pictures.
It’s so fun to find something made by someone practically from another world.
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Post by rickb on Mar 28, 2022 18:30:15 GMT -5
jamesp, I said Paleo but I really don't know for sure what era it's from. It would be really good to get some actual measurements to help someone identify it. When I look at it I notice a few things. My first guess was a hand axe. Only problem I have with that is the fact that it comes to a point and most of them have round ends. The second thing I see is the basal thinning on both sides of the base. The only reason I can see for that would either be to haft it (as in spear) or use that thinner edge to cut with (as in axe). If that is the case, then I could see the narrow end being inserted into a wood axe handle and lashed to it with cordage/resins. It does look like the base might have been sharpened. Our resident archaeologist Michael Miller mjflinty may have more info to add. 
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 35,976
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Post by jamesp on Mar 28, 2022 20:27:51 GMT -5
Congrats James! That is an amazing find. What stories that piece could tell if it could talk... This is one artifact I would like to visit it's history Jason. What if the guy was 14 feet tall and weighed 1400 pounds ! I bet me and you could take him, you hit him low and me high. Then we could hopefully outrun him and pray he was slow. Only to find out he could outrun a deer and we ended up on roasting sticks ! |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 35,976
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Post by jamesp on Mar 28, 2022 20:31:09 GMT -5
Looks like a keeper to me!! Thanks for all the pictures. It’s so fun to find something made by someone practically from another world. This one might be from another planet Pat ! Ha. Sure wish I knew what it was used for. Hey, I want to wish you a Happy Belated Birthday, I just remembered I forgot about you. Jean normally reminds me because I often have my brain displaced no telling where else. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Mar 28, 2022 20:33:58 GMT -5
Congrats James! That is an amazing find. What stories that piece could tell if it could talk... This is one artifact I would like to visit it's history Jason. What if the guy was 14 feet tall and weighed 1400 pounds ! I bet me and you could take him, you hit him low and me high. Then we could hopefully outrun him and pray he was slow. Only to find out he could outrun a deer and we ended up on roasting sticks ! "Jase and Jim" - Giant killers for hire! LOL I have looked at many items and know I would give my left kidney to know the true story of their existence. (Easy to say since it can't happen! LOL) |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 35,976
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Post by jamesp on Mar 28, 2022 20:35:48 GMT -5
jamesp, I said Paleo but I really don't know for sure what era it's from. It would be really good to get some actual measurements to help someone identify it. When I look at it I notice a few things. My first guess was a hand axe. Only problem I have with that is the fact that it comes to a point and most of them have round ends. The second thing I see is the basal thinning on both sides of the base. The only reason I can see for that would either be to haft it (as in spear) or use that thinner edge to cut with (as in axe). If that is the case, then I could see the narrow end being inserted into a wood axe handle and lashed to it with cordage/resins. It does look like the base might have been sharpened. Our resident archaeologist Michael Miller mjflinty may have more info to add. It is likely newer since Paleo artifacts are so few and far between(that is always my attitude towards tools and unique pieces like this). It does have a spear design but it could have made a fine digger or scraper or ax too. Thanks for your thoughts and it would be nice to hear from Mr. Miller. |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 35,976
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Post by jamesp on Mar 28, 2022 20:38:28 GMT -5
This is one artifact I would like to visit it's history Jason. What if the guy was 14 feet tall and weighed 1400 pounds ! I bet me and you could take him, you hit him low and me high. Then we could hopefully outrun him and pray he was slow. Only to find out he could outrun a deer and we ended up on roasting sticks ! "Jase and Jim" - Giant killers for hire! LOL I have looked at many items and know I would give my left kidney to know the true story of their existence. (Easy to say since it can't happen! LOL) We could do Black Sabbath's Iron Man video(you best get a younger partner lol). I agree, what the heck were those guys like back then ? I ask - would I approach them or sneak around them ? Friend or Foe ?...Food or friend (yikes) |
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