Photos 11
An assortment of pebble tools. All of these were found in the context of flint artifacts and debitage and other stone tools. They all exhibit what appears to be a wear surface and show evidence of handling. Material ranges from hard white quartz to a talc like, chalky material. Some of these pebble tools are worn down like a piece of chalk and you can tell they were held that way. These were found in adjoining fields along the north shore of Buckeye Lake. Pebble tools are difficult to identify in the field because they are so small. They are always interspersed with geofact pebbles and it takes time to evaluate them. All material at sites should be considered before being discarded- down to the last pebble.
One of the rocks from the above group
I call this a "finger pestle."
What you have here is one of my personal specialties. Most of these are assorted flint knapping tools. Small billets, pressure flakers, etc. all of which are an unopened chapter in artifact collection and probably the most significant pieces to be collected at any site. The tools that were used in the manufacturing process of all other collected artifacts don’t even make honorable mention in the credits at the end of the movie. Apparently they don’t really exist for archaeologists either as one cannot find any information on them. The appearances of these tools vary from site to site, but at any one site, most will greatly resemble one another. An arrowhead collection without the inclusion of such tools is inherently incomplete. Periodically one can find reference to an antler billet, but it stops there. I’m presently collecting at what can only be called a manufacturing site and on a truly phenomenal scale for heat fractured rock and lithics.(Heat fractured rock is the most common artifact globally by the way.) The main artifact at this site – besides heat fractured rock – are the tools of manufacture. We evaluate other societies and civilizations by the industry and tools of the trade that are employed, but not when it comes to native American artifacts. The knowledge base is nonexistent within the artifact circles and professional studies. It has taken me over twenty years to understand what these are and more importantly how they were used. Those big antler billets didn’t make those bird arrowheads. The black pointed stone in the bottom of the picture did and smaller ones too. One tool did not make the entire arrowhead or any other artifact. Just like we have many sizes of screwdrivers and will use several to work on an object – the same is true for an arrowhead, spearhead, scraper, ceramic pot, etc. The stones like the one you hold in the picture that have knobs and extensions are somewhat of a billet and can be compared with modern copper tipped billets. The one you are holding would be used with the tip pointing toward the sky and struck downward at an angle on the edge of a blank. The flake would pop off the other side. It is fashioned so that it will limit the actual blow force yet still have inertia from the stone’s weight – actually very high tech. Try it. I will have to take some pictures and send to you. The other stone probably is a pestle or grinder of some sort.
Reply to this