TnMnt's ,.. Micro Drills ??

[blindpig]

TnMnts ,.. Well , maybe the micro drills was gett’n a itty-bitty off subject on O’ Larson’s tiniest point thread ,. Maybe ?? Sometimes , I have a bit of trouble drawing distinctions between points& drills ...



Micro Drill ? ,.. 7/16in long X 5/16in wide

This little obsidian drill , as best as I can describe, has two opposing uniface edges . In the pic , facing left side ? Shows one of the “worked” faces/side/?? ,... the “dark” right side is one of the unworked face’s . Now , I believe I’ve scrutinize this little fella for sometime , tried to emplane him off as some sort of a freak , from a shattered tool or such . Anyway , I’ve concluded the maker knew exactly what he was doing , as this would make for one fine cutting drill .




This pic ,...well,... I’m going to “label” the top row points and the bottom row drills ...

At best , sometimes I believe it nothing more then a guessing game to “label” an artifact a point/drill . For example , the “point” in the upper-left [UL] is vary similar in form and size too the “drill” on the bottom right [BR] . The drill’s ratio of cross section [width/ thickness] lends itself better towards a drill,... but not by much ! If it wasn’t for the lithics of UL point it maybe a hard call ,.... the lithic of the point has a weight about half that of quartz , much like chalk , sharp but probably not durable enough for a drill ?
For the most part , I feel fairly confident call’n the bottom row drills ,... micro ,...well...??

Blindpig

[Lone Star]

Blindpig, Hey that's way cool. I just spent the morning re-aranging the display cabinet at the house. This is stuff from years gone by. I see a lot of particulars such as you mentioned that I never noticed before. Thanks for the pics and talk. Those small clear Chalcedney-like points look a lot like what we were finding at the two Cibolo digs. ( across the street from the Wilson County Sandpit) All mine seemed to be of the ensor variety, with a mix of serated Scallorn here and there. Thanks G.

[Tnmountains]

Blindpig
You are nailing it. I hope to get a chance to photograph what this guy has spent many years in documenting. They are so small a normal sifter will not catch them. They reminded me of a 1/8th drill bit. He found them in areas I frequent but my eyes must not be trained to see them. Glad you were thinking about this and I agree you are finding them. His were so fragile they were each rolled up in a long strip of silk or something. I will try to find his articles and get some pictures to show you.With his permission.
You have some nice ones and must have a good set of eyes.
TnMtns

[blindpig]

Hay there Lone Star ,I hear ya , I collected in “years gone by" as well , a fine place to hunt ..
I found this forum a few years back and have read every post since !!I also been enjoying digg’n through my collection from “years gone by” and shar’n an odd piece here,....every now & then ...
Even found some inspiration to do a bit of point hunt’n again !!
The clear points are actually quartz,... the point U.R. is some sort of California chalcedney ,.. I believe??
TnMnt’s , Thanks ,...........HAD [past tense] ..a good set of eye’s .........Maybe they just need a bit more exercise , I believe...
Now , there are a few small drills in the pic , but they don’t even come close to explaining some of the really small holes drilled in some of shell disc beads found here in cali . Maybe there was some sort of micro cane / reed drill’n going on ?? Perhaps , Porcupine quill , yacca /cactus needles ??
Thanks , Blindpig

[The Grim Reaper]

Nice pieces blindpig.

Here's a Micro Drill I found on a Ft Ancient village site. I believe it was used to drill the holes in the tiny Shell Beads.

[blindpig]

Well,.. Maybe last weekend I should have said “really really small holes”??



Shell bead from So. Cali with a few “drills” , a steel pin & piece of lead from a pencil for scale.
I should have added such a pic last week ,.. As “really small” is a bit relative ?
And Steve ,.. That is a nice drill ,... not as nice as your resent pipe n’ discoidal ,.. But nice ,all the same ...
Blindpig

[Th3rty7]

Nice thread I like the micro tools and drills. Tn., are you talkng about Addison micro drills? They remind me of 1/8 drill bits. There's a nice group of them pictured in Overstreet 9th edition in the EC section if you've got one.

[huntnman]

Here is one i found that may be a micro-drill(I aint sure what qualifys as a micro-drill lol)
The pic quality isnt very good. My camera isnt great and im still learning how to take decent pics.