Late August Flint in Western Oklahoma

[docmann]

Followed up on a tip about some flint showing up in an adjacent county. Took a while to finally run onto it, but then had a very good day. These are just a few pieces found. I'll post more after it's all cleaned and documented.

 

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[docmann]

I've added a composit photo of some of the photos. Docmann

 

[Tnmountains]

Way to track down that lead and recovering some great looking artifacts. It looks like you have a new site. Very nice finds.
TnMtns

 

[bravowhiskey]

good day for you. I would like to have seen that drill before the tip suffered that fatal injury. It had a good handle compared to most I've seen.
mighty decent of folks to give you such a good lead.

BW

 

[uniface]

Nice !

 

[Th3rty7]

Nice group of flints Doc, any idea on the first piece, shape and flaking look early imo.

 

[docmann]

Tn, Bravo, and Uniface, Thanks for the comments. It was one of the afternoons that you dream about. My father-in-law and I looked like a couple of kids in a candy store. Interestingly, it was all collected in about 30 minutes, once we found the initial piece. Bravo, the tip of the drill was under sand and I thought just maybe!, but not to be. Notice the piece just beside that one. It doesn't show up well, but it's a fairly nice little paddle as well. Another broken one. Thirty7, I haven't been able to definitively pin it down. However, if you look at the little gray Washita point, 2nd on top row, it almost looks out-of-place. The Washita point looks like what I typically find around Clinton. However, to me, the other pieces look older and bulkier. I'll try to sort out some of these pieces, but appreciate any comments in the meantime.

 

[pickaway]

nice finds...

 

[Americus]

Nice finds! Thanks for posting.

 

[naturegirl]

Cool! What a variety, I would be beside myself. What is that little wild lookin one with the side notches? I gave the overstreet book back to buckshot, or else I would be looking identies up. Good job!

naturegirl

 

[Bluesy]

Wow, great finds! And all in 30 minutes I would be camped out there! Congratulations on finding a sweet site!

 

[naturegirl]

Hi docman! Ok, I'm at work now, and so is the Overstreet book. I'm going out on a limb here, I think the one you are calling Washita, is a Harrell, (Mississipian-historic, 900-500 B.P.) I hope if someone knows for sure, maybe they'll say. I think this, simply because the Washitas in the book don't have a notch on the base, the Harrell do. Once again a valuable opinion from a novice.

ng

 

[Neanderthal]

Hi docman! Ok, I'm at work now, and so is the Overstreet book. I'm going out on a limb here, I think the one you are calling Wa--deleted--a, is a Harrell, (Mississipian-historic, 900-500 B.P.) I hope if someone knows for sure, maybe they'll say. I think this, simply because the Wa--deleted--as in the book don't have a notch on the base, the Harrell do. Once again a valuable opinion from a novice.

ng

Good job on the ID NatureGirl :-) The Harrel are commonly found with Washlta and other plains triangular points like Huffaker, Maud, etc.

I'm not a big fan of Overstreet guide, but am thrilled with your desire to learn more about points. I would like to recommend the Bell / Perino books. It is a 4 volume set put out by OAS some years ago, written by Robert Bell and Greg Perino. They are for North America, and cover several types. EVERY collector should have a set of these in their library, they are a great reference tool and a must-have. They aren't your typical "picture price guide", and are chalked full of valuable information on several types. The full set of 4 can be had for less than $60. It's funny because not a lot of collectors realize that they are still available, and you see them pop up on ebay for $100 or more sometimes..lol. It's available from the Oklahoma Anthropological Societies website (http://www.ou.edu/cas/archsur/oas/state.html). If you click on the publications link, it at the top, where it says "The OAS best seller". I will put a link directly to that page below. You may also find other publications of interest on that page.

http://www.ou.edu/cas/archsur/oas/publications.html

 

[naturegirl]

Thanks Matt. The overstreet book doesn't answer all the questions, but sometimes the pictures are right on. I'll take the recommendation, I'm sure those books will explain some of the aberations that the guide doesn't. Saw a few more that look really cool too. Thanks.

ng

 

[allen]

those are some nice looking finds !

 

[docmann]

Blue and Naturegirl, thanks for the input. Indeed, the notched bottom I think is formally known as a Harrell point. We seem to generically toss those into that "Wash*ta" category. Point well taken (no pun intended). Neanderthal, good to hear from you again. What do you make of that little haul? Although not a lot of gems, we were like kids in a candy store there for a few minutes. What do you make of the drills? Is the first item item (top row) indeed a drill? It was the first piece found, and it sort of lit the fuse for our subsequent finds. Indeed, I've seen the Bell books (spiral bound) which was once loaned to me. I think I shall indeed acquire a set of my own. As you've noticed, I'm still stumbling around for answers. Also, please check out the Internew version of "Oklahoma Indian Artifacts" by Dr. Bell. It's been made available via the internet and the text and photos are great. While it's not overly in depth by an expert's standards, those of us who desire to be better "armchair archaeologists" should have it saved, front and center. http://www.ou.edu/cas/archsur/OKArtifacts/enter.htm Simply click on the book's cover and it opens to text and photos. Finally, Neanderthal, if it's not too much trouble, I'd like to shoot a few photos to you for opinion. I have a gracious friend who is an archaeologist at OU, but I think I'm about to saturate him with my questions. Good hearing from both of you.

 

[docmann]

Allen, thanks for the compliment!

 

[Neanderthal]

Blue and Naturegirl, thanks for the input. Indeed, the notched bottom I think is formally known as a Harrell point. We seem to generically toss those into that "Wash*ta" category. Point well taken (no pun intended). Neanderthal, good to hear from you again. What do you make of that little haul? Although not a lot of gems, we were like kids in a candy store there for a few minutes. What do you make of the drills? Is the first item item (top row) indeed a drill? It was the first piece found, and it sort of lit the fuse for our subsequent finds. Indeed, I've seen the Bell books (spiral bound) which was once loaned to me. I think I shall indeed acquire a set of my own. As you've noticed, I'm still stumbling around for answers. Also, please check out the Internew version of "Oklahoma Indian Artifacts" by Dr. Bell. It's been made available via the internet and the text and photos are great. While it's not overly in depth by an expert's standards, those of us who desire to be better "armchair archaeologists" should have it saved, front and center. http://www.ou.edu/cas/archsur/OKArtifacts/enter.htm Simply click on the book's cover and it opens to text and photos. Finally, Neanderthal, if it's not too much trouble, I'd like to shoot a few photos to you for opinion. I have a gracious friend who is an archaeologist at OU, but I think I'm about to saturate him with my questions. Good hearing from both of you.

Like I mentioned, I have hunted a bit out in your neck of the woods (Clinton, Cordell, Bessie, Horse thief, Melon patch, etc) and really do miss it sometimes. The top piece does looks like a drill. We found several large pencil drills that had a very small shaft section on Washita Focus sites and assumed they were used for drilling pipes or beads. I was glad to see that they put Dr. Bells books online! He wrote tons of valuable literature and will be sorely missed. He done several books on Oklahoma artifacts in the 50's-60's, and it's like gold if you can ever get your hands on it.

Sure, send any pics you want this way, I'd love to see them. Take care and happy hunting!

 

[Tnmountains]

Great post. Thanks everyone for all the information.

 

[HighPlains]

Nice pieces.