Ovate Biface Cache Report

uniface

Silver Member
Jun 4, 2009
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2,895
Central Pennsylvania
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Not sure if you can access this without signing up. But if you're heavily into Paleo lithics in Michigan & adjacent Canada, here you go then :

https://www.academia.edu/39702654/S...County_Michigan_USA?email_work_card=thumbnail

(The supposition that because they were made in one uniform manner, they must be the work of a single individual, is almost too silly to deserve comment).
 

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Quartzite Keith

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Dec 17, 2018
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All Treasure Hunting
Thanks for that. I was able to read it just fine. I grew up in the Detroit area and went to school in Lansing, so it's interesting to see stuff from near there. I don't know that I see the same level of "uniformity" the authors of the paper see. Looks like width to thickness ratios range from 3:1 to 5:1, and looking at it from a knapper's perspective, that is a bigger difference than most realize. I think that points to at least 2 knappers, although it could just be due to a lack of consistency in the material itself. (Not that it really matters.)
 

joshuaream

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Jun 25, 2009
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Florida & Hong Kong
Cool read!

One of the interesting things I took away from a presentation I heard Al Goodyear give was an idea that he proposed about knapping as group effort. Learners did what they could, more skilled people helped instruct or got them out of bad spots, and masters may or may not handle a piece. A bit like the painting schools and workshops guided by some the Old Master painters.

At the end of the day, a piece might have been handled by a few people.
 

ToddsPoint

Gold Member
Mar 2, 2018
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Todds Point, IL
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Metal Detecting
Cool read!

One of the interesting things I took away from a presentation I heard Al Goodyear give was an idea that he proposed about knapping as group effort. Learners did what they could, more skilled people helped instruct or got them out of bad spots, and masters may or may not handle a piece. A bit like the painting schools and workshops guided by some the Old Master painters.

At the end of the day, a piece might have been handled by a few people.

I think this is true of the large quarry locations. Out on the prairie away from the flint source, not so much. Gary
 

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