Point Names?

[SwampHunter]

I see a lot of posts that show points that look alike named differently. Why is this? Why isn't there a standard name for these points?

 

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[Twitch]

I'll take a shot at this. There really aren't any 'official' point names as there's not a governing body of archaeology to set the rules and define names. Also, with the fact that the vast majority of artifacts are found out of context it's tough to define their origin specifically. Generally speaking the hobby of collecting artifacts preceded the science of dating them and assigning cultural traits to the people who made them. Point collectors often named the points based on local norms (Dovetails, St. Charles, Plevna) or on a local hot spot but they're most probably indistinguishable archaeologically. Lot's of publications have attempted to standardize a naming convention but local norms and traditions will likely never go away. It's a good topic for discussion and is often a troubling concept, especially for people as the are introduced into the hobby. Personally I'm more interested in understanding the age and likely cultural association than saying whether specifically it's a specific type. One question back to you - what % of your point can you assign a specific type to? I'm probably between 30-40% specific type. I'm probably 90-95% where I can assign a likely age and use and maybe 10% where I really can't say with any conviction at all what the point is.

 

[SwampHunter]

I have some that look like Lost Lake, Heavy Duty, Pine Tree corner notch, Morrow Mountain, Kirk corner notch, Oakalla, etc. I find a lot of stemmed and corner notched pieces. I have heard of others finding side notched though I have never found one. My nephew found part of a base of a side notch a couple of weeks ago. I have seen Dalton's and Clovis come from my area though I have only found one part of a dalton and what appears to be a reworked Clovis. Seems like the culture here was very diverse. You never know what you will find next that may appear like it's out of place.

 

[SOHIO]

because they were made by aliens

 

[SwampHunter]

Well yeah because no one in the stone age knew how to work stone like people today do.