Question about obsidian.

[Th3rty7]

I figured I could probably get some good input here with the collection of knowledge here. I'm about to buy a collection of artifacts from a man who hunted various parts of west va. I took a long look at his collection today( mostly archaic and woodland some paleo also) besides a few pieces it looks authentic and pretty impressive too. One of the items I find questionable is a cache of mottled obsidian awls. He said this was one of his favorite personal finds, and that they were found buried in a cave in central WV. The awls looked good to me with a convincing grainy patina and no modern chipping. Is this even possible? I've found one black obsidian scraper in this area in many years of hunting. These awls are mottled brown and black obsidian, like the material found way out west. I'm aware that indians traveled hundreds of miles and traded materials along the way, but I'm having a hard time believing this.

Does anyone know the range of this material? Is it possible to find this mottled brown and black obsidian this far east?
sorry for the novel here, lol.

 

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[Neanderthal]

It sounds like you're describing obsidian needles. Believe it or not obsidian "needles" are completely natural. I see people trying to pawn them off all of the time as authentic artifacts, yet they are naturally fractured like that. You can find them at rock and minerals shows or pick them up online. Here is a link to show some http://www.orerockon.com/Obsidian_needles_01.jpg

Like I said, it's a pretty common 'artifact ruse' that I see people perpetuate.

 

[TripleCreek]

Thirty7,

I would be very suspicious of any collection that had "some" questionable pieces. If he is representing these, as "his" finds, even one questionable find is too many. I am involved in traveling to many flintknapping events around the country, and know many knappers, that are highly skilled. And some of them are from West Virginia. If there is a way to PM me the name I may know them. ( I am unsure if this site has PM?)

As for Obsidian Awls: I would think that Obsidian would be the "least" valuable stone to make an Awl out of. This is the most brittle stone available. Awls take a lot of stress, and Obsidian would be the first to snap. In addition, Obsidian is a very rare stone to find on the east coast. considering this, I think that "Neanderthal" may be right. This makes me think that the credibility of the whole collection is suspect.

3creeks

 

[Th3rty7]

Neanderthal, thanks for the link, never heard of these needles, very interesting. I think you hit the nail on the head too, as they look very similar.

Triple creek, honestly I think it's just ignorance on his part, he doesn't know too much about what he has. All of his personal finds are authentic, I think these ' obsidian awls are geofacts that he thinks are manmade. The other questionable piece is a tube pipe with a snake effigy that looks too good to be true. He told me he bought it off a boy from ohio( pretty sketchy imo) I agree with you about one questionable piece tainting the entire lot, but I really believe it's lack of knowledge, not that he's trying to scam me, besides at 3 dollars a piece, I'm not too worried about losing $. The man is from Summers county, he lives 200 yards from the greenbrier river on a high spot with two springs, he let me walk his field, I found 2 scrapers and 3 points in 30 minutes, most of his 2000 piece collection came from his front yard. I've hunted this general area and his point types and materials are consistent with what I've found. Now if I can get him to spill the details about his paleo finds I'll be really happy, he's got at least a dozen paleo knives, and lots of uniface knives/ tools.