Unusual Rhode Island Point

[Charl]

This turned up yesterday at one of my sites. It resembles, very much, a Morrow Mountain Type 1, and even displays an aspect rarely seen on these points: a barbed or “hanging” shoulder. At least according to projectilepoints dot net:

Morrow Mountain Projectile Pointdevekiped

The distribution map shows Morrow Mountain points in southern New England, but, according to Noel Justice’s cluster model typology, this is only the case with Morrow Mountain Type 2. Indeed, in New England, the correlate for Type 2 is the fairly common Stark Point. They may have developed independently, or may have been derived from Morrow Mountain Type 2. But, Boudreau’s New England typology does not even include Type 1 as an occasional rare find here. Yet, I seem to have found a few in RI over the years, including yesterday. The link does show one Southeastern example with a “hanging” shoulder, or barb. The other shoulder on my find is dinged, but seems likely that it too would have been barbed...



From another one of our RI sites, this rhyolite point sure looks like a Morrow Mountain Type 1 as well, but without barbed shoulders...

 

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[billb]

Congratulations well done I agree you definitely must have great attention to Detail to spot these

 

[MAMucker]

Very interesting. I think you may be building a case for it. I’m especially impressed with the quartz point (ear and all). I like both candidates.

I found this point a couple weeks ago. I was going to go back and post it to your OP on water-worn Points.
But this post reminded me of the similar base. Of course a stem could have been snapped off a thousand years and eroded away smooth, but here it is anyway:



Weird tip wear as well

 

[MAMucker]

I was wondering why the Koens-Crispin & Lehigh types would not be a relevant comparison here. Though a couple of the examples in Boudreau’s book seem to me to be more Adena related.

 

[Edgychris1]

Hi,

I have a few like that. Found in east bay RI. I will dig them out. Very similar. Thought they were preform.

 

[Charl]

I was wondering why the Koens-Crispin & Lehigh types would not be a relevant comparison here. Though a couple of the examples in Boudreau’s book seem to me to be more Adena related.

I considered that comparison. If I just compared the quartz point just found to any of Boudreau’s examples, not one of his has a stem close to as short as the barbed quartz point, or the rhyolite point, or, your point. Does not mean they cannot be compared. Something I did notice is the few spots I walk that have yielded Early Archaic types originating in the Southeast, such as two sites I walk that produced Hardaway Side Notch(the argillite one in Boudreau’s bottom row is one of my finds) also produce Middle Archaic styles more common in the Southeast. That seems to be the case with this quartz point. Tiny site, yielded this point, and a Hardaway Side Notch, and a Kanawha point. At that stage, I’m just going by my “feel” for the site. Not scientific, but I’ve learned to expect earlier styles there. But, as far as a direct comparison, all of Boudreau’s Koens-Crispin and Lehigh types have much more defined stems than these. Maybe a much larger sample would alter my view.

 

[MAMucker]

Just seem to have some common traits to my eye.
I had been wondering which of the examples in his typology are from your collection. Very cool sir.

 

[Edgychris1]

Now that I look closer, the ones I have a different.

 

[Charl]

Just seem to have some common traits to my eye.
I had been wondering which of the examples in his typology are from your collection. Very cool sir.

They do have comparable traits. It’s only morphology, but I was drawn to the comparison of the barbed quartz point to the barbed example of Morrow Mountain Type 1 from Forsyth Co, NC from projectile point dot net...Same “hanging” shoulder.

 

[Edgychris1]

Just looked closer, only have one with single ear. Not alike at all. Nevermind.