Large Artifacts

[Saguache]

If you've got some "biguns", post 'em up...


This "killing stone" was found at the top of a narrow valley
along with a dozen other various size & shaped butchering
stones, possible paleo?


A couple of camp site stones used for various tasks


A beautiful piece of pet wood core/multiedge
tool found in proxcemity of the Black Mtn Folsom
site at 9K elevation in San Jauns, could be old...

 

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[Tdog]

This Mortar weighs over 100 pounds found at Tilly's Hill N. California

Toting a 100 lb. mortar a mile is a cake walk for an Indian!

 

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[ToddsPoint]

Large biface from Montgomery Co. IL. Purchased at an antique store in the 80's. Gary

 

[Older The Better]

Large biface from Montgomery Co. IL. Purchased at an antique store in the 80's. Gary

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Wow I wonder why so big. An un notched hoe? Did they make hoe preforms? A large teaching piece?

 

[newnan man]

I purchased this recently from Jon Dickenson. It is 6-1/2 inches, from Mich. and looks like Flintridge material but I'm not sure. A little damage but I thinks it's pretty nice.

 

[Saguache]

Wow I wonder why so big. An un notched hoe? Did they make hoe preforms? A large teaching piece?

My understanding is that large cores were considered to be a mans "toolbox", stone used for butchering/skinning as is or it can be reduced to get flakes for projectile points or further sharpening into a preform.
Cores like these are most likely from early hunters whos knowledge of lithic sites were minimal, thus an ingenious way to carry supplies for future needs.

 

[Older The Better]

I didn’t think of it as a core I didn’t know they flaked cores that well. I always imagined them as rough hunks of flint with a flat spot to hit the flakes off. Always good to learn something new

 

[Quartzite Keith]

I didn’t think of it as a core I didn’t know they flaked cores that well. I always imagined them as rough hunks of flint with a flat spot to hit the flakes off. Always good to learn something new

I think the idea there is along the lines of a Clovis platter (although I think later groups used a similar concept). Basically the idea is if you're at the quarry knapping and find a large piece of especially good material, instead of finishing it, you take it with you and use it to strike off large flakes to use as tools. (So it is now a "bifacial flake core"). As the width to thickness ratio gets bigger and bigger (10 to 1 was commonly achieved) the structural limits of the stone are reached and the biface breaks. The broken pieces are then used to make "points".

I only ever tried it once, with a good but not great piece of Georgetown flint. I got to a w/t ration of 8:1 and it popped into two almost equal halves which I then made into large Clovis points (fluted knives).

 

[quito]

Wow I wonder why so big. An un notched hoe? Did they make hoe preforms? A large teaching piece?

I would say it’s nice pre-form. Looks like someone could knapp whatever he wanted out of that piece.

 

[ToddsPoint]

Large biface from Montgomery Co. IL. Purchased at an antique store in the 80's. Gary

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This was found in Macoupin Co. IL, not Montgomery Co. My mistake. Macoupin is the next county over. Gary

 

[Charl]

This was a trailside mortar, located in an area where the Narragansett held festivals every summer. At some point, it was placed in the pavilion of the RI state park/beach, not too far from its original trailside location....

 

[smokeythecat]

Metate, or grinding bowl from near Harrisburg, PA. Awfully heavy and about 20" or more across.

 

[Tdog]

This was a trailside mortar, located in an area where the Narragansett held festivals every summer. At some point, it was placed in the pavilion of the RI state park/beach, not too far from its original trailside location....

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You could darn near bathe in that one Charlie!

 

[Tdog]

This one may barely qualify as Large but it's the largest one I've seen around here (whatever it is!) It is quartz and is 4 1/4" long. It was found by a non-arrowhead hunter--my friend Mike's sister Sherry! I believe it is a preform for a large knife. Maybe something else but it is a hand full!

 

[southfork]

A Bowl and big pounders on the tailgate of my pickup . Tilly's Hill N. California .

 

[arrow86]

This was a trailside mortar, located in an area where the Narragansett held festivals every summer. At some point, it was placed in the pavilion of the RI state park/beach, not too far from its original trailside location....

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I think we have a winner for the largest !

 

[southfork]

This boulder Mortar in my meadow is so large that even the miners during the gold rush ditched around it . AKA bedrock Mortar .

 

[sandchip]

Found this hoe on the bank of a creek while hunting for bottles way back before I officially started looking for Indian artifacts. A local collector and WWI veteran told me what I had. Meant a lot to get his stamp of approval. 4" w x 9" l.

 

[americanartifacts33]

Some of my larger artifacts