big knife

[captain redbeard]

No points today, but Found this today just walking in spots of the field that I haven't really looked much. Found this sitting in between a row right on top of the dirt. I believe its a knife with the "knob" in the middle which feels almost like a finger grip, measures 2 7/8" long. I found one last year made exactly the same just with different material and the pointier end broke.

 

[willjo]

Nice blade

 

[old digger]

Looks more like a preform, just from what I see.

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Probably never actually used as a Knife, per se. I don't see any secondary flaking to put a sharp edge on it. Like old digger said, more than likely a rough Preform.

 

[Mrdigz]

Cool!!

 

[captain redbeard]

The "knob/grip" seems to be purposely formed/placed. I suppose it could be a preform. Here is a picture of the one I found last year and the one I just found. The one I found today seems to be more "formed" for use than the one that was identified as a "knife". The "knife" has the same knob/grip this one does, just a bit more crude, but seems to have the secondary flaking. I take into consideration time periods and technology. Also the fact that each artifact was made by a different person with different skills.




soooo...preforms?

 

[joshuaream]

The thumb/finger grips are just stacks where the flakes came up short and left a high spot, they might have been handy, but they usually aren't a desired product in knapping or easily controlled.

A good way to tell a preform that wasn't intended for use vs one that could have been used as a knife or scrapper, is the presence of a zig-zag edge. A lot of quarry blanks (true preforms) have a zig-zag edge because it leaves some nice platforms for further reduction into a finished piece, and that wavy edge doesn't make a great knife or scraper edge in most cases. Preforms with nice strait edges took a little more finishing work, but could have been used for a while and resharpened until the biface got small enough to make a point.

From the looks of your pieces, I'd agree with Steve & Old Digger, solid preforms that haven't seen a lot of use. I'm not sure how far you are from the quarry, but someone probably banged those out pretty quickly to make their load lighter to carry back. (It's a lot more productive to carry 50 lbs of roughed out bifaces back to camp than carry a 50 lbs chunk of rock that might have flaws or cracks you can't see.)

 

[captain redbeard]

hmm, interesting. Thanks for taking the time to explain why it is what it is, it definitely makes more sense.

 

[rock]

Nice pieces

 

[scruggs]

NICE FINDS!