Can't make up my mind - New England Sea Coast Paleo?

[MAMucker]

This one has me intrigued, and I'd like to know what the forum thinks about it.

It has been tossed and polished and left with a shiney rusty patina. I'm not sure about the lithic, but it could be made from a native quartzite.

I'm on the fence between a Paleo and an Eared Triangular Brewerton. It clearly has a fine display side and problems on the other.

What do you think?







and the cleanup...

 

[sandchip]

I love it. One of those early, primitive pieces that you just want it to tell you its life story. Great find.

 

[joshuaream]

Cool find.

Let's see what Charles has to say about it.

 

[Tony in SC]

Nice point!! Does have that Paleo look to it?

 

[MAMucker]

Nice point!! Does have that Paleo look to it?

I think so. You can make out (at least to my eye) a transverse flaking pattern. But, that wide Ear is striking.

I don’t know of a paleo Point with a barb like that one. Unless, (and this is pure speculation) it was some kind of transitional fluted point made for fishing.

 

[arrow86]

Nice find, I see your dilemma looks like it had a square shaped base up to the shoulders if that area below that feels ground I would think it’s much older

 

[MAMucker]

Nice find, I see your dilemma looks like it had a square shaped base up to the shoulders if that area below that feels ground I would think it’s much older

If there was grinding, the polishing makes it very difficult to perceive. The pictures only show the shine. But, it does feel smoother along those edges.

 

[tnmudman]

Thats an interesting piece, great find!

 

[smokeythecat]

I do agree on a paleo period item. Nice find.

 

[ToddsPoint]

Paleo points are generally made from high quality material. However, with the paucity of good stone in the NE, I guess it's possible. I'm on the fence whether it's paleo or not. Gary

 

[Lone Star]

Actually that was my thoughts too. Good find for sure.

 

[MAMucker]

It’s getting crowded up here on this fence.

 

[crj1968]

Beauty !!!!!!!!!

 

[Charl]

I had put off weighing in on this nice find, because I am not the last word on New England typology, and, frankly, this is a tough one.


First, the material is likely one of our regional rhyolites. Most Early Paleo pieces are made of exotics here, but there are exceptions. Some Bull Brook fluted points from Sugarloaf, Ma were Rhyolite. More importantly, Late Paleo points from New England were commonly made of regional rhyolites.


Since Brewerton Eared Triangle came up, and I don't feel like typing out everything Boudreau said, the first photo shows his description. Please note the two ways ears are formed on this type. Also note, that in the second photo of this thread, the first photo after the in-situ, it seems clear there was another smaller ear, on the right corner in that photo, and it looks like it was created by "continuous blade retouching", and not by placement of a side notch at the lowest point on the blade. In either method of creating ears on these points, they are always as low on the blade as possible, in my experience.


The bigger ear is less familiar to what I see on Brewerton Eared Triangle, but I'm not sure that eliminates the type, and that's the problem preventing me from leaving the fence everyone is on. Overall, I don't get the sense that it's a Brewerton Eared Notched, I just don't know if I can eliminate it, and there was a tiny second ear on this point, and where you would find tiny ears on this type.


Still, I would not be surprised if this point was not a Brewerton, but much earlier. But not a Late Paleo Ste. Anne-Varney, and not the Early Archaic type simply called Parallel Stem(no formal name yet). So far as I can see. It reminds me a little of this quartz point, in the second photo, found on the Deerfield Meadows, a site that yielded many fluted points at one time. It has been suggested that this is a early point, but, if so, I can't type it as such.







Sorry I could not be more definitive. I've been thinking about it for a few days, and those are my thoughts. It certainly would not surprise me if it were early, and perhaps untyped.

 

[Trezurehunter]

Can't cast an opinion, but it sure is a nice looking point.

 

[sandchip]

I don't know either. Just looks Dalton era to me. All the very similar but differently named points depending on location just confuses my old, feeble mind.

 

[MAMucker]

Charlie,

Thank you for this thoughtful response.

I'm glad you suggested the likely use of a Regional Rhyolite as the lithic. I edited the first draft of this post and changed my speculation from Rhyolite to Quartzite due to the troublesome rusty staining hiding so much of the stone (though there are some glimpses under that skin) and the very bumpy texture of the material. So I've gone back and forth on the material and I think you are correct on the lithic.

Regarding Point Type, I too hesitated to call it a Brewerton Eared Triangle or a Brewerton Eared-Notched Triangle. And, you provide excellent reasons why it likely is not, and yet concede it also could be -and so am emboldened by your comments to firmly hold my perch here on the ole fence. Ha Ha!

Here are a couple pictures of both a Brewerton Eared-Notched Triangle and a Brewerton Eared Triangle (personal finds):






The Quartz Point in your reply has surprising and remarkable similarities to the anomaly in my post.

 

[Charl]

MAMucker, if you check out the New England version of Hardaway-Dalton in Boudreau, maybe a somewhat resharpened example might fit your point. It's a borrowed name, as you know, and will get its own name if and when it's ever found in a dated context here. Otherwise, many really don't closely resemble Hardaway-Daltons from their type area at all. Here's some from the Robbins Museum:



And heres one from the Robbins, the purplish point in the center:



Here's one from RI, one broken ear, that more closely resembles its Carolina namesake:




Just throwing stuff out there, but seems very possible...

 

[Wildcat1750]

I think it's a very cool find!

 

[MAMucker]

MAMucker, if you check out the New England version of Hardaway-Dalton in Boudreau, maybe a somewhat resharpened example might fit your point. It's a borrowed name, as you know, and will get its own name if and when it's ever found in a dated context here. Otherwise, many really don't closely resemble Hardaway-Daltons from their type area at all. Here's some from the Robbins Museum:

View attachment 1762763

And heres one from the Robbins, the purplish point in the center:

View attachment 1762764

Here's one from RI, one broken ear, that more closely resembles its Carolina namesake:

View attachment 1762765
View attachment 1762767

Just throwing stuff out there, but seems very possible...

Those are good possibilities. Let me join you.

I’m wondering if the early paleo migrants found local (NE) materials gave them so much difficulty that slight variants in sizes and standards were unavoidable. It is often said or implied that a change in food and climate triggered a tool change up. That’s likely too. But, how quickly did they move away from the tried and true.

Cutting to the chase...these examples may be short lived transitional points?

(All speculation on my part)