Final Platter Removals

uniface · Feb 26, 2021

As platter(-like) bifacial cores were reduced, the flakes removed from them became thinner in proportion to the remaining thickness of the core itself. The last ones were thin indeed, only suited for cutting tasks.

Sorry these came out crappy. No idea why the thumbnail posted. Or how to delete the extras using this tablet. Edit option doesn't show them.

uniface · Mar 17, 2021

Soldiering on with these.

Flakes tend end to widen as they go when not constrained by ridges. This one is an edge-to-edge thinning flake, just barely an overshot. The hooked-over distal portion is turning into an endscraper from being used as one (flaking -- second picture at center -- is use wear).

uniface · Mar 17, 2021

A similar, but narrower one. Endscraper with edge @ right retouched.

uniface · Mar 17, 2021

Examples so far stayed intact. Often, even usually, they broke into sections, as this one did. Made of blue Flintridge, which Jon Dickinson says is rare. Probably had a graver spur @ left corner.

A rare blue flintridge point from Jon Dickinson's site :

Out Of Time · Mar 18, 2021

Must have been making giant bifaces to generate flakes of that size. Not knowing different, I would have taken them for spalls. Most are big enough to be worked to small points. How can you tell they were peeled off bifaces rather than a cobblestone or block?
All really nice, BTW.

uniface · Mar 18, 2021

Will come back to Out Of Time's question.

Final one in this series, and a great favorite. Gift from Ryan Leaf I've treasured for many years.

Made of what's called Ridge and Valley chert ; various sources differ widely on where it's found. Almost always, from what I've seen, as used up nubs of points that people obviously valued highly enough that they re-used them until there was no more use left in them.

An overshot thinning flake that was repurposed as an endscraper also, but with a twist : part of the scraping edge is still there, but most of it was removed to make a backed tool -- a bill hook. Probably for splitting sinew and the like. Thin edge retouched as well. Spur may have once been @ left corner.

uniface · Mar 18, 2021

Out Of Time said:
Must have been making giant bifaces to generate flakes of that size. Not knowing different, I would have taken them for spalls. Most are big enough to be worked to small points. How can you tell they were peeled off bifaces rather than a cobblestone or block?
All really nice, BTW.

One of the all-time great threads ever posted here :

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/north-american-indian-artifacts/637820-biface-platters.html

Short answer: because thinning flakes follow (ride on) the shape of the core/nucleus. Look at the removals on these.

Out Of Time · Mar 18, 2021

My bad, I wasn't familiar with the term 'platter' as a name for the huge bifaces that were used for stock. It was in your thread title but I missed it as a qualifier. Of course that explains it clearly but, even clearer, is this reply you made to the linked post.

You wrote:

"....Platter cores were the preferred design for transportation. They started out thicker and got thinner as long, transverse flakes (some of them overshots) were removed. Oval shapes made it fairly easy for removals to reach, or pass, the center line (no stacks wanted).

The ones found (like those) are generally last stage (thinnest) before being split in two (diagonally) for point production (if that's what was intended). At that point, they were cached for later use far from the lithic source.

The thin, spreading flakes removed were excellent tools as-is, and served as tool stock for making purposefully shaped tools like endscrapers.

Actually, near-complete thinning flakes from them are even scarcer than the platters themselves. First picture shows reduction sequence involved. All three are overshots.

Some Paleo Tools for Joshuareem

FWIW
Last edited by uniface; Jul 24, 2020 at 05:49 PM."