Indian Artifacts from South Carolina

heybubbajay · Oct 31, 2013

Here are two quartz artifacts found around the Cross Keys area of Union County, SC, one is an arrowhead, the other? A fish scaler? Any Idea on age...I assume paleo-mississipean?

GatorBoy · Oct 31, 2013

Sorry but that doesn't look like quartz...or South Carolina material at all.
Looks like it came from much further west than that.
How did you come up with them?
Here's a few from South Carolina ...mostly quartz and rayholite with a few chert.

SouthTexasFinds · Oct 31, 2013

Dang gator, those all yours?!?

NC field hunter · Oct 31, 2013

GatorBoy said:
Sorry but that doesn't look like quartz...or South Carolina material at all.
Looks like it came from much further west than that.
How did you come up with them?
Here's a few from South Carolina ...mostly quartz and rayholite with a few chert.

<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=891075"/>

My thoughts as well Gator.

GatorBoy · Oct 31, 2013

South Dakota Mabey.
Even the styles fit for that state.

GatorBoy · Oct 31, 2013

SouthTexasFinds said:
Dang gator, those all yours?!?

Nah.. another Tnet member.

heybubbajay · Oct 31, 2013

Sorry, these were pulled from the ground here in SC! We have quite a few of the same rock material but none as sharp as these two...

GatorBoy · Oct 31, 2013

You didn't answer... how did you get them?
Are they yours?
Did you find them?
That absolutely does not look like South Carolina material.
Show some of that material that you found there please.

Jon Stewart · Oct 31, 2013

I think the larger brown point is coastal plains material. I have material that looks just like it.

heybubbajay · Oct 31, 2013

I work for the Union County Museum. I will post pics of others for you. They were brought in by someone I know who digs & I don't have any reason to doubt where he claims they came from...

heybubbajay · Oct 31, 2013

Pieces range in stone and size, we have had Cherokee & Catawba Indians here in modern times in Union County, SC, but there is evidence of other earlier Indians...paleo or Mississippian culture....

Jon Stewart · Oct 31, 2013

coastal plains chert comes from your area along with petrified palm wood ( would like to get a basketball size chunk of that stuff) tallahatta quartzite, agatized coral and a few other knapping rocks.

JohnReid · Oct 31, 2013

Hello, I brought these in to the museum today. I did in fact pull these up from the upstate of South Carolina and we do have other pieces I will try and get a photo of them. I will be returning to the site in the coming days as well. I had my concerns about it being quartz as well, but there are similar rocks in this area. I am not a professional anything so I came looking for answers about them at the museum. I am more concerned with exactly what the small one was used for. I spoke to one gentlemen from our area that said it was used for cleaning fish or other animals. I can't find anything like it elsewhere though? And suppose this is not a native rock. Is there any reason why we would find it here?

GatorBoy · Oct 31, 2013

That one looks like what would be considered an eccentric.
Looking forward to seeing other points and artifacts from the dig site.
They have an uncanny resemblance to Dakota or even Texas styles and Material.
The brown sure looks like root beer or knife river flint.
The styles of either don't match anything I've seen in S.C.

surf · Oct 31, 2013

Heybubbajay, and JohnReid,

Did'ya see this one:

"Point Type: Canaliño Arrow Point
L .93" W .40"
Age: 200 to 800 years old
Material: Felsite, chert

Provenance: Found as a surface find 1999 on private land north of Descanso, California by Rob Horne of Descanso.

A small size, thin, triangular arrow point with a shallow to deep concave base. Some are serrated. Also known as Coastal Cottonwood. - Overstreet 10 p. 978" Historic

GatorBoy · Oct 31, 2013

heybubbajay said:
<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=891122"/>

Pieces range in stone and size, we have had Cherokee & Catawba Indians here in modern times in Union County, SC, but there is evidence of other earlier Indians...paleo or Mississippian culture....

Just to clarify.
South Carolina has a full range of artifacts...in order from earliest to most recent..
Paleo..archaic..woodland..Mississippian and historic.
Every category prior to historic is broken down further by time and regional differences..but generally speaking that's the order.

smokeythecat · Oct 31, 2013

I found a fling ridge, Ohio Adena blade in Maryland once upon a time ago, plus someone I know pulled a small obsidian point out of the same place. Obsidian? How far was that carried in from?

GatorBoy · Oct 31, 2013

heybubbajay said:
<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=891122"/>

Pieces range in stone and size, we have had Cherokee & Catawba Indians here in modern times in Union County, SC, but there is evidence of other earlier Indians...paleo or Mississippian culture....

Hey...Bubba Jay... can I ask you why the two points posted in this thread are sitting on the left hand side of that glass shelf

In the photo that is supposed to be an example of other similar material found in your area... and look nothing like the other pieces.

quito · Oct 31, 2013

Well, the one point does resemble a very nice pelican lake from the northern plains, and while the material looks similar to KRF, I do not believe it is. It sure is a nicely made simple piece, a Triangle with the corners lightly notched.

JohnReid · Nov 1, 2013

surf said:
Heybubbajay, and JohnReid,

Did'ya see this one:

View attachment 891147

"Point Type: Canaliño Arrow Point
L .93" W .40"
Age: 200 to 800 years old
Material: Felsite, chert

Provenance: Found as a surface find 1999 on private land north of Descanso, California by Rob Horne of Descanso.

A small size, thin, triangular arrow point with a shallow to deep concave base. Some are serrated. Also known as Coastal Cottonwood. - Overstreet 10 p. 978" Historic

Hey thanks or posting that! It is the only piece I've seen that is similiar to the one I found. And I agree with you guys about the type of rock being questionable. I think the overall point though is that they ended up in SC one way or another. Is it to much to believe that they were indeed brought here by another tribe? How often can pieces be found that far from there usual places? The picture makes them look a little more opaque than they are the stone is basically clear with a reddish hue along the bottom. I believe them to be two different types of stone actually. Thanks for all the input and thanks BubbaJay for the help! I will still post some more pics but these two pieces are all I have from the site at the moment. The guy I was with brought out pottery and an axe head and I'm sure there's more down there! We are concerned that they'll be conflict over who owns the land once everyone finds out. We would like to see the stuff go to the museum but there's alot to be done between now and that point. Will post again.