Large bi-face, new photos

[BosnMate]

Same obsidian be-face from the land leveling for the apartment building. I screwed up and took the photo of the same side. Oh well, the other side looks just like this side. The third picture show the broken part, that is if it was hafted like a lance or even a knife with a handle. But it could have been used as a knife just as it is, depends on what they were doing I guess.

 

[SOHIO]

Id say knife ...its a beaut.

 

[Tnmountains]

Yeah at 5'' that is big for a bi face. What is the hide behind it? Is the color of a wild Boar I used to know. Thanks for the new view...

 

[BosnMate]

Yeah at 5'' that is big for a bi face. What is the hide behind it? Is the color of a wild Boar I used to know. Thanks for the new view...

Beaver --- I thought a bi-face meant it was worked on both sides. I might be calling it wrong, but it's worked on both sides.

 

[NC field hunter]

You say it's obsidian? I thought obsidian was glossier and translucent. Nice piece, regardless of what lithic it is.

 

[Minrelica]

Wow, what a nice find

 

[larson1951]

You say it's obsidian? I thought obsidian was glossier and translucent. Nice piece, regardless of what lithic it is.

i thought so also but i am not that familiar with obsidian
the small amount i have ever found looks like shiny black glass with a few small air bubbles sometimes

one thing for sure is........... that big blade rules!

 

[GatorBoy]

That is a nice piece for sure. Biface really does just mean worked on two sides. It just happens to be the generic term used to describe a hand axe or quarry blank.. I think what you have is a blank that was started to be worked further....more of a perform...notches..stem..ect..had not been formed yet.

 

[GatorBoy]

 

[Get-the-point]

Looks like this artifact is a broken Basalt spear point. Basalt is the material used here. I see a little notch in the lower corner for the base and its patina shows it is as old as the blade. I'm thinking this was a spearpoint which is not uncommon in that size out there. It still has some of the base but the rest of the base has been broken............JMO.............GTP(Chris)

 

[old digger]

She sure is pretty, Super find! Looks like it has been water-worn some. or after the base broke they may have used it quite extensively as a knife, being the smooth appearence.

 

[rock]

Nice artifact

 

[BosnMate]

You say it's obsidian? I thought obsidian was glossier and translucent. Nice piece, regardless of what lithic it is.

Obsidian from Glass Butte is glossy, comes in many colors, red, black, stripes, clear, greenish etc. A few miles away from the flows at Glass Butte, on Wagon Tire mountain, there is a much lower grade of obsidian, at least that's what I think it is, when you bust the rock it's a rather dull black, and works just like obsidian. So I'm calling those particular large rocks obsidian, because they differ from the basic lava of the country, and are scattered about on top of the lava like they were blown out of the volcano, but that said, I wouldn't take it to the bank, because I've been known to be wrong, and if you don't believe me, ask my wife. Get-the-point says the point is Basalt, which could very well be true, because there is lots of that in this area, and obsidian would have to be packed for a couple of hundred miles, which was done, because there are a lot of obsidian points in this area. I'm saying this artifact is obsidian from limited knowledge and personal experience, I'm not really a rock person, unless it's quartz and gold, that really gets my attention. Gets-the-point, how do you tell if it's basalt?

 

[Get-the-point]

Obsidian from Glass Butte is glossy, comes in many colors, red, black, stripes, clear, greenish etc. A few miles away from the flows at Glass Butte, on Wagon Tire mountain, there is a much lower grade of obsidian, at least that's what I think it is, when you bust the rock it's a rather dull black, and works just like obsidian. So I'm calling those particular large rocks obsidian, because they differ from the basic lava of the country, and are scattered about on top of the lava like they were blown out of the volcano, but that said, I wouldn't take it to the bank, because I've been known to be wrong, and if you don't believe me, ask my wife. Get-the-point says the point is Basalt, which could very well be true, because there is lots of that in this area, and obsidian would have to be packed for a couple of hundred miles, which was done, because there are a lot of obsidian points in this area. I'm saying this artifact is obsidian from limited knowledge and personal experience, I'm not really a rock person, unless it's quartz and gold, that really gets my attention. Gets-the-point, how do you tell if it's basalt?

Here is a example on Ebay posted by a AACA member as a un-fluted folsom(AKA-Midland). I am 99% sure it is Basalt or Black Dacite. They are very close in looks. After further investigation i'm starting to think this could be a Cascade knife with the base broke.... I've attached pictures of 1 cascade blade made of Basalt and a Cascade blade cache to look over. These blades in this pic are of obsidian....Hope this helps.............................................GTP

And just to make this legal, first photo provided by Ebay and Worthpoint.




Image Detail for - AACA, Utah, FOLSOM - Arrowhead, Desert Polished - DARK BASALT!!!

 

[BosnMate]

Here is a example on Ebay posted by a AACA member as a un-fluted folsom(AKA-Midland). I am 99% sure it is Basalt or Black Dacite. They are very close in looks. After further investigation i'm starting to think this could be a Cascade knife with the base broke.... I've attached pictures of 1 View attachment 714153View attachment 714154cascade blade made of Basalt and a Cascade blade cache to look over. These blades in this pic are of obsidian....Hope this helps.............................................GTP

And just to make this legal, first photo provided by Ebay and Worthpoint.




Image Detail for - AACA, Utah, FOLSOM - Arrowhead, Desert Polished - DARK BASALT!!!

I've got bunch of shinny obsidian points, and I've hauled a lot of obsidian rocks home from Glass Buttes, and also from Wagon Tire mountain, and after looking at the link showing Utah basalt points, this particular one looks a lot closer to the Wagon Tire stuff than it does basalt. Anyhow, I'm not going to argue, because I really don't know enough about rocks to prove anything, and comparing in pictures isn't the best way to do it either. But comparing the real one to the photos of basalt, there is no comparison. Now you have me going, and I'm gonna have to get a knowledgeable person on rocks to take a look at it. There is a geologist that comes to out gold mining club, and I'll have to show it to him.

 

[Get-the-point]

I've got bunch of shinny obsidian points, and I've hauled a lot of obsidian rocks home from Glass Buttes, and also from Wagon Tire mountain, and after looking at the link showing Utah basalt points, this particular one looks a lot closer to the Wagon Tire stuff than it does basalt. Anyhow, I'm not going to argue, because I really don't know enough about rocks to prove anything, and comparing in pictures isn't the best way to do it either. But comparing the real one to the photos of basalt, there is no comparison. Now you have me going, and I'm gonna have to get a knowledgeable person on rocks to take a look at it. There is a geologist that comes to out gold mining club, and I'll have to show it to him.

I would suggest the same thing. Please post your findings. I can almost certainly guarantee they will say it is one or the other for material. It is definitely not obsidian. I look forward to your findings...........................GTP

 

[mamabear]

Beautiful piece! obsidian is an amazing material. We have several apache tears that look occluded until you put it up to light. Then you see striations of light & dark. Though many are just black letting in no light. Quite beautiful. Mahagony obsidian is one of my favorite stones. Found a fish hook yrs ago made with mahagony ob, but it's long gone.

 

[mamabear]

here are a couple pix of obsidian to help.