Lets see your preforms.

[rock]

I know the preforms are out there and people pick them up. Ill show some of mine if you show some of yours. I find them interesting as to the stages they were worked and always wonder why they werent finished. Thanks, rock

 

[rock]

Group shot from just this yrs finds. None of these have secondary flaking most have the wavy type which isnt sharp at all.

 

[rockheadhunter421]

I think your right. They were mainly like a tool itself to take on the go or you can find a cache of them. Some forms could be like you said one time, a test rock. If the material quality was not suitable then it probably is a wasted piece. Also, I consider if the form is not finished then it would be a pre-form of whatever tool was being made. A pre-hoe, pre-spade, pre-arrowhead, pre-knife, pre-celt, pre-scraper, etc etc. I may not fully explained this the best but technically those would not have secondary flaking.

 

[rockheadhunter421]

In that picture, if you can't tell what the form was going to be after the Native American made it, then I would say those are wasted pieces or broken debris. You basically need to recognize what the tool is going to be once finished. I really don't recognize any pre-hoes, pre-arrowheads or pre-knives in that picture. However, there is a chance one of them may have been one and the creek tumbled it so it's not that recognizable. Still those look too broken up to me to say they are preforms.

 

[Tnmountains]

Depends upon what you consider secondary work? As in no notches or edge work? My understanding is at the source of the material they would quickly knock out preforms to take home and then finish into types when they had more time. Easier to transport as well. Many preforms could serve as a quick tool I would think.. I have some where notches were started and for some reason discarded. And we all find the brokes during manufacture.Seems that is what I am good at finding
Rock it seems some sites every piece is worked to some degree all the way around and then discarded. I think you are finding a lot of those. I have a few sites like that.

 

[rock]

Some were creek and some were field finds. But yeah if they made them to that extent to just carry till they needed a point or a scraper then that would seem correct. That is why I call them preforms I see no other way for them to of used them as a tool.

 

[rock]

Depends upon what you consider secondary work? As in no notches or edge work? My understanding is at the source of the material they would quickly knock out preforms to take home and then finish into types when they had more time. Easier to transport as well. Many preforms could serve as a quick tool I would think.. I have some where notches were started and for some reason discarded. And we all find the brokes during manufacture.Seems that is what I am good at finding
Rock it seems some sites every piece is worked to some degree all the way around and then discarded. I think you are finding a lot of those. I have a few sites like that.

All of the ones I have shown the cortex has been removed on almost all of them. There is work on the edges but just the wavy style nothing is sharp enough to cut anything. Of course most of the pics came out blurry but this one. Now most of the flint nodules from my area are small compared to allot of the stuff I have seen from other areas.

 

[jamey]

i think it all has to do where you find it.find flint where it is not common it was probably something,but where it is everywhere they could just be broken from making it or kids learning or a man even,i do not think every indian was good at making them so some just got the job done i bet

 

[scepter1]

Try looking at the Spedis leaf blade

I thought that if the widest spot is in the upper half (preferably about 2/3 of the way up) it is a spedis ? Mine has the widest spot only 1/4 of the way up, and is quite bottom heavy?

 

[rock]

i think it all has to do where you find it.find flint where it is not common it was probably something,but where it is everywhere they could just be broken from making it or kids learning or a man even,i do not think every indian was good at making them so some just got the job done i bet

Well they arent just broken cobbles. They show work on them but yeah I would guess not everyone could make a nice looking tool.