More (Paleo ?) artifacts from the gravel bar

[abarnard]

Here are some more photos of my finds off the river in central Texas. Some weird squared looking cobble artifacts included, that were found within 20 feet of eachother. Noticeable pecking was found on each stone. We all know that cobbles that have been in a river are more rounded than these are. All artifacts were found in the same given area.

 

[Pinellas Man]

That is some pretty material they are made of. 8)

 

[abarnard]

Yah, I know, some of the material looks like banded chert, which is very nice looking. I hope when I get back in town I can find some more artifacts to post. I am going to search the high ground above the river and see what I can pull out. Hopefully a few points and blades or scrapers.. thanks for the reply...

 

[Flintfinder of Mo.]

When I first started hunting. I had a rough time of determining raw flint verses worked flint. Here in Mo. Our hills are loaded with raw flint, and its the same flint they made most of their arrowheads with.( In my area anyway) Anyway this raw flint washes off the bluffs, and hill sides, and ends up in the creek. As the years go by this flint has seen and moved threw a lot of the creek. It does get chipped, and dinged up, and I have drug a lot of it home with me. Jmo but I think you have some natural creek tumbled stone in there with some very possable artifacts. JMO. John

 

[abarnard]

John from MO, thanks for the reply. I do understand that chert can be washed off a bluff into a river then rounded off. I got my degree in Geology from Texas A&M University, so I have some knowledge on the subject. A couple of the pics I posted are indeed questionable. Especially pic #028, but some of the tool edges and wear patterns on some of the pics show strong evidence of chipping caused by man. Most of the "so called tools" found were made out of chert cobble that has been broken on plane, and then reworked to fit the hand. There are battering scars on the faces of some of the cobble "so called artifacts". I have also found some large cores at the site, but I left them there, for they were too heavy to bring back in my kayak with all the rest of my gear and artifacts. I have more "so called artifacts or tools" that I have not posted yet on the site, but I will post them in a couple weeks when I get back in town from the oil and gas job that I am on right now. You should check out Charlie's web site at www.preclovis.com. He hunts clovis artifacts, etc. in Central Texas where I hunt. Very interesting in the fact that lots of his finds of choppers, etc. are similar in nature to some that I have found. I beleive he is an Archaeologist... I have found retouched flakes as well, and some blades... Yes, I have found regular chips of debitage which was of no use, I am sure, that wasn't reworked. I am sure you have looked at my other posts on this same subject, and let me know what you think about those pics. I will try to take better pics later. On my geology mapping project on the Gunnison Bluffs Colorado, I recovered an awesome grooved ax along the Gunnison river mixed in with rounded cobble and pebbles consisting of metamorphic and igneous rock. We were conducting pebble counts on river terraces, and I came across the ax while working and mapping. I will post that pic when I get back as well... Thanks....

 

[am-ark]

I think that picture 1 and 4 are truely artifacts and the rest are probably just raw chert or flint. JMO...thanks for sharing.

 

[11KBP]

I think you have some natural creek tumbled stone in there with some very possable artifacts. JMO. John

I agree with John's assessment.

Concerning your subject title:
"More (Paleo ?) artifacts from the gravel bar"

I am curious and would like to know what makes you think these "artifacts" are possibly paleo in age?

11KBP

 

[abarnard]

I have hunted on this old gravel bar/river terrace more than a couple of times, and I seem to find these pieces of worked flint and cobble rather close to eachother, sometimes in what seems to me to be shallow sand pits of some sort. There's lots of cobble around, and then you will stumble across a small pit that's really sandy with less cobble in it. Then I would find chert flakes scattered around the shallow sand pits. This is where i found lots of these tools. It's strange.... The terrace/old gravel bar is Pleistocene in age, a deposit consisting of large to medium sized chert cobble mixed with coarse-grained sands.. While searching the terrace I found a bison mollar, so i was told, with in the Pleistocene deposit. Some faunal remains/bones were found as well. The bones could be from horeses though, recent. I beleive the Paleolithic began at the end of the Pleistocene, so I started wondering if it was a possibility that some of these tools were paleo. If the worked chert cobbles and chert fragments are Paleoliths, I am not so sure, hence the question mark. I do know that the Clovis people used uniface flakes as blades, so I guess a flake can be used as a tool. There are Paleo sites not far from where I hunt. I stumbled across an article, Middle Paleolithic Chert Exploitation Pits Near Qena in Upper Egypt, and some of the information seemed to be very interesting in the fact that some of the info seems similar to what i stumbled across. I don't know... It's a big maybe..

 

[11KBP]

It's strange.... The terrace/old gravel bar is Pleistocene in age, a deposit consisting of large to medium sized chert cobble mixed with coarse-grained sands.. While searching the terrace I found a bison mollar, so i was told, with in the Pleistocene deposit. Some faunal remains/bones were found as well. The bones could be from horeses though, recent. I beleive the Paleolithic began at the end of the Pleistocene, so I started wondering if it was a possibility that some of these tools were paleo. If the worked chert cobbles and chert fragments are Paleoliths, I am not so sure, hence the question mark. I do know that the Clovis people used uniface flakes as blades, so I guess a flake can be used as a tool. There are Paleo sites not far from where I hunt. I stumbled across an article, Middle Paleolithic Chert Exploitation Pits Near Qena in Upper Egypt, and some of the information seemed to be very interesting in the fact that some of the info seems similar to what i stumbled across. I don't know... It's a big maybe..

abanard, your site description is somewhat confusing. Could you provide a picture(s) where these items are found. Are you hunting the actual streambed gravel/rockbars or higher terraces which make up part of a floodplain?

11KBP

 

[abarnard]

I can provide some pics when I get back from this oil and gas job I am on right now in Center Tx. I am a good deal away from home. I really have the itch to get back there to take another trip in my kayak to the location. I am hunting on what looks like the lowest part of a terrace. I need to get back there and take a better look around.