Need your expertise...

[RTDog]

I found this walking my dog last weekend in Hunterdon County,NJ. It was on the surface in a location where the earth may have been disturbed approximately 50 years ago. Length of the blade/point would have been around 5.25" if intact; base is 1.5"; max width 1.75". Composition is very fine grained- brown jasper possibly? Faces seem to be symmetrical. I found this by dumb luck and stumbled on this great site trying to figure out what I have. Any thoughts as to possible age or origin? Thanks!

 

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[quito]

Hmm! Nice piece.

Parallel flaking, no basal grinding.

Not sure what to say other than, it's probably pretty old and a Really nice find!!

 

[rock]

Shame on the impact fracture on the tip but probably tells a story on its use. Its a keeper

 

[RTDog]

Is this more likely a spear point? A knife? Something else?

 

[rock]

Guessing but probably a knife

 

[jamey]

i think they had some really big spear points back in the day,that some are to quick to call a knife.nice find and thanks for sharing.

 

[jamey]

i really do not know how to tell,i no that it does not take much of a blade to skin something out.a knife would have to be inserted into something like a bone,a round hole, the base should reflect that,it should not be squared off i would think,but again im just someone who can find them.there is no bone that i find so i can not tell,but the bone handles that i see from others have a round hole,no notch in them.

 

[Get-the-point]

Brown jasper is the material and i'm leaning towards Fox Creek as the type. Hope this helps...............GTP

 

[RTDog]

Thanks to all who took time to look and especially to those who replied. I admit I'm kind of floored to think someone was using this possibly thousands of years ago in my backyard. Puts a 30-year mortgage in perspective...

 

[PaDirtDigger]

Nice piece of jasper there... Not too far away from me. I have a few friends who live and collect in that county. Can u post a picture of the other side too?? Way to go keeping your eyes open out there!!

 

[Charl]

It is showing early flaking at that. Might be a Late Paleo/Early Archaic lance. Heck of a nice find.

 

[RTDog]

Here are pix of both sides, as requested.

 

[PaDirtDigger]

This is most likely a late paleo style Lance blade. If a fox creek, it would have a slight stemmed base, and this doesnt. Seeing the other side helped determine it because often, some points will have a really nicely flaked side and then the other side would show some more typical random flaking, but this one exhibits nice even flaking... It is a shame that it has some damage, but it is an excellent piece of ancient history!!
Would be nice to see if the base has any grinding/polish... When you posted the other side i was hoping to see a big flute down the middle and then we would have known it to be a Northumberland type blade!!! But, it is still an awesome piece!!!

 

[RTDog]

PaDirtDigger - thanks for the evaluation- very much appreciated!

 

[Get-the-point]

Can you possibly show a front and back picture of the piece from north to south so i can look at the symmetry of the blade? One side shows constriction. I want to see if it is just a chip. Thanks..........

 

[Tnmountains]

Welcome to T-net. Glad you joined to share your find.

 

[Peter Iredale]

Its a clovis point or another early northamerican point. Likely between 12000 and 6000 years

 

[RTDog]

Not sure if I have the correct orientation here (north/south) but here is detail of the edges and base.

 

[Get-the-point]

After seeing a close up of base i see no basal grinding consistent with paleo pieces. I will say it looks like a early archaic to middle archaic. I believe after seeing all photos that it is a Agate Basin. I have found examples in Northwest New Jersey.........jmo...........GTP