Preform, or scraper, or something?

[robertk]

I found this some time ago and keep meaning to ask about it. Southwest Missouri area. I would have thought "scraper" but some of the posts here about preform make me think maybe that's what it is? If it's a preform, what would have been the end result? Would they start with something this thick and thin it down enough to make it into a spear point? Just wanting to advance my understanding. Here are both sides and an edge, taken with morning sun coming through the window.

 

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[Relicgrubber]

Fist Axe Maybe? Or... They could have been shaping out a Quarry Blank and that chunk on the second picture blew out.

 

[antmike915]

I agree with relic's post, looks like they tried and it broke during manufacture.

 

[Blackfoot58]

Could be a core with a few flakes knocked off, but it does have potential as a preform too.

 

[CreekSide]

Mike makes a good point with the crack but I was thinking core to like Blackfoot. Could be both

 

[robertk]

Thanks for all the replies. The concepts of preforms and cores are fairly new to me. As much as I love finding points, and would like to know how to make them, I've never really learned about that aspect of it.

 

[Older The Better]

I’d highly recommend learning how to make them, really helps to understand how things are made (obviously) but also why they may have done certain things or what they may have saw that caused them to abandon a piece.

 

[tamrock]

I’d highly recommend learning how to make them, really helps to understand how things are made (obviously) but also why they may have done certain things or what they may have saw that caused them to abandon a piece.

Yeah, sometimes I think, unless I can actually talk to the one who made it, you'll never really know of sure what they had in mind. They might just say, with this, I was teaching all the youngsters the do's and don'ts of tool making with that particular piece.

 

[ToddsPoint]

I would call that a failed stage 1 or 2 biface. The end failed and he lost the length he was looking for. The arrows point to porosity that led to failure. Burlington flint is so common in MO. If one fails you just grab another piece and start over. Creeks with a good supply of flint are usually loaded with reject pieces like this.