Quartzite Knife/Spearhead ?

Beuwulf · Oct 6, 2009

Found this knife/spearhead (?) several years ago, I believe it is quartzite, it appears to be serrated but is very coarse and as you can see by the pic's it is not really pointed, but most interesting its stem is fluted and it is fairly large at 5 and a half inches. It is not typical of any knife/spearhead I have or have seen. Not sure what to make of it , any thoughts you have are very welcome.
Thanks

Tnmountains · Oct 6, 2009

Me dont know either

Maybe thirty7 will drop in and have some thoughts. He knows your area pretty good.
TnMtns

artorius · Oct 7, 2009

I would say that is a "quarry blank" - a roughly worked piece fashioned at a source of stone for transport or trade, and ultimate reduction to a finished artifact. Several years ago there was a site near Exton, Pennsylvania (now obliterated by a housing development) where large quartzite blanks like yours were readily found, albeit almost always broken. The site had local outcroppings of quartz, but not of quartzite. The quartzite was brought in as quarry blanks, and then fashioned into points and knives, some of which finished pieces we would find as well. Some of the quartzite could be identified as coming from the area around Reading, Pennsylvania ( a good 40 miles or so from this site), and I suspect the rest of the quartzite also was carried in from some distance.

artorius

uniface · Oct 7, 2009

Probably. I remember Dr. Gramly talking about a site he'd excavated that was, literally, a flint preform factory. Part of a wide-ranging enterprise where blanks were carried in that a handful of expert knappers turned into preforms/"cache blades" that were transported out for distribution. It was pretty late in pre-historical time, as I recall. But it wasn't paleo so I didn't pay too much attention . . . unfortunately. It's written up as one of his site reports.

Th3rty7 · Oct 7, 2009

TnMountains said:
Me dont know either Maybe thirty7 will drop in and have some thoughts. He knows your area pretty good.
TnMtns

The material is hard to read, but I'd have to agree that it's a blank or possibly a crude tool / tool preform. As far as knowledge of that area I have alot to learn, but have soaked in alot of experience and wisdom from the two fine gents above me here...always learning.

Beuwulf · Oct 7, 2009

Thanks for the responses, As I recall I also found several other blanks in the same area but were far cruder in form. They did not resemble anything other than 6" x 8" elliptical shaped slices of stone about a half inch thick. This one seems to be worked within a couple of stages of actually being something.
Though I would not know how to prove it I'd guess it is probably from rock native to the area. There is one particular shore line that is full of this type of rock which is within a mile or two of where this piece was recovered.

I do vagely recall reading about the Dr Gramly excavation in PA which has me wondering, what did I miss when I found this one ? Only one way to find out, right...

Again thanks for ALL of the responses, it has helped to solve this long standing mystery,

You Guys Are Great!! :headbang:

uniface · Oct 7, 2009

I think the excavation was in the upper midwest -- Kentucky, maybe.

Beuwulf · Oct 8, 2009

uniface said:
I think the excavation was in the upper midwest -- Kentucky, maybe.

Uniface you may be right, after reading so many of these reports they have a tendency to run together at least in my head. The report that addressed the Rhyolite quarry and the dispersion of the material over the region is what I recall. If I'm thinking correctly I ran across it in a link in "Chesapeake Trailways", though I've not looked at in awhile I felt that was one of the better publications that did a pretty good job of tracking lithics and other commodities thru the ages at least over hear on the bay.

uniface · Oct 8, 2009

Prehistoric Lithic Industry at Dover, Tennessee.
By Richard M. Gramly. 138 pp. 1992.
ISBN 1-9615462-7-1

http://asaa-persimmonpress.com/other_publications.html