This Is So Cool!

[Gravelbar32]

Tonight I stopped by a piece of Lightning Creek, SE Kansas bluff property that I have owned for 20 yrs but have never hunted.. too brushy, leaves a mile thick, etc. As I crept along rock outcrop at the top, this slapped my in the face! I know it looks so staged but I kid you not, this is exactly how I found it.



So, I scratched around directly below the rock outcrop that shelved the knife and found burned limestone and another small flakestone knife (not pictured). This is not a good pic but the pile of rocks in the background are all burned.(I piled up the burned rocks for the picture.)



Of course, I want to believe that this was an overnight camp in bad weather and the dude set his knife on the ledge above him only to forget it. My question to you is, has this knife been sitting on that ledge for 800 years or more? The burned stone two feet below it was on the surface and the little flakestone knife was amongst the burned stone. No matter what, this was a very fun find!

 

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[Fat]

The piece behind with the two dark pieces laying on it looks like a matte.

 

[Gravelbar32]

The piece behind with the two dark pieces laying on it looks like a matte.

It sure does in the photo! I know right where it's at so I will check it over when I get a free hour. Thanks! It is burned btw.

 

[Older The Better]

One of my best sites is up on a bluff, I’ve wondered the same if they came up in bad weather or when the river was flooding and waited it out on the bluff, there’s certainly not enough room for a group to live full time. As far as it ending up there it is a curious placement, that’s a substantial piece to get moved by water or wind.

 

[Tdog]

The piece behind with the two dark pieces laying on it looks like a matte.

Oh, yes, a metate! It certainly looks like it could be!

 

[Fat]

T good spelling too.

 

[Gravelbar32]

Update! I knocked off work early and went back to this site on my property. I concentrated on a 10 foot radius from that original knife laying on the ledge in the wide open. I picked up loose rock and used a leaf rake to brush away the leaves and dirt. There was nothing above the bluff. No flakes and no burned rock. Below the ledge shelving the first knife, for about 10 foo down, there was a massive amount of burned rock. I mean huge amounts of rock burned down to a red chalk. Other large pieces of limestone just burned around the edges. There was a large , hot fire there. After about 10 foot laterally and downhill, it disappeared. So, amongst the burned rock I found more large flakestone knives than I have found in my whole life! Everywhere. Some used and broken, some never used. I finally had to quit due to darkness but I guarantee there are many more in the uncleaned areas. Not a single highly worked piece. Not a single flake. No pottery. The possible metate was not a metate. it was a burned limestone that popped out a concave. I found several. So you guys tell me what you think. I would think a cache if not for the huge fire. No other signs of daily activity here. A butchering party
View attachment 1895791
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View attachment 1895795 Some show good secondary work. This is just a sample of what I found. There was more!

 

[uniface]

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[Gravelbar32]

 

[Tdog]

I like those pieces.

 

[Gravelbar32]

Thanks Tdog. They are not works of art but they are certainly meant for business! I cannot believe how many there are in such a small area. Had to be the site of a big butchering event.

 

[Fat]

That looks good to me. Big flake blades. Do you know that lithic? It’s hard to say but exactly what was going on but defiantly something for sure. A spot like that will be motivation for a long time. That’s the kind of place I’m might have my mail forwarded to.

 

[Gravelbar32]

HaHa! Company welcome, Fat! No I dont know the lithic by name but it is very common here (for tools) but not native to SE Kansas. I assume it is from the north central part of Kansas. Older The Better could weigh in on this one, I am sure. And yes, I am already trying to figure out how to skip work this afternoon to go back.

 

[joshuaream]

I wonder if they were heat treating the spalls?

Cool find!