What Do I Have Here?

[Billco]

I found all of these except for the one in the bottom right corner (which I found about a mile away from the rest, while walking home) in the same place I found the preform that I posted a couple days ago. I didn't think much of the larger piece until I washed it up and looked at it closer. It fits very well with the thumb and index finger. Could it be a scraper? I photographed the darker piece upside down from the way that it looks best as the base of a point.

Any help would be appreciated. I'm still learning.

 

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[Neanderthal]

The majority of the pieces appear to be flaking debris (debitage). The 2nd from left in top row could be a broken piece (?). The one in the bottom right hand corner is a point with broken tip.

 

[Billco]

These must have been busy Indians. I'm just happy to be finding relics, even if most of it is debris. Looking a little closer, but a little farther away from the scraped area (power lines), I found three very hard rocks with definite signs of impact on the ends of each. Could this have been tools and account for some of the debris? These rocks are not common to this area at all. If one were purposely looking for them, he'd have a hard time bringing one home in a month.

I've also posted something else that I picked up a couple ridges over from where I've found the rest of the stuff.

 

[razor]

I agree with Matt. Most of it is flaking, but that's a good thing. I means your in the right area. You do have a dang it, a busted point. As far as the stones... If you found them close to the flakes there is a fair chance that they may be hammer and or pecking stones. I've got a couple of pecking stones that you can actually feel slight groves from being held. In fact ones still got a red paint on it. Take a look at my display post, I think you can see both of them on top of the limb. Thanks for posting! Keep at it. I've only been doing this about 9 months to a year now, but I'm starting to develop a decent collection and I have no doubt you can do the same. Good luck, Razor

 

[razor]

By the way, can you get a better picture of the bottom pic. I can't tell a whole lot about it from the one you've got posted. Razor

 

[Billco]

I found the flakes (tons of them), preform(s), and the stones all in the same place, on a ridge just above a dry creek (extreme drought in Alabama). Two of the stones were next two each other in the wooded area directly adjacent to the cleared area. The smaller was a little farther away. The stones are extremely hard and it would take heavy, direct impact to chip them. They all have impact marks on the "ends" and to a lesser extent in other areas. The smallest has the deepest wear and that is the one you'll see in this post. (my camera - or I - couldn't get a great close-up).

Couldn't get great pictures of the point, but did the best I could.

Of course I'd rather find finished and unbroken arrowheads, but I'm not unhappy with what I've found so far. There is a larger creek nearby that I'm going to search when cooler weather arrives. The area where I'm searching is extremely woodsy and I probably push my luck with the copperheads everytime I step off the trail. I have no doubt there's a lot of stuff in these woods, trouble is getting it out of the woods.

 

[stryker-one]

Those last posted pictures appear to be knives (scrapers)--as far as finding "spall"--the knapper would sit and knapp out a few points and then go hunting. Look out in the flats around where you found the knapping site. In AZ it is quite common to find knapping sites several feet deep in flakes and broken points. Usually there will be a rock or sign of a log having been there in the past (400-1000 years) for sitting on. I would find knapping sites and then head down into the flats or dry creek beds and look around. Most times I would find 10 broken points to each complete point.

Good luck

Stryker