I have a problem with the idea of "The First Americans"

[Not rock pile related]

They talk about "First Americans" as if it was obvious that there was a first time Homo Sapiens stepped onto land of the Americas. It seems to be a persistently pointless discussion that seems to lack the kind of verifiability that is expected of scientific hypotheses. 

For example: it might have been lots of people "stepping" onto America, in different spots, at essentially the same time and, it may not have been Homo Sapiens. 

Early peopling of the Americas - back now at 23,000 years ago

Finally the "Clovis First" numbskulls have to shut up. Even better, the "Beringian Land Bridge" dopes need to shut up too. 

Fossilized footprints show humans made it to North America much earlier than first thought - CNN

A point I have been trying to drum into the ears of some of my colleagues down on Cape Cod, is that Woods Hole was free of ice before 18 K years ago, and was part of the same landmass that was contiguous with the rest of un-glaciated America. In other words, there were probably people around here in the same time frame as the people who made those footprints.

I call conventional thinkers "numbskulls" because the evidence of man in America at those dates is clear, and all around - in the stone tools one sees - in deep glacial layers in New England, and on the surface in California. And I will say something here that is about as "fringe" as you can get: some of those ancient people were very strong, and probably pretty big. I see axe-like things I can barely lift. 

Update: The point is that with firm dates in the middle of the glaciation, there is no obvious earlier starting point for man in America. The question of timing the first Americans is wide open!

Native Ceremonial Stonework in Acton - Oct 17 2021 (ZOOM meeting)

 

See:  https://tinyurl.com/pinehawk2021program

Illinois Stone Fort

 (1) Mystery Of The Giant City Stone Ruins ~ Illinois - YouTube

Ancient stone technology in Alabama

 This might be of interest:

Capps: A Levallois-like Prepared Core Technology in the Southeastern United States | Blaine Ensor - Academia.edu

Two triangular arrowheads from southeastern Massachusetts

Here are a couple of finds from last year, that I hadn't posted. This triangular quartz arrowhead was easy to spot. I could see that it was damaged.

It is fairly well made, with nice edges and a symmetrical shape. It's missing the tip. I find many more damaged points, than whole ones. But any find is a good find for me.

This was not far away. The material looks interesting, and the part visible above the ground appeared undamaged.

But, this one is missing the tip too. I think the material is felsite.

Certainly better than going home empty-handed as I do so often (including the day on which I am writing this). These are very representative finds from this part of Massachusetts, in my opinion.

Gansett Sites

 Went for a walk in Woods Hole (up Mast Rd) and saw a small piece of woods with a rock above the surface:

 

There's got to be some rock piles up in there  - I thought. As it turns out, every low bump you see in the above or below pictures is a rock pile (eg at the foot of the tree above). That's what rock piles look like most of the time around here - not large monumental cairns. 

I have now found small sites at several points along the edge of the Golf Course. We can suspect that the whole area was once rock piles. There are more, further east.

More quartz artifacts from this year

 These photos are from a nice weekend day at the end of May. I went to a favorite place in southeastern Massachusetts and was really pleased to see this projectile point, fully exposed, waiting to be picked up.

 

This is what I would call a Squibnocket Stemmed point. Others might simply call it "small stemmed." The material is typical. This one is somewhat unusual in that it has one shoulder. I have found a few like this.

I left this place and drove south into Rhode Island, to another place I know. The conditions weren't great but there were quartz flakes visible here and there. I bent down to pick up a barely exposed flake, and was surprised and elated to see this pop out of the ground. This was right after I picked it up. That clean bit on the left side of the base is the only part that had been peeking out of the ground.

I really like this shape, with the square stem. I don't have many like this and it's unusual for me to find one that is not broken.

 

I found some other fragments too. Another lucky day.