Arrowhead finds - June

     It hasn't rained much, but I have had some luck and am happy to have some photos to share.

     Here are a couple of broken finds from two different sites earlier this month. It's a shame about that pink rhyolite stemmed point, it is well made, an interesting material, and it would have been really nice. The quartz Squibnocket Triangle is decent but unfortunately also damaged.

     One day after work, I stopped to get something to drink on the ride home. I got back in the car and it occurred to me that there was a place where there might be something to find, that might not be too far away from where I was. I plugged the address into my GPS and saw that the spot was less than 45 minutes away. It was warm, sunny, and dry, but I thought it might be worth at least driving by. So, off I went. I parked the car and walked over to the area I had considered searching. Bone dry, dusty... Not very promising. I took 10 steps. I saw a gleam of quartz, picked it up. It was a perfect arrowhead with a needle sharp tip. I had been looking for 10 seconds. What a thrill! I considered getting back in the car and leaving. I usually search this place for about 2 hours for every stone tool I find, and the conditions were not good. Well, I am glad I stayed! Here is what I came home with, after 2 hours of searching.

     The items on the bottom row are crude or broken things that show obvious flaking, I do not think they are just flakes. The other items are projectile points or fragments of tools. These very small arrowheads are both whole, or nearly whole. Miniature versions of the most common shapes I encounter, in southeastern New England. Both are quartz; the Squibnocket Triangle on the right is nicely flaked.

     These were my nicest finds. The one on the left is what I picked up just seconds into my search. The one on the right is nice and big. It really got my heart beating, when I spotted it in the dust.

     In addition to the usual quartz tools and fragments, I found some more interesting materials. The stemmed point on the left, missing its tip, is from a white material that I believe is chert. This tool was so heavily resharpened that the blade is narrower than the base. I believe that these people were really thrifty when it came to fine materials like this, and this tool was worked down so much, I imagine this was the discard stage. The midsection on the right is made of flint and shows pressure flaking on one edge. A rare material, around here.

     Here are the best of the finds, cleaned up.