# One of dad's. Possible paleo.



## notnefarious (Sep 9, 2015)

Pulled out my dad's collection over the holiday and was perplexed by this one. My first thought was "Clovis!?" But then again, I'm terrible at the whole ID thing, and it's noticeably shorter than any other I've seen.  
Is this another type entirely, or just a modified Clovis? Perhaps one that's been resharpened, or that was recycled by a later culture?
Your help is greatly appreciated, fellas. I don't trust myself to tell him anything definitive!


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## Willjo (Sep 9, 2015)

Looks like a Dalton that has been sharpened to a drill point and the drill point broke off. have seen several points done that way.


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## dtala (Sep 9, 2015)

only problem I have is there appears to be no ground edge at the base, otherwise it looks , in shape ennyways, to be Paleo or Dalton.


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## NCHillbilly (Sep 9, 2015)

Looks to me like a late-stage preform that was broken during thinning with a transverse fracture when somebody made a mis-lick with the billet. Then they probably said several dirty words in whatever language they spoke then, and threw it down. I don't think that curved base is intentionally shaped like that or worked, just looks broken to that shape with a flat cross section. The fact that the end hasn't been worked yet except for thinning flakes taken from the sides is telling, too. Can you post an end-on view from the "base"/broken end?


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## Bow Only (Sep 9, 2015)

NCHillbilly said:


> Looks to me like a late-stage preform that was broken during thinning with a transverse fracture when somebody made a mis-lick with the billet. Then they probably said several dirty words in whatever language they spoke then, and threw it down. I don't think that curved base is intentionally shaped like that or worked, just looks broken to that shape with a flat cross section. The fact that the end hasn't been worked yet except for thinning flakes taken from the sides is telling, too. Can you post an end-on view from the "base"/broken end?



I'm with Hillbilly on this one.


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## PappyHoel (Sep 9, 2015)

NCHillbilly said:


> Then they probably said several dirty words in whatever language they spoke then, and threw it down.



Fiddlesticks


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## KentuckyHeadhunter (Sep 9, 2015)

If its thinned at the base, not broken, could it be a quad?


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## Forest Grump (Sep 9, 2015)

KentuckyHeadhunter said:


> If its thinned at the base, not broken, could it be a quad?



I thought Quad, but when I looked at the 3rd photo, looking down from the top, it turned the point around, making the "point" look like the base...do you see what I mean? Also, the where enters into the Quad thing, 'cause they tended to mostly live in a certain area.

At that point, I backed out of the discussion & left it to folks that have handled more rocks than me.


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## Bow Only (Sep 10, 2015)

Quads are ground pretty good and looking at the left auricle, you see it's serrated.  No grinding on base or sides.  If that point had been hafted, it would not be serrated on the auricle or it would eat through the lashing.  It's almost like a snapped base resalvaged point.


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## NCHillbilly (Sep 10, 2015)

I don't think it's an auricle to begin with, nor did the point ever make it to the shaping stage, it's still being percussion thinned at this stage. Just from years of flintknapping myself, looks like those serrations are a series of pressure flakes taken to turn the edge and set up a striking platform for a large flake removal, probably the one that broke it. Somewhere around there is another half that probably looks just like this one, except with a convex end instead of a concave one.


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## Bow Only (Sep 12, 2015)

NCHillbilly said:


> I don't think it's an auricle to begin with, nor did the point ever make it to the shaping stage, it's still being percussion thinned at this stage. Just from years of flintknapping myself, looks like those serrations are a series of pressure flakes taken to turn the edge and set up a striking platform for a large flake removal, probably the one that broke it. Somewhere around there is another half that probably looks just like this one, except with a convex end instead of a concave one.



That's what I was trying to say without having the knowledge a flintknapper has.  Good post.


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## notnefarious (Sep 13, 2015)

Thanks so much for the great information fellas! Because of the move I've been without Internet for a few days, and have been eagerly awaiting its installation to hear your thoughts on this.  
Will send dad a message to get me some more pictures ASAP. 

Hillbilly, thanks especially for your insights RE:knapping. Not having done any myself, I hadn't thought about this being the broken top half of a preform. Thanks as always. 

Got Overstreet on the way, so maybe within the week or so I can start "sharpening" my ID skills.


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