Handbook of Alabama Archaeology: Part I Point Types Part 15

FORM: The cross-section may be biconvex or flattened. Shoulders may be horizontal, tapered, or inversely tapered. Blade edges are more apt to be straight but may be slightly excurvate, or one edge may be straight and the other excurvate. The distal end is acute. The stem is expanded and formed by broad deep side or corner notches. Several examples have one corner notch and one side notch. The side edges of the stem are incurvate and the base is usually straight. It is usually thinned, but rarely ground.

FLAKING: Shallow to deep random flaking was used to shape the faces. The blade edges are usually retouched by removal of short and fairly deep flakes. Large deep flakes were removed to form the notches, usually followed by secondary flaking along the stem and shoulder edges. Local materials were used.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

COMMENTS: The Motley point was named from the Motley Place in northeastern Louisiana. The ill.u.s.trated example is from Cambron Site 301 in Limestone County, Alabama. Bell (1958) states, "The type is best represented from the Poverty Point Culture in the lower Mississippi Valley" where radiocarbon dates range from about 1300 B.C. up to 200 B.

C. It is also present in the Archaic sites of Kentucky, Alabama, and Illinois. It is similar to Normanskill points of New York (Ritchie, 1961). The type has been referred to locally as Sugar Creek. At Stanfield-Worley Bluff Shelter (DeJarnette, Kurjack and Cambron, 1962), five examples were recovered from the top three levels and one from Level 6. At the University of Alabama Site Ms 201 in Marshall County, Alabama, one example each was recovered from Levels 3 and 4. At Flint River Mound (Webb and DeJarnette, 1948a) two examples were taken from Zone A (Woodland), five from Zone B (Woodland) and one from Zone C (Archaic). This evidence indicates a strong early Woodland a.s.sociation with a beginning in Archaic times.

MOUNTAIN FORK, =Cambron= (This Paper): A-114

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: This is a small, narrow, thick, stemmed point.

MEASUREMENTS: Eleven cotypes from sites in Madison and Limestone counties, Alabama, provided the following measurements and traits: length--maximum, 51 mm.; minimum, 28 mm.; average, 40 mm.: shoulder width--maximum, 20 mm.; minimum, 13 mm.; average, 15 mm.: stem width--maximum, 15 mm.; minimum, 9 mm.; average, 11 mm.: stem length--maximum, 14 mm.; minimum, 7 mm.; average, 11 mm.: thickness--maximum, 8 mm.; minimum, 6 mm.; average, 7 mm.

FORM: The cross-section is usually biconvex but may be somewhat median ridged. Shoulders are narrow and tapered. Blade edges may be straight or excurvate. The distal end is acute. Nine of the eleven measured examples show impact fractures of the distal end. The stem is usually straight but may be tapered. The basal edge may be straight or excurvate and is usually unfinished, but may be thinned and is rarely ground.

FLAKING: Short, deep, random flakes were removed in shaping the faces of the blade and stem. Retouching of the edges was accomplished by removal of very short deep flakes. Local materials were used, especially Bangor nodular flint.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

COMMENTS: The type was named from points from sites along Mountain Fork Creek in Madison County, Alabama, where they were first recognized. The ill.u.s.trated example is from Cambron Site 103 in this area. The type appears in surface collections along with Swan Lake, Flint River Spike, and Bradley Spike points. At the Stanfield-Worley Bluff Shelter (DeJarnette, Kurjack and Cambron, 1962), a few examples were recovered from the upper levels of Zone A. This is an indication of late Woodland a.s.sociation at this site. This was a prominent type in Zones A and B (Woodland) at Flint River Mound (Webb and DeJarnette, 1948a), especially in the upper levels. A few examples were recovered from Zones C and D (Archaic) at this site. Current evidence indicates a middle to late Woodland a.s.sociation. Impact fractures on the distal ends of eight of the eleven measured examples indicate use of the type as arrow points.

The type is similar to the stemmed variant of Lamoka, an Archaic type found in New York and dated by radiocarbon method at 3500 B.C.

(Ritchie, 1961).

MUD CREEK, =Hulse= (Cambron and Hulse, 1960b): A-62

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: This is a medium sized, expanded stem point with excurvate blade and ac.u.minate distal end.

MEASUREMENTS: Fourteen cotypes from Limestone County, Alabama, provided the following measurements and traits: length--maximum, 67 mm.; minimum, 46 mm.; average, 56 mm.: shoulder width--maximum, 29 mm.; minimum, 23 mm.; average, 26 mm.: stem width--maximum, 20 mm.; minimum, 14 mm.; average, 18 mm.: stem length--maximum, 17 mm.; minimum, 12 mm.; average, 14 mm.: thickness--maximum, 10 mm.; minimum, 8 mm.; average, 9 mm.

FLAKING: Broad, shallow, random flaking was used to shape the blade and hafting area. Small, fairly deep flakes were removed in retouching the blade and stem edges. Most stem bases have been thinned, but a few are crudely finished.

FORM: The cross-section is biconvex. Shoulders are usually tapered but may be horizontal and are sometimes rounded. Blade edges are excurvate.

The distal end is sharply acute or ac.u.minate. The stem is expanded, sometimes only slightly. Side edges are usually straight. The basal edge is usually thinned and straight but may be excurvate. About half of the examples have ground bases, and several bases retain rind from the parent material.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

COMMENTS: It is named from points found on sites near Mud Creek in Limestone County, Alabama. The ill.u.s.trated example is from Hulse Site 50 in Limestone County, Alabama. The type is similar to Lange points (Bell, 1958) in outline, but is narrower in proportion and differs in other features. At Stanfield-Worley Bluff Shelter (DeJarnette, Kurjack and Cambron, 1962) one example each was recovered from Levels 1, 2, and 3; two from Level 5; one from Level 7; two from Level 9. This indicates a late Archaic to Woodland a.s.sociation at this site. At Flint Creek Rock Shelter (Cambron and Waters, 1961) two examples were recovered from the bottom of Stratum I (Woodland) and two from the top of Stratum II (Archaic). One example appeared in Zone A (early Woodland or late Archaic) at the Little Bear Creek Mound (Webb and DeJarnette, 1948b). At Flint River Mound (Webb and DeJarnette, 1948a) Zone A (Woodland) produced one Mud Creek point; Zone B (lower Woodland), two examples; while the Archaic zones produced 25 examples, 22 from Zone C (upper Archaic), one from Zone C-D and two from Zone D (bottom Archaic). This indicates a strong late Archaic a.s.sociation at this site. This evidence and surface a.s.sociations suggest a strong late Archaic type that existed into Woodland times.

MULBERRY CREEK, =DeJarnette= (DeJarnette, Kurjack and Cambron, 1962): A-63

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: This is a medium to large, stemmed point with p.r.o.nounced excurvate blade.

MEASUREMENTS: Ten cotypes, from the Little Bear Creek Sh.e.l.l Mound (Webb and DeJarnette, 1948b) provided the following measurements and traits: length--maximum, 116 mm.; minimum, 81 mm.; average, 96 mm.: blade width--maximum, 36 mm.; minimum, 22 mm.; average. 30 mm.: shoulder width--maximum, 30 mm.; minimum, 20 mm.; average, 25 mm.: stem width--maximum, 20 mm.; minimum, 12 mm.; average, 17 mm.: stem length--maximum, 16 mm.; minimum, 12 mm.; average, 15 mm.: thickness--maximum, 12 mm.; minimum, 9 mm.; average, 10 mm. The ill.u.s.trated example provided the following measurements: length, 81 mm.; blade width, 30 mm.; shoulder width, 28 mm.; stem width, 17 mm.; stem length, 13 mm.; thickness, 10 mm.

FORM: The cross-section is biconvex. Shoulders are narrow, usually tapered, and may be asymmetrical. Blade edges are excurvate, with the widest point near the midsection, and may be finely serrated. The distal end is usually acute but may be ac.u.minate. The stem may be tapered or straight, rarely expanded. The basal edge is usually excurvate, but may be straight, and is poorly thinned. Stem edges are usually ground.

FLAKING: Broad, shallow, random flaking was used to shape the faces.

Fine retouch was carried out along the blade edges. The stem edges were usually more crudely retouched. Local materials, especially Ft. Payne chert, were used.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

COMMENTS: The type was named from examples from sites at and near Mulberry Creek in Colbert County, Alabama. The ill.u.s.trated example is from Cambron Site 8 in Morgan County, Alabama. One example was recovered from Level 1, Zone A at the Stanfield-Worley Bluff Shelter (DeJarnette, Kurjack and Cambron, 1962). At the Little Bear Creek Site in Colbert County, Alabama (Webb and DeJarnette, 1948b), six of the fourteen recovered examples were from the 2-foot level, two from the 1-foot level, two from Zone A (2.75'), two from the 3-foot level and two from the 6-foot level. This evidence indicates an introduction in middle Archaic times, a strong a.s.sociation to late Archaic, and survival into early Woodland at this site. At the Flint River Sh.e.l.l Mound (Webb and DeJarnette, 1948a) two examples were taken from Zone A (upper Woodland), one from Zone C (upper Archaic) and one from Zone D (lower Archaic).

Based on this information and surface collection a.s.sociations, a climax of the type in late sh.e.l.lmound Archaic is suggested for North Alabama.

Distribution seems to be somewhat limited, although similar examples are ill.u.s.trated from early Woodland Roskamp Focus of Illinois (Wray, 1950) and from Boone Focus (early Woodland) of central Missouri (Chapman, 1948).

NEW MARKET, =Cambron= (This paper): (Formerly cla.s.sified as Randolph) A-74

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: This is a medium sized, narrow, rounded stem point with expanded shoulders.

MEASUREMENTS: Six plesiotypes, including the ill.u.s.trated example, provided the following measurements: length--maximum, 61 mm.; minimum, 45 mm.; average, 51 mm.: shoulder width--maximum, 18 mm.; minimum, 15 mm.; average, 17 mm.: stem width--maximum, 13 mm.; minimum, 10 mm.; average, 12 mm.: stem length--maximum, 12 mm.; minimum, 9 mm.; average, 11 mm.: thickness--maximum, 9 mm.; minimum, 6 mm.; average, 7 mm.

FORM: The cross-section is biconvex. Shoulders are narrow and tapered and may be expanded. Excluding the expanded shoulders, the blade is usually straight but may be slightly excurvate. The distal end is sharply acute. The stem is contracted-rounded and thinned on the edges.

Sides of the stem are usually straight. The basal edge is always excurvate.

FLAKING: Flaking used to shape the faces of the blade and stem is usually fairly deep, as is most of the fine retouching along the edges.

The expanded shoulder is formed by leaving that area of the blade intact during finis.h.i.+ng of the blade edges. In some cases the lack of retouch along the basal edge of the blade resulted in an absence of expanded shoulders. Local materials were used.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

COMMENTS: The type was named for the New Market Site near New Market, Alabama, where the type was first recognized. The type was described in previous editions of this book as Randolph, a historic type named by Coe (1959) from the Doerschuk Site in Piedmont, North Carolina. The New Market point has been found to differ in flaking as well as culturally from the Randolph type. The ill.u.s.trated example is from Cambron Site 76 (Pine Tree) in Limestone County, Alabama. The type is similar in some respects to Bradley Spike, but differs in that the stem is tapered and rounded, shoulders may be expanded, and fine retouch is a feature of the blade. One example was recovered from Level 2 at the University of Alabama Site Ms 201 in Marshall County, Alabama. One example was recovered from Zone A and two from Zone A-B at the Flint River Sh.e.l.l Mound (Webb and DeJarnette, 1948a). These proveniences place the type at these sites in the Woodland period or later. They are found at Flint River and nearly always in surface collections with Swan Lake, Flint River Spike, and Bradley Spike points.

NODENA, =Chapman and Anderson= (Bell, 1958): A-110

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: The Nodena is a small to medium-sized, lanceolate point with rounded base.

MEASUREMENTS: The ill.u.s.trated plesiotype measures 46 mm. long, 15 mm.

wide and 7 mm. thick. Bell (1958) gives the range as 1 to 3 inches in length.

FORM: The cross-section is biconvex. The blade is excurvate with an acute distal end. The hafting area or basal edge is usually rounded, but may be acute.

FLAKING: Broad, shallow, random flaking was used to shape the blade and hafting area, leaving a low median ridge on some examples. The edges of the blade and hafting area show fine retouching of a narrow shallow nature. Local flint was used for the ill.u.s.trated specimen.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

COMMENTS: The type was named after the Nodena Site in eastern Arkansas, but has been referred to as the "Willow-leaf" type by numerous writers and collectors for the past 25 years (Bell, 1958). The ill.u.s.trated example is from Baker Site N, Madison County, Alabama. Bell (1958) gives the distribution as heaviest in eastern Arkansas, along the Mississippi and St. Francis river valleys and also along the Arkansas River Valley as far as Dardanelle, Arkansas. He lists the cultural affiliation as late prehistoric and suggests a date of 1400 to 1600 A.D. The type is rare in Alabama, and the cultural a.s.sociation of Alabama points is unknown.

NOLICHUCKY, =Kneberg= (Kneberg, 1957): A-64

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: The Nolichucky is a small to medium sized point with incurvate hafting area.

MEASUREMENTS: The ill.u.s.trated example from the type site provided the following measurements: length, 37 mm.; blade width, 16 mm.; width of base, 17 mm.; width of hafting constriction, 15 mm.; thickness, 6 mm.

"The size is usually small, but occasional examples range up to 2 inches in length. The proportions are usually narrow, rarely broad." (Kneberg, 1957.)