Handbook of Alabama Archaeology: Part I Point Types Part 7

FLAKING: Fairly deep random flaking shapes the faces of the blade and hafting area. Fine, regular retouch finishes the blade edges, often resulting in fine serrations. Notches, formed by the removal of one or more flakes, are found near the basal edge. Short, deep flakes were removed in order to bevel the basal edge. Unbeveled faces are thinned.

Local materials were used and all examples are patinated.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

COMMENTS: The type was named from the Damron Site (Cambron Site 47), Lincoln County, Tennessee, where many examples were recovered. The ill.u.s.trated example is from the Quad Site (Cambron Site 84) in Limestone County, Alabama. The type has been previously cla.s.sified locally as Upper Valley Side Notched. One example was recovered from Level 8 of Zone A (an Archaic level) at the Stanfield-Worley Bluff Shelter (DeJarnette, Kurjack and Cambron, 1962). At Flint Creek Rock Shelter (Cambron and Waters, 1961) three examples were recovered from the middle Archaic Stratum and one from the upper Woodland Stratum. One example was recovered from Zone B (a Woodland level) at the Flint River Mound (Webb and DeJarnette, 1948a). The appearance of the type in surface collections from pre-sh.e.l.lmound sites in the Wheeler Basin of the Tennessee River indicates an early Archaic a.s.sociation. An a.s.sociation with some part of the Archaic period is suggested.

DECATUR, =Cambron= (Cambron, 1957): A-31

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: This is a small to medium-sized point that is corner-notched and beveled with diagonal flakes struck from the base and basal sides of the stem forming an incurvate base.

MEASUREMENTS: Sixteen autotypes from sites near Decatur, Alabama, provided both measurements and features. Measurements ranged as follows: length--maximum, 54 mm.; minimum, 29 mm.; average 42 mm.: shoulder width--maximum, 38 mm.; minimum, 22 mm.; average, 28 mm.: stem width--maximum, 25 mm.; minimum, 13 mm.; average, 19 mm.: stem length--maximum, 12 mm.; minimum, 4 mm.; average, 7 mm.: thickness--maximum, 7 mm.; minimum, 5 mm.; average, 6 mm. The ill.u.s.trated example measures in length, 40 mm.; in shoulder width, 23 mm.; in stem width, 17 mm.; in stem length, 5 mm.; in thickness, 5 mm.

FORM: The cross-section is usually rhomboid; rarely, biconvex. The shoulders are usually tapered with expanded barbs but, rarely, may be straight, with or without expanded barbs. The blade may be straight or incurvate; rarely, recurvate. Blade edges are usually beveled on one edge and serrated. The distal end is acute. The corner notches range in width from about 3 mm. to 7 mm. and in depth from about 4 mm. to 7 mm.

The expanded stem usually has straight side edges; the basal edge is usually incurvate but may be straight. Rarely, it is excurvate. It is usually thinned and nearly always ground.

FLAKING: Most examples exhibit broad, shallow flaking on the faces.

Blade edges are serrated, either as a result of retouch accomplished by alternate removal of deeper flakes from opposite faces or as a result of beveling. The bevel angle varies from steep to a bevel that extends to near the center of the blade and may overlap from near halfway the blade length to the distal end. Most examples have one or more flakes struck from the basal corners of the stem to near the center of the basal edge.

On many examples, the same type of flake may be struck from the basal corners of the stem up the sides of the stem towards the shoulders. This flaking tends to flatten the base and sides of the stem. Stem edges are finished by grinding.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

COMMENTS: The type was named for the Decatur, Alabama, area where it was first recognized. The ill.u.s.trated example is from Hulse Site 32 (Stone Pipe) Limestone County, Alabama. The type was described by Bell (1960).

Two examples were recovered, one from upper half of Stratum II and one from the center third of Stratum II (Archaic) at Flint Creek Rock Shelter (Cambron and Waters, 1961). The type was not found in excavations in other early strata away from the Tennessee River. Local examples are found near the river on pre-sh.e.l.lmound sites. This evidence suggests an early Archaic a.s.sociation.

EBENEZER, =Kneberg= (This Paper): A-107

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: The Ebenezer is a small, short-stemmed, point with rounded stem and excurvate blade edges.

MEASUREMENTS: The ill.u.s.trated example, which provided the features, is 38 mm. long, 19 mm. in shoulder width, 15 mm. in stem width, 6 mm. in stem length and 7 mm. thick.

FORM: The cross-section is biconvex. Shoulders are narrow and are usually tapered but may be straight. The blade is usually excurvate with an acute distal end. The stem is short and rounded.

FLAKING: The blade and stem are shaped by broad, shallow or deep, random flaking. Short, regular retouch finishes the blade edges. Use of a rather poor grade of local flint at the Camp Creek Site (Lewis and Kneberg, 1957) may account for the relatively crude flaking on examples from this site.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

COMMENTS: The Ebenezer type was ill.u.s.trated as Rudimentary Stemmed at Camp Creek in Greene County, Tennessee (Lewis and Kneberg, 1957) where the ill.u.s.trated example was recovered (Cambron Site 284). Fifty-eight examples were recovered scattered through the midden. The type was described as being "a.s.sociated with early Woodland artifacts on other upper eastern Tennessee sites". A radiocarbon date of 2050 250 B.P.

was obtained from the h.o.m.ogeneous midden at Camp Creek. One example was recovered from the middle of Stratum I (Woodland) at Flint Creek Rock Shelter (Cambron and Waters, 1961). At Flint River Mound Ma 48 (Webb and DeJarnette, 1948a) in the Woodland zone, one example was recovered from Zone A and one from Zone B. The Ebenezer point was dominant at the Rankin Site on French Broad River (headwaters of Tennessee River) where most of the ceramics were sand-tempered. This evidence would place the type in early to late Woodland a.s.sociation with a suggested date of from about 2000 years ago to possibly 1500 years ago or some part thereof.

The type is similar to some ill.u.s.trated examples of Cliffton points from Texas (Suhm, Krieger and Jelks, 1954), which are estimated to be near the same age.

ECUSTA, =Harwood and Osborne= (Harwood, 1958): A-32

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: The Ecusta is a small, triangular, side-notched point with serrated and beveled blade edges.

MEASUREMENTS: The ill.u.s.trated example measures 37 mm. long, 24 mm. wide at the base, and 7 mm. thick.

FORM: The cross-section is rhomboid. The shoulder barbs are weak, and are usually the result of beveling of the blade. The blade is straight, and beveled on one side of each face and, usually, serrated. The distal end is acute. The sides of the hafting area display shallow side notches. The base of the hafting area is usually broad and rounded but may be straight or incurvate. Striking of diagonal flakes from the basal edge on some examples results in flattening of the base.

FLAKING: This is a well-made point, shaped by random, percussion flaking and retouched with serrations along the blade edges.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

COMMENT: The point was named "Ecusta" since this is the Cherokee Indian name for Davidson River, where the type was first recognized at the Osborne Site in Transylvania County, North Carolina (Harwood, 1958). The ill.u.s.trated h.o.m.otype is from Kyle Hardin's Baker 1 Site in Blount County, Alabama, where it was recovered along with four other examples.

One example (No. 1, p. 42) was ill.u.s.trated by Lewis (1961) from Guntersville Basin in North Alabama. Other examples were found on the surface in North Alabama, Kentucky Lake in Tennessee, and Madison County, North Carolina. The Ecusta is similar to Decatur and Plevna points inasmuch as all of these types are notched, beveled and may have diagonal flakes struck from the base. Plevna and Decatur points from Kyle Hardin's Baker 1 Site were very similar in workmans.h.i.+p to Ecusta points from this site. All examples are found with early Archaic materials. An Alabama pre-sh.e.l.lmound a.s.sociation is suggested, with a probable date prior to 5000 years ago.

ELK RIVER, =Cambron= (DeJarnette, Kurjack and Cambron, 1962): A-33

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: This is a medium to large, stemmed point with oblique-horizontal flaking on the blade faces.

MEASUREMENTS: Measurements of the 15 paratypes (specimens of the original series including the holotype) range as follows: length--maximum, 92 mm.; minimum, 48 mm.; average, 72 mm.: shoulder width--maximum, 38 mm.; minimum, 30 mm.; average, 31 mm.: stem width--maximum, 19 mm.; minimum, 15 mm.; average, 17 mm.: stem length--maximum, 17 mm.; minimum, 11 mm.; average, 14 mm.: thickness--maximum, 11 mm.; minimum, 8 mm.; average, 9 mm. The ill.u.s.trated example measures 128 mm. in length; 27 mm. in shoulder width; 20 mm. in stem width; 14 mm. in stem length; 9 mm. in thickness.

FORM: The cross-section is usually biconvex; rarely, plano-convex. The shoulders are usually tapered and may be expanded. The blade is excurvate; the distal end, acute. The hafting area is usually straight-stemmed but the stem may be expanded or contracted with a straight or, rarely, excurvate basal edge. One example could be described as having shallow side notches. About one-fourth of the original series have lightly ground bases.

FLAKING: One or (usually) both faces are shaped by oblique-transverse flaking. Retouch is minimized since the oblique flaking, in most cases, carries from the blade edges to near the center of the face and occasionally almost forms a median ridge. The transverse-oblique flaking is similar to that seen on the faces of some Angostura, Scotts-bluff and Brown Valley points and Cape Denbigh artifacts ill.u.s.trated by Wormington (1957). This flaking technique was also used on some late neolithic Danish daggers (Bordaz, 1959).

[Ill.u.s.tration]

COMMENTS: The point was named for the Elk River Site on Elk River in Limestone County, Alabama. The ill.u.s.trated example is from Hulse 38E (Quad Site), Limestone County, Alabama. The type was listed in the depth distribution charts at Flint Creek Rock Shelter (Cambron and Waters, 1961) in the middle-Archaic stratum (10 examples) and Woodland stratum (two examples). An ill.u.s.tration was listed as Provisional Type 2, expanded stem. Two examples of Elk River points from Perry Site, Lu 25, on Seven Mile Island in Lauderdale County, Alabama, were used to ill.u.s.trate the high art of flint flaking (Webb and DeJarnette, 1942).

Examples from Levels 8 and 9, Zone A, at Stanfield-Worley Bluff Shelter (DeJarnette, Kurjack and Cambron, 1962) indicate a late Archaic a.s.sociation. Examples were recovered from Zones A, B, C, and D at Flint River Mound, Ma 48 (Webb and DeJarnette, 1948a). At Little Bear Creek, Ct 8 (Webb and DeJarnette, 1948b) six examples were recovered from the five-foot level and one from the six-foot level. This again indicates a middle- to late-Archaic type. Since most of the a.s.sociations in the North Alabama--South Tennessee area are within the sh.e.l.lmound period, this type very likely appeared before 5000 years ago. It is probably not a.s.sociated with the western point types with similar flaking.

ELORA, =Cambron= (Cambron and Hulse, 1960b): A-34

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: The Elora is a medium to large, thick, broad, stemmed point with unfinished base.

MEASUREMENTS: The 12 cotypes (including the ill.u.s.trated example) which provided the features range in measurements as follows: length--maximum, 71 mm.; minimum, 53 mm.; average, 61 mm.: shoulder width--maximum, 57 mm.; minimum, 35 mm.; average, 43 mm.: stem width--maximum, 22 mm.; minimum, 20 mm.; average, 20 mm.: stem length--maximum, 15 mm.; minimum, 8 mm.; average, 12 mm.: thickness--maximum, 12 mm.; minimum, 7 mm.; average, 10 mm.

FORM: The cross-section is biconvex. Shoulders are usually rounded and tapered but may be horizontal or, rarely, expanded. The blade is usually straight; rarely, excurvate or incurvate. Some examples are finely serrated as a result of retouching along the blade edges. The distal end is usually acute; rarely, broad. The hafting area consists of a thick, contracted stem with side edges that are straight or incurvate and a basal edge that is usually straight but may be excurvate. The crudely finished stem base found on most examples often has an intentionally broken appearance. Removal of one or more flakes usually results in a relatively broad, flattened basal edge.

FLAKING: The flaking used to form the blade and hafting area is broad, shallow or deep, and random. Fine, sometimes steep, regular retouching along the blade edges accomplished by removal of alternate flakes from each face sometimes results in fine serrations. The shoulder and side edges of the stem may show some secondary flaking. The basal edge is usually unfinished but may show a little retouch as broad flakes were struck off or perhaps intentionally broken off to form a more or less flat stem base edge.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

COMMENTS: The type was named from the Elora area of Lincoln County, Tennessee, where several sites have produced many examples of the type.

The ill.u.s.trated example as well as the cotypes are from Cambron Site 48 in this area. A variant cla.s.sified locally as Elora Serrated is slightly larger than Elora and is strongly serrated by the alternate removal of flakes from opposite faces of the point. The Elora point was categorized Provisional Type 7, large, thick, stemmed, by Cambron and Waters (1961).

In Zone A at the Stanfield-Worley Bluff Shelter (DeJarnette, Kurjack and Cambron, 1962) 2 examples were recovered from Level 1, 1 from Level 2, 2 from Level 3, 1 from Level 6, 1 from Level 9. One example of Elora Serrated was recovered from Level 1 in Zone A and one from Level 1 in Zone D at the Stanfield-Worley Bluff Shelter. A serrated example was also recovered from Level 8 at University of Alabama Site Ms 201 in Marshall County, Alabama. At Flint Creek Rock Shelter (Cambron and Waters, 1961) two examples of Elora were recovered from Stratum I (Woodland) and 3 examples from upper Stratum II (Archaic). At Little Bear Creek, Site Ct 8 (Webb and DeJarnette, 1948b) two examples were recovered from the 4-foot level, one from the 5-foot level and one from Zone B, about the 4-foot level (Archaic). At Flint River, Mound Ma 48 (Webb and DeJarnette, 1948a) two examples were recovered from Zone D (Archaic). This evidence suggests a middle-to-late, sh.e.l.lmound Archaic and possibly a very early Woodland a.s.sociation. Elora Serrated may be slightly older than Elora. A date of 5000 to 3000 years ago, or some part thereof, is suggested. Hulse suggests that Elora Serrated may be a type distinct from Elora.

EVA, =Kneberg= (Kneberg, 1956): A-35

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: The Eva is a medium to large, basally notched point with an excurvate or recurvate blade.

MEASUREMENTS: The 10 plesiotypes which supplied the features (the ill.u.s.trated example is included) range in measurements as follows: length--maximum, 96 mm.; minimum, 48 mm.; average, 61 mm.: shoulder width--maximum, 39 mm.; minimum, 25 mm.; average, 33 mm.: stem width--maximum, 26 mm.; minimum, 11 mm.; average, 18 mm.: stem length--maximum, 7 mm.; minimum, 5 mm.; average, 6 mm.: thickness--maximum, 10 mm.; minimum, 8 mm.; average, 9 mm.