Assessing the Validity of Mojave Desert Lake Mohave and Silver Lake Projectile-Point Types

PaleoAmerica ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Edward J. Knell ◽  
Matthew E. Hill ◽  
Mark Q. Sutton
Keyword(s):  
Mojave Desert ◽  
Projectile Point ◽  
Point Types ◽  
Lake Mohave ◽  
Desert Lake ◽  
Silver Lake

Points in Time: Direct Radiocarbon Dates on Great Basin Projectile Points

2013 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 580-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey M. Smith ◽  
Pat Barker ◽  
Eugene M. Hattori ◽  
Anan Raymond ◽  
Ted Goebel
Keyword(s):  
Great Basin ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Projectile Point ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Projectile Points ◽  
Primary Means ◽  
Point Types ◽  
Cross Dating ◽  
Age Estimates

AbstractTypological cross-dating is the primary means by which archaeological sites are placed into chronological frameworks. This approach relies on the assumption that artifacts at undated sites—usually projectile points—are coeval with similar artifacts found at Other, dated sites. While typological cross-dating is necessary in regions dominated by open-air lithic scatters, the approach can be problematic when undated and dated sites are separated by significant distances. Here, we present radiocarbon dates on projectile points with organic hafting material still attached or found within organic storage bags. Our results provide unequivocal ages for various morphological projectile point types at several Great Basin locales and should be useful to researchers seeking local age estimates for those point types, which often involves relying on chronological data from more distant sites. The results also highlight potential issues with uncritically applying typological cross-dating using typologies based on metric attributes, and in two cases, suggest the need to revise the age ranges for certain point styles in the western Great Basin.

Stone Artifacts

1949 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 152-178
Author(s):  
Alex D. Krieger
Keyword(s):  
Projectile Point ◽  
Projectile Points ◽  
Stone Artifacts ◽  
Stratigraphic Position ◽  
Point Types ◽  
Three Phases

With some exceptions, notably the projectile points, the various artifacts of stone, flint, and pigment are simple in nature and will be but briefly described. Figures 53-61 provide illustrations of nearly every descriptive grouping, specimens having been selected to show ranges of variation; the more variation —as in projectile point types—the more specimens are shown.Tables 17-18 show the stratigraphic position of all stone artifacts and pigments found. Ordinary household artifacts such as milling stones, hammerstones, hones, knives, scrapers, and gravers were but sparsely represented in the mound, as might be expected. But since the mound provides our only sure stratigraphic control, the general dearth of utilitarian artifacts in it renders their occurrence in the three phases of occupation uncertain. That is, absence from one or more of the mound phases could be due to chance where only ten or a dozen (or fewer) specimens of a particular group came from the mound.

Numerical Types and Inspectional Types: Evaluating Shape Characterization Procedures

1986 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Andrefsky
Keyword(s):  
Clustering Algorithms ◽  
Numerical Procedure ◽  
Projectile Point ◽  
Point Data ◽  
Point Types ◽  
Classification Procedures ◽  
Shape Characterization ◽  
Point Form

Projectile point data are used in testing and evaluating various numerical shape classification procedures. Inspectional point types play the role of a control population while clustering algorithms, attribute section, and standardization techniques are tested. The most effective numerical procedure identified for the classification of projectile point form is a combination of k-means analysis, ratio scale measurements between attributes, and standardization of interval measures to a mean of zero and standard deviation of one.

The Earliest Cultures in the Western United States

1962 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex D. Krieger
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Food Supply ◽  
Western United States ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Projectile Point ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Projectile Points ◽  
Chipped Stone ◽  
Point Types ◽  
Geological Position

AbstractNearly all writers on the antiquity of man in America assume that the oldest archaeological sites contain chipped-stone projectile points and therefore cannot exceed an age of some 12,000 to 15,000 years, the estimates usually given to such projectile-point types as Sandia and Clovis. Suggestions of older sites, with radiocarbon dates ranging from some 21,000 years to as much as “greater than 37,000 years,” with simpler artifacts and an absence of stone projectile points, are generally viewed with suspicion if not abhorrence.A recent paper by E. H. Sellards considers seven localities in the western United States and Baja California which, because of geological position and radiocarbon dates, are probably too old to contain stone projectile points. The writer agrees with Sellards that these localities are archaeological (except for that at Texas Street in San Diego, California), but disagrees that those in coastal locations are different from those in inland locations for “ecological” reasons such as food supply and availability of stone. The differences may be explained in that those sites on the shores of extinct lakes were never covered by overburden, whereas those which were covered by alluvium or sand are known to us now only by varying amounts of exposure by erosion or excavation (or both).

The Burin-Faceted Projectile Point

1963 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremiah F. Epstein
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Projectile Point ◽  
Projectile Points ◽  
Point Types ◽  
Indian Point

AbstractA series of Paleo-Indian and Archaic projectile points with burin facets at either the proximal or distal end is described. Most of the points come from Texas. The burin facets appear to be intentional products of the burin technique, used either for the production of burins and burin spalls, or for modifying the shape of the point itself. Paleo-Indian point types with burin facets include Clovis, Cumberland, Folsom, Plainview, Meserve, Angostura, and a number of variant forms. The data suggest that the burin or the burin technique may have been widespread throughout North America during early fluted-point times.

Projectile Point and Hafting Design Review

1996 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 291-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Calvin D. Howard
Keyword(s):  
Rapid Change ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Continuous Change ◽  
Design Review ◽  
Projectile Point ◽  
Projectile Points ◽  
Design Variation ◽  
Point Types ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Comparative Nature

Design review provides insight into possible factors influencing the rapid change of lithic point types and their associated hafting technology during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. The contribution of foreshafts, fluting, notching, and point morphology to weapon system performance was reviewed. Comparison of functional characteristics of lithic projectile points versus rod-shaped points of calcareous materials suggests a prehistoric preference for lithic points that was primarily due to the comparative nature and hemorrhage characteristics of the wounds produced. The design review indicates that the technological chronology observed in the archaeological record is far too complex and non-linear to be envisioned simply as a continuum of functional and maintainability improvement, but is best explained as the result of experimentation and design variation in response to continuous change in hunting conditions, methods, and emphasis.

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