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Figure One - 2.0-inch long projectile point from Wyoming. Some might call this a Folsom point made on a flake (pseudo flute) while others might call it a Midland point. John Bradford Branney Collection.
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Fourth Edition
I love researching archaeological reports about Paleoindians for my historical fiction books. I take what I learn about Paleoindian lifestyles and spin a yarn that portrays how Paleoindians might have lived. I love breathing life into Paleoindians and the challenges they faced 12,600 years ago. From what we know in the archaeological record, 'word of mouth' and 'hands-on' instruction were most likely the methods used for Paleoindians to pass on traditions to the younger generation. Archaeologists have not found any written documentation dating back to the time of Paleoindians in North America.
The passage below in red is from the third book in my five-book, historical fiction series on Paleoindians. This particular book is titled WINDS of EDEN from the SHADOWS on the TRAIL Pentalogy. The series takes place around 12,500 years ago on the high plains of Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota. In this passage, an elderly man is showing his grandchild how to make a fluted projectile point that we now call a Folsom point. Here is a tiny taste of WINDS of EDEN;
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The old man woke up from his nap when the sun was
starting its descent in the sky. He reached over and picked up his satchel. He
pulled out a large red and gray striped rock and sat staring at it. He rubbed
the rock between his thumb and forefinger while thinking about everything that
had happened to him since he had carried the rock from the canyon. Much had
happened in his life since then, some of it good and some of it bad. When the
old man finished reminiscing, he gently placed the red and gray striped rock
back into the satchel. Then, with satchel in hand, the old man stood up and
left his tipi. When he was outside the tipi, he had to shield his aged eyes
from the bright sun. He slowly edged his way to a flat boulder next to his
campfire where he sat down. Then, he pulled five unfinished spear points from
the satchel. He laid the unfinished spear points down on the boulder next to
him and then dug through the satchel, pulling out a cylinder–shaped punch made
from an antler, a large antler hammer, small squares of bison hide, and a sharp
deer antler tine. He placed these items next to the five unfinished spear
points. He leaned over and picked up a flat rock at the base of the boulder. He
set the flat rock down next to his other supplies.
When the old man looked up,
a young boy was running like the wind towards him.
“Haw! – Hello!” the old man said to
the young boy when he arrived at the campfire.
“Haw!” the boy replied, somewhat
out of breath. “I want to watch you.”
“Waste! – Good!” the old man declared
with a grin.
The young boy sat down as close to the old man as
possible without actually sitting on the old man’s lap. The old man picked up
the first spear point and handed it to the young boy.
“He táku hwo? –
What is it?” the old man asked.
The boy studied the piece of chert, his face
frozen in a frown as he concentrated on the old man’s question. The young boy
flipped the rock over in his hands, studying every surface. His eyes narrowed
as he scrutinized the base of the spear point. Between the two sharp ears at
the corners of the base of the spear point, the young boy spotted a tiny knob
of chert, jutting out at the middle of the base.
“Tóka he? – What is wrong?” the old man
asked, a whimsical smile on his face.
The boy flicked the tiny knob with his thumbnail
and replied, “You have dulled this part.”
The young boy then ran his thumb across the small
knobbed platform and said, “It is smooth.”
The fluted projectile point that the old man and the boy made was so distinctive that there is no mistaking a fluted Folsom point when found today.
Headline: Pleistocene Woman Discovered at
Midland, Texas
In 1953, an avocational archaeologist
by the name of Keith Glasscock
discovered fossilized human remains
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| Figure two. A Kansas-found Folsom point and a Colorado-found Midland point, both made from Alibates agatized dolomite. John Bradford Branney Collection. |
remains in a sand blowout six miles southwest of Midland, Texas. In the same blowout, Mr.
Glasscock found several fluted Folsom projectile points and a similarly made unfluted Folsom-like projectile point. Mr. Glasscock understood the archaeological significance of the fossilized human remains associated with the artifacts. He reported his findings to archaeologist Fred
Wendorf. Wendorf, Glasscock, and other archaeologists investigated the site In all,
Glasscock and the archaeologists found seven fluted Folsom projectile points
and twenty-one unfluted Folsom-like points during their investigation.
Wendorf and
his colleagues named the site Scharbauer after the landowner and initially coined
the term "unfluted Folsom point" to describe the Folsom-like projectile points found associated
with the fluted Folsom points. In their study of the "unfluted Folsom points", the archaeologists came up with the similarities and differences between the fluted and unfluted points found at the site. They evaluated the raw material to see if the fluted and the "unfluted Folsom points" came from different geographical locations. The archaeologists concluded that the makers of the two projectile point styles used the same material. Their studies led the archaeologists to propose that several of the "unfluted Folsom points" were purposely made without flutes and that they were just not fluted Folsom point rejects. Later on and based on the high volume of
unfluted Folsom points found at the Scharbauer site, Wendorf proposed a new projectile point type for the "unfluted Folsom points", calling them Midland after a nearby town. The name Midland stuck.
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| Figure three. Colorado Folsom and Midland projectile points. John Bradford Branney Collection. |
The investigation of the blowout at the Scharbauer site led the archaeologists to conclude that the human remains belonged to a woman who died in the late Pleistocene and that the associated Folsom / Midland artifacts came after her death. The archaeologists postulated that the woman could be a Folsom / Midland Paleoindian, but more likely she belonged to an earlier Paleoindian culture. Based on the geological analysis, the archaeologists suggested that there was a possibility that the Folsom and Midland projectile points came from the same Paleoindian culture, but their evidence was inconclusive.
So where do Midland points belong?
Perhaps, Midland points were reworked Folsom
points or were made from Folsom channel flakes. Maybe, Midland preform points were just too
thin to flute. A few people argue that Midland was
an archaeological complex separate from Folsom. These people call attention to a Midland-only site named Winkler-1, discovered in southeastern New Mexico by an amateur archaeologist who throughout the years surface collected Midland points from an active sand blowout. Food for thought, huh?
If Midland was a separate archaeological complex, perhaps there was a transition period between fluted Folsom and unfluted Midland projectile points?
What are your thoughts?
2010 Paleoindian Flaked Stone Technology on the Plains and in the Rockies. In Prehistoric Hunters-Gatherers of the High Plains and Rockies by Marcel Kornfeld, George C. Frison, and Mary Lou Larson, pp. 474-475. Left Coast Press. Walnut Creek, California.
Wendorf, Fred, Alex D. Krieger, and
Claude C. Albritton
1955 The Midland Discovery. Greenwood Press.
Westport, Connecticut |
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