Are You a Lumper, or a Splitter?

Figure One - Folsom points from the author's collection showing variation in material, form, 
color, and workmanship. The three critical factors identifying Folsom points;
flutes, thinness, and edge retouch. John Bradford Branney photograph. 

There are two opposing factions or "camps" when it comes to prehistoric projectile point typology: there are those who 

lump and there are those who split. 

One thing I have noticed when it comes to the artifact group discussions on social media is that when there is an interesting artifact or even an artifake posted, there are always several different opinions on what the projectile point type is or the material it is made from. Everyone has an opinion. Some people might accuse the artifact of being modern or fake while others defend its authenticity. Some people might call it a Dalton or a Plainview or a Clovis or whatever. Experienced and novice keyboard warriors alike pontificate and opine on everything about that artifact. Some even post their own artifacts as a comparison or to boast that they are just not observers, they have 'skin in the game'. It is something to behold and can be quite educational. That leads me to my main topic on projectile point typology: the lumpers vs. the splitters.  

When it comes to projectile point typology what is a lumper and what is a splitter?  Let me start off with the lumpers.  Lumpers are individuals who embrace the philosophy that current projectile point typology is broad enough to capture a wide range of variations within finished projectile points or knife forms. To a lumper, the fewer projectile point types there are, the better. A lumper focuses on the similarities between different projectile points and tries to categorize projectile points into existing projectile point types. Lumpers recognize that Paleoindians and other prehistoric people did not have blueprints with specifications when they made projectile points and that a wide variation in projectile points occurred because of different levels of knapper skill and experience, the material used, the use of the artifact, and/or meeting a specific hafting requirement. A lumper first looks at existing projectile point types when classifying a point or knife form even if that means evaluating other regions to find a match! 

CLICK for the PENTALOGY

As an example of the variation between different projectile points within a defined projectile point type, figure one shows a few Folsom dart points from my collection. A lumper focuses on the common attributes between the different Folsom points and sees the differences as only variations around a common theme. By contrast, a "splitter" is an individual who follows the philosophy that current projectile point typology is well-defined and that when a group of projectile points or knife forms falls outside of a well-defined description or specification, a new projectile point type is in order. A splitter focuses on the differences between these Folsom points and might suggest that they be broken up into subtypes or maybe a different projectile point type altogether. 

Figure Two - High Plains Midland points showing a variation in form, size, and materials. 
John Bradford Branney photograph and collection.   

Figure two is a photograph of what I call Midland points from around 12,000 years old. I define Midland points by their wide and relatively shallow flaking with flat and thin cross-sections. Midland points are known for their continuous marginal retouch along the edges which eliminated the negative bulbs produced from percussion flaking. Some people might see enough variation within this group of points that they call one or two Milnesand or Goshen or Cody Complex or something else altogether. My tendency to lump only sees Midland points. 

 

We have come a long way from the days when archaeologist E. B. Renaud lumped most Paleoindian point types under a broad and generic category called "Yuma" after the county in Colorado where they were found during the Dust Bowl years. Sometimes I wonder if Dr. Renaud wasn't on to something. It seems we have gone a bit too far with the splitting. The "splitting philosophy" follows the mantra of the more the merrier when it comes to new projectile point types. Splitters avoid knocking a square peg into a round hole when it comes to projectile point typology. 

Paleoindians passed down their projectile point-making from generation to generation verbally. Even with good verbal instruction, there had to be several opportunities for variation. If you doubt me, just look at modern flintknappers who try to replicate the prehistoric technology and critical dimensions of ancient projectile points. Modern flintknappers are all over the map. I can assume the same thing for ancient flintknappers. They dealt with geographic separation between bands and differences in raw material, knapping skills, workmanship standards, and attention to detail. 

Figure three shows the variation that exists in form and material in just one high plains projectile point type called Jimmy Allen.  

 

Figure Three - Variation within the Jimmy Allen projectile point description. 

To summarize, lumpers classify projectile points with some latitude in variation when it comes to placing a particular projectile point into an existing projectile point type. Splitters see the need for new projectile point types when faced with a certain amount of variation within a group of projectile points. My personal philosophy is to lump. This is neither the right answer nor the wrong answer. I believe there should be plenty of room for variation in any projectile point type to accommodate differences in knapping skills and experience, material types, workmanship, and style. In my opinion, “splitters” have carved the meat off the turkey too thin for my tastes and we ended up with far too many projectile point types. That is just my opinion. 

Are you a lumper or are you a splitter? 

The historical fiction novels written by John Bradford Branney are known for their impeccable research and biting realism. In his latest blockbuster novel BEYOND the CAMPFIRE, Branney catapults his readers smack dab in the middle of the late Pleistocene along the high plains of North America. BEYOND the CAMPFIRE is Branney's eleventh book.  

 John Bradford Branney holds a geology degree from the University of Wyoming and an MBA from the University of Colorado.

Angostura V. Agate Basin along the SHADOWS ON THE TRAIL

Figure One - 3-inch-long Angostura spear/knife form surface recovered on private
land in Goshen County, Wyoming. Note the oblique parallel flaking. 
John Bradford Branney Collection.

For those of you who have read my prehistoric book series, the SHADOWS ON THE TRAIL Hexalogy, you already know that the books are about the Folsom prehistoric culture, populated by those mystical Paleoindians who lived on the Great Plains around twelve thousand seven hundred years ago. I have written several blog and magazine articles about the Folsom prehistoric culture and its artifacts, and the Paleoindians who came before and after the Folsom prehistoric culture. The style of the projectile points may have changed through prehistory, but the lifestyle and subsistence patterns did not change much for several thousand years.

Figure Two - the first book in the SHADOWS on the TRAIL Hexalogy
CLICK for MORE INFORMATION 

This article is about one of the prehistoric cultures that came after the Folsom culture and the time period I chose for my book series, the SHADOWS ON THE TRAIL Hexalogy. Archaeologists call the projectile points from this prehistoric culture Angostura.

Figure Three - 2.1-inch-long Angostura made from moss agate 
and surface found in southern Colorado by R.D. Mutz 
in the 20th century. John Bradford Branney Collection.   

One of the non-perishable items that archaeologists use to identify a specific prehistoric culture is the style and technology of stone projectile points. In many cases, some bone, fossilized or otherwise, stone tools, and projectile points are the only items surviving in a Paleoindian archaeological site to help identify the prehistoric culture. Archaeologists lean heavily on projectile point types as cultural identifiers. Surface artifact hunters like me use defined projectile point types to determine the projectile point types we find on the surface of the ground. We use projectile point types to identify the presence or absence of specific prehistoric cultures where we hunt for artifacts. 

In 1946, archaeological investigators working on the Missouri Basin Project were inventorying archaeological sites along the upper Cheyenne River on the southern flank of the Black Hills in South Dakota. Plans for a future reservoir were threatening several archaeological sites, and the investigators were doing salvage work before the reservoir water engulfed the sites. 

By 1948, archaeological investigators were focused on the Ray Long Site, an early human site in a small arroyo along Horsehead Creek. The archaeologists discovered several fire hearths and camp-related stone tools between five and seven feet deep in the soil. Associated with that prehistoric campsite, investigators discovered what seemed to be a new projectile point type. At the time, the Ray Long Site was important for another reason; the investigators found evidence of plant gathering and processing in a 9,000-year-old site. 

Figure Four - 5.6-inch-long Angostura spear point made from obsidian
and surface recovered on private land in Hyde County, South Dakota.
Note the similarities to an Agate Basin point type. 
John Bradford Branney Collection.  

Archaeologist J.T. Hughes proposed the name "Long points" for the newly discovered lanceolate-shaped projectile points found at the Ray Long site in honor of the landowner. Hughes' intentions were good, but can you imagine how confusing it would be for a projectile point type to have a descriptive name such as long, short, fat, wide, red, green, or narrow? By 1954, archaeologist Richard P. Wheeler eliminated the confusion by renaming Long points to Angostura points, after the nearby reservoir. It was somewhat ironic that the word angostura in Spanish means "narrowness". To add more confusion, it took Wheeler almost forty years to publish the formal description for the Angostura projectile point type!   

 

CLICK for John Bradford Branney Books

Angostura points were described as medium to large lanceolate-shaped points with random to parallel-oblique flaking. The blade edges were straight to slightly convex. The stem on the points contracted, sometimes quite dramatically. Basal thinning was accomplished by short pressure flakes, creating slightly concave bases. Oftentimes, Angostura points exhibited oblique parallel flaking and continued the Paleoindian/Early Archaic tradition of polishing or grinding the basal edges where the projectile point was hafted. 

Figure Six - Angostura points from private land in Colorado, Wyoming, 
and Nebraska. Note the oblique flaking on most. The longest
point is 4 inches long. John Bradford Branney Collection.

The Angostura point type chronologically and morphologically overlaps with three other projectile point types on the High Plains: Frederick, Lusk, and Jimmy Allen. Some scholars have proposed lumping all four of these types into a single category called oblique-flaked Plano points, foregoing the use of specific point type names (Cassells 1986). Other scientists have proposed lumping these four projectile point types in what they called the Frontier Complex (Kornfeld et.al. 2010). A few scholars believe that the Angostura point type was not necessary at all because it fitted neatly within the Agate Basin projectile point type (Wood 1998). I am in the latter camp. 

Figure Seven - Agate Basin projectile points and knife forms as a comparison with the
Angostura points in figure six. The longest point is 4.6 inches long.
John Bradford Branney Collection. 

After studying many projectile points, especially those found at the Agate Basin type site in eastern Wyoming, it is my opinion that Angostura technology is a variation of Agate Basin technology with geographical and temporal overlap. More than a few of the Agate Basin points found at the Agate Basin type site have an uncanny resemblance to Angostura points.

Figure Seven - Central Texas Angostura points, 

2.5-inch-long dart/knife forms. 

John Bradford Branney Collection.  

When it comes to projectile point typology, there are two "camps". There are those people who are "lumpers", and there are those people who are "splitters". "Lumpers" try to fit as many projectile points as possible into existing projectile point types, using a philosophy that there are variations within each projectile point type. You might say that "lumpers" slice their bread a little thicker. In contrast, "splitters", see variation in a projectile point's characteristic and form as a possible reason for defining a new projectile point type. You might say that "splitters" slice their bread a little thinner.

I happen to be a member of the "lumper" camp, and I do not believe that Agate Basin and Angostura require separate projectile point type designations. I see both types as a variation around a common theme, and that they are pretty much the same projectile point type, with Agate Basin being the first expression of that theme. 

What do you think?  

References Cited

Cassells, E. Steve
1986  Prehistoric Hunters of the Black Hills. Pages 38-39.     

Kornfeld, Marcel, George C. Frison, and Mary Lou Larson
2010  Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers of the High Plains and Rockies. Page 495.     

Wood, W. Raymond
1998  Archaeology of the Great Plains. Page 114.

The historical fiction novels written by John Bradford Branney are known for their impeccable research and biting realism. In his latest blockbuster historical fiction novel titled CROWN of LIGHT, Branney catapults his readers back into Prehistoric America, where they reunite with some familiar faces from Branney’s best-selling prehistoric adventure series, the SHADOWS on the TRAIL Hexalogy.

John Bradford Branney holds a geology degree from the University of Wyoming and an MBA from the University of Colorado. John lives in the Colorado mountains with his wife, Theresa. CROWN of LIGHT is the twelfth book published by Branney.