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Show NOTES FLUTED PROJECTILE POINTS IN SOUTHWESTERN UTAH Robert B. Kohl, Jennifer- Jack Dixie Chapter, Utah Statewide Archaeological Society, P. O. Box 483, Ivins, Utah 84738 INTRODUCTION Copeland and Fike ( 1988) published their comprehensive paper, Report on Fluted Points in Utah, in UTAH ARCHAEOLOGY 1988. Their research of published and unpublished reports and interviews with professional archaeologists and some private collectors identified 43 Clovis and Folsom projectile points in the state. Only two Clovis and three Folsom ' points were recorded in southwestern Utah, most of them in Bureau of Land Management files and few in private collections. Since this southwestern region has seen the collecting of artifacts as a hobby from the time of the fust settlement by Europeans in 1855, it was presumed that more of these earliest points were unrecorded. The great number of man- hours that are devoted to private arrowhead hunting makes virtually insignificant those hours available to a minimum number of professionals in seeking these diagnostics of the first American culture. The Jennifer Jack- Dixie Chapter of the Utah Statewide Archaeological Society initiated a project to seek out privately- held Paleo points within an approximate 65- mile radius of St. George. A grant was awarded to the chapter by the Utah Division of State History for the project with 50 percent or more of the grant amount to be matched by local cash outlay. With the exception of hourly rate paid for the drawings, all other time was voluntary. Fluted points are the primary diagnostic of the Clovis people of 11,500 to 11,000 years ago and of the Folsom people who followed. None of these fluted points, so accurately dated elsewhere in the Americas, has been found in a datable context in Utah or the Great Basin. It was anticipated that this project could locate fluted points with other cultural associations or tools. Clovis points are usually about 3 to 5 inches long ( 7.6 cm to 12.8 cm), and wide willow- leaf or lanceolate in shape. They are unnotched but usually fluted on either or both sides with the flute extending upward from a concave base to about one- third or less of the point length ( Copeland and Fike 1989). In the majority of these points the cutting edge is flaked into a perfectly straight linear alignment. The classic shape is symmetrical. The flute is centered on the axis, and the lower edges of the point and base of the flute indicate grinding- perhaps to avoid cutting the sinew binding. The points are often superbly thinned by percussion with the transverse flakes reaching the centerline of the point or beyond. Some authors speculate that these early hunters occasionally carried fine- grained siliceous stone blanks, preforms, or finished points nearly 200 miles from material sources. This also warrants speculation that the unworked or finished points may have been trade items. METHODOLOGY Since the primary effort was directed toward revealing fluted points in private collections, the need to encourage public participation was obvious. Media publicity appeared to be the most practical approach. This coverage, originating in St. George, would cover Washington County, partially cover Iron and Kane counties, as well as Mojave and Coconino counties in the Arizona Strip District, and in Lincoln County, Nevada. Handouts with drawings of both partial and complete specimens of fluted points were distributed by chapter members to friends and acquaintances who were known to have collections. The handouts were also posted or distributed in area libraries, laundromats, supermarkets and other businesses. A chapter news release was published in the St. George daily Spectrum newspaper, and hand- delivered to local radio stations KDXU/ KZEZ, KONY, UTAH ARCHAEOLOGY 1991 Figure 1. Projectile point number 1, probable Clovis base. KRECIFM, and KSGI. All of the stations apparently broadcast the release, according to member listener reports. Public reaction was initially favorable considering the known scarcity of fluted points. A number of telephone responses were received during which the callers would not identify themselves, but promised to stop by and show their Clovis or Folsom specimens. They did not. Some individuals rather reluctantly said they would allow us to see and photograph their suspected points, but only on their own premises and would not allow borrowing of the points. It became apparent that all of the anti- vandalism, anti- looting publicity in years is a double- edged sword. It has cut down on some private collecting, but it has also cut off from research many artifacts of considerable importance now hidden away in private collections. Almost all of the private collectors expressed concern about confiscation, fines, and even imprisonment. It is obvious that at least some knowledge of state and federal antiquities law is widespread. Those individuals who did permit an on- premise interview were apparently pleased with the professionalism of the chapter crew in the photography, measurement, and drawing and molding of their points. They were also pleased with the information about Clovis and Folsom lifeways discussed with them-- even when their suspected points tuned out not to be fluted. A work sheet was prepared for each point to gather as much information as possible. The few points that were loaned to the chapter were checked in during a personal visitation with Rick Malcomson, archaeologist and resource area manager, Arizona Strip, Shivwit District, Bureau of Land Management, and with Gardiner Dalley, archaeologist, Cedar City District, Bureau of Land Management. Two fluted points were identified during the project. These are described below. POINT DESCRIPTIONS Point Number 1. This is probably the lower onethird or one- fourth of an obsidian Clovis point with the transversal breakage above the flute on both sides ( Figure 1). It measures 23 mm at the widest, 26 mm in length, with a maximum thickness of 11 mm above the flutes. The flutes measure 24 mm and 17 mm, both apparently struck with a single percussive blow. Both edges and the base are dulled and show evidence of grinding. The point was patinated and NOTES unavailable for laboratory testing, although the nearest major source of obsidian is north and south of Modena adjacent to the Nevada state line. The point was a surface find ( by Jim Wade, St. George) in 1964 in the first wash west of SR 18 and just north of the Snow Canyon State Park north entry, approximately seven miles north of St. George. No other evidence of prehistoric peoples was noted by the collector at the site and it may be assumed that it was a point broken during hunting, perhaps by striking one of the wash rock faces. Pemglyphs are nearby, however. Onehalf mile east in Dammeron Valley there is evidence of later rock- rimmed pithouses, several panels of rock art and a now- dry seep in a shallow cave. Within the general area are a number of natural sandstone tanks, which hold rainwater for lengthy periods. Point Number 2. This is a near- classic Clovis point found in 1984 ( by Brooks Pace, St. George) on the surface in the eastern part of Diamond Valley Estates ( Figure 2). The owner is the developer of the land and reports no other evidence of flaking or habitation near the site, which is located approximately 20 miles north of St. George. The point measures 35 mm at the widest, 11 cm in length, with a maximum thickness of 8.5 mm above the flutes. Both flutes measure 31 mm in length, and are 12 to 15 mm in width, respectively. One flute was made with a single percussion blow, the other with two strikes ending in a small transversal hip fracture. Both edges are dulled the length of the flutes, as is the concave base. The point is made of fine- grained chert with mottled bronze alternating with light and dark tan banding. The owner has carried it wrapped in a bandanna as a pocket showpiece, which has had an effect of polishing the point surfaces. Normally, a surface find in this area will show a sandblasted surface on the exposed face while the reverse will show sharper flaking detail ( Rick Malcomson, personal communication 199 1). The nearest current water source is the Santa Clara River, about three miles west, but the meadow in which the point was found, may have been a shallow swamp in times past. It is now surrounded by low hills covered with pinon- juniper. The only Folsom points seen during the investigation were said by their owners to have come from Idaho and Colorado. DISCUSSION One of the barriers to archaeological research by avocationalists in southwestern Utah is the distance factor. Most of the professional reports are housed in libraries 300- plus miles northward. The Interlibrary loan system is very helpful but time consuming, somewhat slow in response, and incomplete especially regarding unpublished manuscripts. Access to reference material from this comer of the state is very difficult. Furthermore, most of the published reports rely heavily on extrapolated information, i. e., quoting from authors who have quoted from earlier authors who have, etc., ad infinitum. To avoid this redundancy and to bypass the difficulties of research papers, this amateur paper has summarized from the most recent summarizers who have had the time and income to study the complete file on Clovis and Folsom finds. There is, in reality, nothing much new that this project can add about these Clovis lifeways. Recent discoveries are primarily addenda, another surface find, another location, but very little disturbance of previous information or conclusions. Something can be learned from this paper: efforts to invade private collections are frustrating! In spite of all of the diplomacy, the publicity, the need for information, and the assurance that confiscation or other legal action would not follow such revelation, there is a severe paranoia present in collectors' minds. Another reason given by one collector for not sharing information was his concern that the early dates for the presence of Clovis people might conflict with the origin of Native Americans in certain widely- held religious beliefs. Often, cooperating collectors did not know what they had collected. In several instances, numerous telephone calls were made to establish that they, indeed, did have a Paleo point. What frequently turned up were concave- based, basally- flaked, but not fluted points. The matter of provenience is equally frustrating. The failure to obtain contextual data can be excused where artifacts are inherited, but, to many, it means only " somewhere east of town X or Y." Rarely is there any information about other evidence at the find- site, no recollection of any debris, debitage, bones, or intrusive rock or hearths. In light of the scarcity of information about Paleo- Indians in Utah, any find ( even surface) is important and its UTAH ARCHAEOLOGY I991 Figure 2. Projectile point number 2, classic Clovis point. NOTES provenience should be carefully documented by a professional, if possible. A buried Paleo site would, of course, be extremely important since none are known in the state and if such a locale is suspected professionals should be called. Certainly no ground disturbing activities should be carried out at such a site. From an archaeological standpoint the cold- fact results of this project are simply two more dots on the map of Paleo travel in Utah. They merely reinforce the obvious: that these people were nomadic, built biodegradable shelters, and lost or broke their uniquely- fluted points in hunting or travel. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My thanks to Lt. Colonel Brad Barnes who did the black and white drawings, and to Gail John Gill, who did the molding and casting of the points. My sincere thanks to Joel Janetski for providing a sense of direction to these amateur notes, an attention to objectivity and elimination of excess and redundant diagnostics of fluted point people. REFERENCES Copeland, James M., and Richard E. Fike 1988 Fluted Projectile Points in Utah. Utah Archaeology 1988 1( 1): 5- 28. SOME CALIBRATED RADIOCARBON DATES FROM UTAH COUNTY, UTAH Donald W. Forsyth, Brigham Young University, Department of Anthropology, 945 SWKT, Provo, Utah 84602 INTRODUCTION Over the last 45 years archaeologists at Brigham Young University have sporadically undertaken a number of excavations on the east side of Utah Lake in the region near the modem airport and in the southern portion of Utah Valley near Goshen, Utah. These excavations centered on the Hinckley Mounds, a group of low mounds on the property of G. M. Hinckley ( Figure I), an area previously tested by Julian Steward ( 1933) and Albert Reagan ( 1935). However, investigations in other sites in the vicinity, but not on the Hinckley property, such as Seamons Mound and the Smoking Pipe site, were also investigated. With the exception of Seamons Mound, all of these mounds proved to be single component sites occupied by the Fremont as indicated by standard Fremont artifact and feature configurations. Two sites near Goshen, Utah, Spotten Cave and Woodard Mound ( Figure 2) were also excavated. Woodard Mound was determined to be a Fremont site, while Spotten Cave exhibited usage from Archaic through modem times. The results of these excavations have only been partially reported, primarily in master's' theses ( Christensen 1947; Green 1961; Mock 1971; Richens 1983); however, a few preliminary reports or articles ( Green 1964; Forsyth 1984; 1986) have also been published. For this reason I have undertaken a r e analysis of the archaeological materials from these excavations in order to provide a synthesis of the work done there over the years and to bring more up to- date the data that have been published. Consequently I discovered that a number of potential CI4 samples were recovered from several of these sites, but had never been analyzed. Unfortunately, they had been stored under variable conditions in the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology ( now the Museum of Peoples and Cultures). Some of them had been stored in cloth bags, others in paper bags, and still others carefully wrapped in aluminum foil. However, since there were few chronometric dates for these sites, I decided to take a number of the samples and send them to Beta Analytic Inc. for assay in order to try to establish a chronological framework for the sites on the basis of something other than cross- dating with other Fremont sites. The sites for which dates were obtained are 42Ut110 and 42Ut111 ( two of the Hinckley Mounds) 42Ut102 ( Woodard Mound), 42Ut150 ( Smoking Pipe), Spotten Cave ( 42Ut104), and 42Ut271 ( Seamons Mound). The results of the C14 analyses are given in Table 1. Calibration of radiocarbon ages is done to correct for the variation in the amount of atmospheric radiocarbon produced over time. Thus, it is necessary to calibrate the radiocarbon ages into calendar years using data collected by measuring the radiocarbon age of tree rings, whose calendar age could be determined by tree ring dating independently of C14. Using this |
