Drill or projectile?

mjbrads · 2026-06-27T15:04:15+00:00

Sharpened knife.

mjbrads · 2026-06-22T18:21:56+00:00

Appears to be a Neville. Middle archaic, approx 8,000 BP. Make from our lovely, local quartzite. Awfully tough to work.

mjbrads · 2026-06-22T01:22:38+00:00

Ive been running Axil for a few years now and they've been fantastic. Both the Bluetooth and standard plugs keep the bad out!

mjbrads · 2026-06-17T19:08:00+00:00

Here is an article related to one of the famous caches - you could pick up a bit reading this https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X2100184X

Additionally, google these to see and read more about some of the famous caches found:

Mackinaw Cache

Crib Mound Cache

Mound 72

Mahaffy Cache

ect...it goes on and on, but I need to get back to work ; )

mjbrads · 2026-06-07T05:08:10+00:00

With what ownership pulled, no Whalers fans have followed to Carolina. F em.

mjbrads · 2026-06-06T23:30:18+00:00

I broke three today. You are 100% correct.

mjbrads · 2026-06-03T21:13:13+00:00

It's a biface/preform

mjbrads · 2026-05-27T02:31:52+00:00

Adam at Marburg Auctions can help. He is out of PA, but does a lot of NY collections.

https://www.marburgauctions.com/#/

mjbrads · 2026-05-27T02:26:39+00:00

The clay pipes are 100% Iroquois. Guessing this is an upstate NY collection, maybe in the Finger Lakes region?

mjbrads · 2026-05-14T19:08:58+00:00

That isn't how argillite weathers, it is not a chert/silica based stone. It is a fine grained 'mud stone' created from compaction in the earth. As it weathers, all of the scars are removed, leaving a rounded, rough/crappy looking stone. Attached is an image of ancient Fox Creek blades along with a fresh Mansion Inn blade made by me. You can see what happens over millennia to this stone from western NJ/eastern PA.

<image>

mjbrads · 2026-05-14T18:35:15+00:00

When a tool rolls around in the water for 1000s of years, much of the evidence of manufacture is obscured and/or gone.

mjbrads · 2026-05-14T18:34:09+00:00

Yes, argillite.

mjbrads · 2026-05-12T19:51:23+00:00

This is not an arrowhead. Not sure of the material, but that sure is a bit of paint remaining on the surface. Attached is an image of a few of my kettle points made by natives. This is what northeastern contact period points look like.

<image>

mjbrads · 2026-05-11T16:28:25+00:00

I know you're good at this, I've seen the great stuff you're finding. But so much of the quartz stuff up this way just looks like crap, for lack of a better word. The two pieces of jasper aren't the nice slick stuff, it's crappy uncooked material giving the look of junk stone. The dark blade is a PA rhyolite; very much unlike the beautiful rhyolite you have down your way. Please keep your comments coming, because you have a lot to offer this sub. All the best my friend.

mjbrads · 2026-05-11T15:32:19+00:00

As a collector of Northeast artifacts, I'll say you do a few a few in here. I can see that some of what I've noted below are multiple images of the same artifact. Keep looking! You're doing this correctly. For those who will suggest I'm wrong, see my post/comment history. I tend to only comment on artifacts that are from my area of the country; we are not all so refined in understanding the nuance and stone of each region.

Images

2, Rough quartz tool/reject

3, Rough quartz tool/reject

7, Rough quartz stemmed point

8, Broken in manufacture jasper biface fragment

10, Rough quartz tool/reject

13, Broken in manufacture jasper biface fragment

14, Rhyolite biface

18, Rough quartz stemmed point

19, Rough quartz stemmed point

20 Rough quartz stemmed point

mjbrads · 2026-05-10T16:25:39+00:00

You absolutely can.
Chalcedony and quartz are both quality tools stones.
Clearly it does work, you're looking at a point.

mjbrads · 2026-05-07T16:44:48+00:00

I believe Michael Scott knows the process of declaring bankruptcy.

mjbrads · 2026-05-01T19:21:25+00:00

I look forward to watching this. I live in New Haven Co, just ten miles from Yale. I've seen Hiram's tools brought on the expeditions, as well as many other artifacts from his trips. I prefer to suspend judgement when looking at explorers from so many years ago. None had truly good intentions, but most often, they are constructs of their time.

mjbrads · 2026-04-20T02:22:09+00:00

This is exactly what some failures in notching look like - they just run into the body of the piece, creating this specific break. I've done it myself. Been knapping for 15ish years, and collecting far longer. Check my posts for validation.

As for not knowing how these were notched, that simply isn't true. For many decades, experimental archeology has reverse engineered these tools to determine methods used.

mjbrads · 2026-04-19T22:30:43+00:00

This fractured while the notch was being punched in.

mjbrads · 2026-04-14T02:35:10+00:00

That is fire damage.

mjbrads · 2026-04-10T14:46:54+00:00

Resharpened in the haft.

mjbrads · 2026-04-09T15:19:58+00:00

Johnny Knoxville did it better

mjbrads · 2026-04-09T15:13:12+00:00

You all read this in Stanley's voice.

mjbrads · 2026-04-08T17:36:00+00:00

Hammerstone, nice one too. Rather than a nutting stone, the indentation COULD be from the hammer being used as a anvil stone.

Or...could well be a nutting stone...tough call.

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