Calf Creek Information

[manoman]

I've noticed lately that a few of our members have shown a great interest in Calf Creek points. Being a collector from the Eastern Sierra Nevada on the fringe of the Great Basin in California, I have zero knowledge about the Calf Creek point. I do know that the examples I have seen posted are extremely nice.....those long almost parallel notches and the large winglike shoulders or barbs are amazing. Can someone post a description of these points that includes their distribution, age, cultures, likely lithics and how they were resharpened from first stage until discard? I'm a bit intrigued by how much the type comes up in various posts. I am guessing that this is a sought after type. I have several points that I inherited from my Great Grandmother, whom supposedly came through the Mid-Western states as a child on her way to California. She did spend a number of years in Missouri where her father had a farm. The actual provinance on my collection is lost, so I am going on what I have been told by other relatives. I suspect that I might have a few heavily resharpened examples of Calf Creek, but who knows.....I'll post pictures if anyone would like to see them.

[George Looney]

Sure manoman post those babies,,,most of what we find are worked down(both ears gone) just a stem,,,but it still screams C.C.

[Steve Valentine]

Here you go manoman. Here's a little info I found by Googling Calf Creek Points.

Calf Creek culture - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

OAS -- Oklahoma's Past

[manoman]

That is a great link, Steve, thanks! It explains why one of the possible points I have is a weird lustrous pink.

George, I will take some images tomorrow in the good lighting and post them for everyone to see. Thanks for the interest!

[comanche]

Interesting point on these babies Mano,,I am sure Mr.Looney Will know more than me,,,But I have been told the reason the Calf Creek points are found Wore down,, Broken,and various shape is because These Native Americans that made them Hardly ever Discarded The remains but would make due and continue to use even past what we might consider Exhausted...

[manoman]

Okay, here are 3 groupings of points that I have among the collection I inherited. The ones with the most color seem to have the most luster. This would seem to me that heat treatment has occured prior to knapping, but remember that I have no knowledge on flint lithics, other than the no brainer types. The complete group (3 photos) are dominated by either a pinkish/red-brown or a blue/grey hue material. The dull ones are also gritty feeling, not slick and lustrous like the others. The exceptions are the 2 smallest white points.

The 2nd photo includes a drill-like point that got me thinking about Comanche's comment on lithic conservation. A layman like me could invision this being a Calf Creek that has been reduced to the point of the shoulders and the bulk of the blades being re-sharpened away. This is purely conjecture. I wish that provenance could be pinned down, but I do know that some of my deceased family members have mentioned Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Ohio. This is not much help, but could explain away some that aren't Calf Creek (if any are!). Let me know if individual photos are wanted.

[comanche]

Mano,,,Nice collection,,,I yeild the floor to Mr.Looney on exact ID's,,
A close cousin to the CC is the Smith point,,,

[River Man]

The top 3 in the first pic sure look to be sharpened down Calf's....there are also Haskell, Cossatot River {more nothching in base} These later phases were not notched as deep as the C.C. point. George can add to this I'm sure.

[George Looney]

In the first pic...# 1 looks C.C. 2,3 and 4 look Big Creek to me.now thats JMO.
Nan-der-thal Matt Rowe will be the man to ask. hey,,, Nan-der-thal
How thick is # 1 ?? If C.C the stem should still be pretty thin.

[Mo Points]

I am allover this post guys. I will post my known calf creek tomorrow morning.