How's this for a biface?!

[mootsman]

I used to subscribe to the "Mammoth Trumpet" at Center for the Study of the First Americans but haven't read it for several years. I was checking out their website today and they have all issues from Volume 4 2007back to 1985 free online. It's a treasure trove of Clovis period reading with 100's of articles. I was just reading about this:

[ghost recon]

Awesome, what a giant piece. The largest I've seen. I've read that these large clovis platters were multidimensional, snapped to make many pieces from one biface. Here's a couple smaller examples.

http://wbreckinridge/ClovisBiface.html


I'd need a fresh pair of trousers If I stumbled across one of those guys.

[comanche]

"Waiter,,,Waiter there is a fly in my soup!"
huge PLATTER or sevice tray for a Paleo Indian/lol
Thanks that is the biggest one I have seen as well,,,just had to poke fun at the pic..Garsone,,Garsone

[wiseshanks]

Here's a paragraph from the site I found interesting for university sponsored archaeologists to talk about. Maybe I'm the only one that thinks the establishment finds this taboo:

Timing of the re-opening of the coastal and interior corridors is still debated, because of imprecise dating and because the various Cordilleran glaciers reacted differently to climate change. Nonetheless, the coastal corridor appears to have become deglaciated and open to human habitation by at least 15 ka, while the interior corridor may not have opened until after 13.5 ka. The archaeological records of both corridors are still inadequate for addressing questions about the initial peopling of the Americas; however, the presence of human remains dating to 13-13.1 ka at Arlington Springs, on Santa Rosa Island off the coast of California, indicates the first Americans did use watercraft.

[comanche]

Wiseshanks,,This idea of multiple avenues of The First people of North America are of great debate,,and many sources are still trying to find Solid Proof of the First inhabitants to collaborate thier ideas.
On the other side,,, is the aspect of tying the Paleoindian to more recent finds such as the Dalton and many variants of this type.I have always wondered about this piece.
Sweetwater Biface
Archaeologist think it is Caddo related,,,Just how and when did this technology come to be a part of these people?
None the less this is a Fine Artifact that uses the same technology as The Paleoindians.

[Cannonman17]

Wow, very interesting, thanks for sharing!

[jcinpc]

the sweetwater is still the finest balde out there today, no one has been able to reproduce it yet, a few have gotten close but none to the specs of the real blade, says alot for antler and stone percussion compared to slabs and copper cap nowadays

[wiseshanks]

The individual that made the sweetwater blade was an extraordinary craftsman. But it was much more recent wasn't it? That's what makes the debate difficult for me; the fact that different techniques transcended different periods all across the continent. If projectiles aren't found in context, it's amazing that we can date them period. All we can do is reference similar finds found in context which can be dated. I mean, is there really such a thing as "paleo flaking?" the flaking on the sweetwater blade looks paleo, but it's not.

[comanche]

You are so correct Wiseshanks,,almost every technique used to make Paleo points are exhibited in more modern pieces.Hard and soft hammer Precussion,Transversed flaking.Tabular and Flake Blanks.Isolated striking Platforms..
So that is the question that sticks in my head,Do we have to have Patina (ie.radio carbon dating) to determine if a point is Paleo?Does it need to be in context ,,Like the Folsom point found in a Bison?
Certainly we can bridge the gap a little better.When all of the Characteristics fall into place of know Paleoindian finds.I think this is what i see when I look at the Sweetwater biface.Just many markers of Paleoindian attributes.

[Steve Valentine]

Man, that thing is huge.






(sadly, words I've never heard.)