I was wondering why that ancients quit parrallel flaking their points? The only thing I could think of was maybe the Paleo Indians were a completely different type of people with different knapping procedures.
Hi there Travis....I will tell you what some Archeologists have told me about this, at least here in Texas. The Paleo peoples were the epitomey of Rough and Tough as we can only imagine what that is. They were very highly determined at survival, but did not always apparently know where to find the better materials for knapping. Thus, when they did knap points, it was likely with a greater determination and care for what they made, as many hunted creatures of their time were larger than in the archaic and periods forward. We are talking about people who brought down Mammoths, and great Bisons, that made the Buffalo look pretty small by comparrison. Thus they were more compelled to make quality weapons to do the job, as they had to be prepared for the largest of game if they were lucky. I do think that they were different in many respects to the Archaic peoples, and much of the differences reflected a changing nature and world. The overall discovery and use of high quality Central Texas Flint, easy to random flake occurred perdominently during Archaic Times, and these were times of having to follow the game for the hunt, and caused archaic peoples to be more nomadic than their predecessors. Their numbers were greater, and so was the competition for food. If the paleo peoples actually quit parallel (percision) flaking, it would have been due to discovering abundant better and easier material, as random flaking was well easier and faster.
Very well laid out Mike, thanks. It's only been a few months ago for me to hear that the science boys discovered a bad weather shift that created a probable reason for the noticable difference between paleo and the archaics.
Thank you. No where did I say that the paleo peoples did not use high quality material, only that it was harder to come by (availability was not as good). It wasn't until the Archaic that Central Texas Globe and Georgetown Flints were in full use, and it was actually mined from the banks of the San Gabriel rivers (of which I've seen),and other places in the edwards limestone hills. There were great heat treating flint factories as well. Quality material was highly prized among the paleos, for which they produced high quality workmanship. Making a fine Clovis, or Scottsbluff 1 commanded a greater and different skill than many of the archaic types that are so plentiful in comparrison. There is Much to admire about the Paleos.
Yo Jerry, thats a very interesting website, I might get a few just to see the workmanship. There is value to seeing the original ancient flaking Vs the same size item knapped last week.