March
03
A Sacred Place
March
03
Western New York State is a beautiful land of rolling hills, large lakes, forests of maple and plunging waterfalls. Home to black bear, white tail deer and mountain lions, this scenic corner of America has been continuously occupied by native Americans for at least the last 5400 years. There are over 1000 waterfalls in western New York. As lovely as these cataracts are, they often have a sinister history. Paleo Indians were known to drive big game over cliffs as a hunting technique, and probably people were sacrificed in the same manner as an act of war, or an offering to the Gods.
This double-bladed, curved stone knife is a butchering tool crafted by Clovis tool-makers. The two blade design allows its user to cut uniform sections of meat from a large carcass and thus makes butchering fast and efficient. Though rare, these curved blade knives are found throughout western New York.
Top photograph is a picture of Susan, wife of Spiritwalker, at the foot of Fall Brook Falls, located just outside of Geneseo, New York. Legend has it that local Iroquois tribal members were driven over these falls by General Sullivan's troops during the Revolutionary War.
Second photo: curved blade with ridge that runs the length of the artifact. This stone knife is 12-1/4 inches long, and 3-1/2 inches wide. Third photo: bladed side of artifact, still sharp enough to slice flesh 11,000 years later.
February
16
These curved fluted points are an example of advanced stone age weapon technology.Their curved sides produce a wider wound than a lanceolate point, and thus are more efficient for hunting. Made from various types of brown and grey cherts, their flutings tend to be deeper on the right side of the artifact. Curiously, the fourth point from the top has a flute on the left side which is narrower and longer than the flutings on the other points. Point one curves to the right, opposite to the other points and is corner-removed at the tip, as is point number five. Point number six is a spearhead and is made from stone. All points in this collection are from the central Genesee River valley.
What do you think? SANY would like to hear from you. Please feel free to email us your comments, opinions and artifact pictures. We love fluted points!
February
08
Wide and Narrow Ears of Clovis Heart
February
08
Stone Age hunters living in North America eleven millennia ago probably had no more important job than feeding their families. Securing fresh meat involved risking life and limb, and would often lead to injury or death among members of the hunting party. In order to avoid such tragic circumstances, it was necessary to have the very finest weapons to keep hunting as safe and efficient as possible. Clovis weapons were finely crafted and built to give every advantage to their owners.
Among the qualities of a typical Clovis hunting spear, were, point sharpness, durability, portability and lethality. Spear points would be honed to surgical sharpness to produce deep, deadly wounds. Points were made straight or curved to produce different types of wounds. Blood channels were etched into the point to bleed out prey and thus kill the animal quickly, preventing escape and injury to the hunters.
Another important quality of Clovis spears were the shafts. A hunting spear shaft would necessarily have to be made of quality wood, resistant to breakage, of proper length and thickness for handling, and straight, for accuracy when throwing. Clovis hunters designed this shaft straightener to accomplish this end. Notice the top of this stone tool has the wide and narrow "ears" of the previously described Clovis "Heart" points. The deeply fluted base also defines this artifact as being of Clovis origins.
Top photo: Clovis shaft straightener, 9 inches long, 5 inches wide. Bottom photo: Clovis shaft straightener with wooden shaft.
