Close up views of the heat-treated fossiliferous chalcedony core debitages. A lot of small fossils & fragments, with some small crinoid sections.
The Wetherington Island site was primarily an Archaic period lithic quarry where natives mined & partially reduced chert, chalcedony & agatized coral so they could transport the blanks elsewhere. Thermally altered lithic material probably represented <2% of the recovered artifacts. 2/ #Archaeology #fossils #FossilFriday #lithics
Blocky debitage from a thermally altered fossiliferous chalcedony core, 8HI473, the Wetherington Island site, Hillsborough Co., FL. The heat treating turned the chalcedony shades of pink & red.
We recovered approximately 6.35 metric tons of lithic artifacts from the site (Probably 4 tons in my feature alone), so we did have an adequate sample to say heat treating was not part of the normal quarry process at the site. 1/ #Archaeology #FossilFriday #lithics
While chalcedony & chert are both composed of cryptocrystalline quartz colored by minerals, chalcedony is denser because it has less pore space. When thermally altering chalcedony, you have to go more slowly than with chert to allow any trapped water molecules time to escape. Chalcedony, being denser, is often harder than chert, making better scraper & knives, though it can be harder to flintknap. #archaeology #lithics
The most popular forms of chalcedony are banded & lace agates. Chalcedony can be almost any color, w/ or w/o mottling & banding, & can have fossils in the matrix. It is waxy looking & can be shiny or dull. Red carnelian is a chalcedony. A backlight test is the quickest way to tell chalcedony from chert. Except for thin flakes & edges, light doesn't shine through chert but does with chalcedony. There can be denser spots; light can only penetrate so far. #archaeology #lithics
Thermally altered chalcedony from Site 8HI473 near Tampa, FL. We recovered very few heat-treated lithic artifacts during our excavations. That indicated they were quarrying the lithic materials, then detaching large flakes, roughing out blanks & high-grading cores to take elsewhere. #archaeology #lithics #artifacts
The damage is not in the correct locations for use as a lithic reduction hammerstone or maul. It also is not where you would expect damage from making grog. The artifact has a flat side (1.) that is smoother than the other surfaces, possibly indicating use as a pestle also. 2/ #archaeology #lithics
We normally determine the function of bitted groundstone tools by the shape & angle of the bit. Certain bit shapes & angles are more conducive to specific tasks than others. Of course, that doesn't mean that tool was only used for that purpose. #archaeology #lithics
White fossiliferous chalcedony flake from the unprovenienced surface collection at Site 16BE78, Beauregard Parish, LA. The size & dorsal flake scars suggest it is a Paleo or Early Archaic flake. #FossilFriday
#Archaeology
#Lithics
Found three treasures while litterpicking, including another Mesolithic worked flint - 7 from the same area so far (2 x blades and 2 x points/barbs were notably close finds). This one is the same grey flint, and it's been worked as a core, but only about a third remains because it broke from intense heating. Archaeologists sometimes record these heated flints as "potboilers" but I'm not convinced that applies to this artifact. It seems to be part of a core with usable flint that was put beyond use either intentionally or in a natural wildfire. I was already beginning to wonder if a tool - spear/harpoon - was mislaid and I've been finding some of the pieces. Now I'm wondering if a campsite was lost or even a human life: landslip, wildfire, hunting accident? Impossible to know but I can't help speculating.
Two tiny worked Mesolithic flints, probably used as barbs on spears. The smallest, which I found yesterday while litterpicking, is 11x6mm. Apart from me, you're the first people to see the one on the left for over 8,000 years.
Guess who just found the teeniest Mesolithic microlith while litterpicking on a sunset walk? Me! Strange to be the first person for over 8,000 years to see this human manufactured tool.
