Fig 1 Front Fig 1 Back
Flint Ridge Bifacial Knife
by
Donald
B. Simons
In March 1970, a large biface, made on exotic Flint Ridge Ohio chert, was found by the author during a surface survey at a construction site in Burton Twp., Genesee Co. MI.
The
artifact was located projecting from topsoil bound in the root mass of a tree
stump. It had been bulldozed from a terrace onto the flood plain of Thread Creek
which is a tributary of the Flint River. The finely wrought biface is in
pristine condition and exhibits fine bifacial retouch along 6.6 cm of one
lateral edge of the distal portion. The location and pattern of the retouch
suggests resharpening and indicates that it functioned as a knife.
The
raw material source is approximately 225 straight line miles from the find spot.
The use of Flint Ridge chert for the manufacture of tools during the Early and
Middle Woodland period is widely but thinly distributed in the Saginaw Valley
and also over much of the lower half of the Southern Peninsula of Michigan.
Bayport chert from the Saginaw Bay region is the predominant tool material at
most of such sites in Southeastern Michigan.
Flint
Ridge bifaces without hafts are quite scarce. However, hafted examples are not
uncommon and include Adena / Hopewell and diagnostics such as, lobate stemmed
Robbins, broadly corner notched Snyders knives, and expanding stemmed Shultz /
Chessers points. Robbins points are typically Early Woodland and the others date
to the Middle Woodland Period, ca.2000-1500 years BP. More rare, are sites with
the above types which also yield tiny corner notched, “bird points.” The
presence of the above biface in the valley suggests trade and, or, exchange
between the two regions.
Fig.
1, Biface data:
Material:
Flint Ridge Chert
Length:
12.8cm / 5, 1/16"
Width:
4.8cm / 1,7/8"
Thickness:
1.1cm / 7/16"
Weight: 76.46g
Thickness
to width ratio 4.36 to 1.0
1848 Graham Magazine Lithograph of the Sauk and Fox Indians
