NATCHEZ TRACE PARKWAY Excavations at the Pharr Mounds and the Bear Creek Site

The provenience of the chipped stone artifacts from the Pharr Site is given in table 6.

Projectile Points

Type A (fig. 14a-c)

14 specimens. Slender, stemmed points, generally thick and crudely chipped. Blade edges slightly convex; shoulders narrow and tapered; stem straight to slightly contracting; base rounded to straight. Length: 4.3-6.3 cm. Width (at shoulders): 2.2-3.6 cm. Thickness: 0.7-1.0 cm.

Type B (fig. 14g-h)

5 specimens. Slender, stemmed points. Blade edges straight to slightly convex; shoulders narrow but well defined; stem slightly expanding with straight base. Rather thick, biconvex cross section, but well made, symmetrical. Similar to points of Type "A," but the shape of the stem and the generally better workmanship distinguish them. Length (est.): 4.3-5.4 cm. Width (at shoulders): 2.0-2.2 cm. Thickness: 0.9-1.0 cm.

TABLE 6.--Provenience of chipped stone artifacts, Pharr Site.

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Type C (fig. 14d-f)

8 specimens. Slender, corner-notched points. Blade edges straight to convex. Wide, U-shaped notches form broad, horizontal shoulders and concave-sided stem. Base straight or occasionally convex. Length: 3.7-7.6 cm. Width (at shoulders): 1.4-2.8 cm. Thickness: 0.5-1.2 cm.

Type D (fig. 15c-e)

8 specimens. Broad, corner-notched points. Blade asymmetrical with straight to slightly convex edges. Wide notches form blunt barbs and straight stem. Base straight. Length: 4.2-6.8 cm. Width (at shoulders): 2.6-3.9 cm. Thickness: 0.9-1.3 cm.

Type E (fig. 15h-j)

4 specimens. Thin, well made, corner-notched points. Blade edges straight or concave with expanded barbs. Narrow, U-shaped notches form wide flaring stem with straight or mildly convex base. Measurements taken on the only specimen. Length: 5.0 cm. Width (at shoulders): 3.5 cm. Thickness: 0.8 cm.

Type F (fig. 15f-g)

4 specimens. Broad, corner-notched points. Blade edges straight or convex. Deep, narrow notches form elongated barbs and expanding stem. Base is straight. These points are flattened to slightly biconvex in cross section and finely chipped. Length: 5.2-6.2 cm. Width (at shoulders): 3.7 cm. Thickness: 0.7-1.0 cm.

Type G (fig. 15n)

3 specimens. Broad, stemmed points which tend to be thick and crudely chipped. Blade edges straight, expanded at shoulders; stem straight or slightly contracting with straight base. Length: 4.5-5.0 cm. Width (at shoulders): 2.9-3.8 cm. Thickness: 0.7-0.9 cm.

Type H (fig. 15a-b)

5 specimens. Points with wide, shallow side notches. Blade edges straight to convex, serrated in two specimens; base straight. Thin and well chipped. Measurements taken on the only complete specimen. Length: 5.5 cm. Width (at shoulders) 2.4 cm. Thickness: 0.7 cm.

Type I (fig. 15l-m)

3 specimens. Slender, stemmed points. Blade edges slightly convex; shoulders narrow; stem and base straight. Points are thin, symmetrical. Length: 5.9 cm. Width (at shoulders): 2.6-3.1 cm. Thickness: 0.8-1.0 cm.

Type J (fig. 14o-p)

6 specimens. Tiny triangular points. Edges straight to slightly convex or concave; base straight or concave. Length: 1.6-2.6 cm. Width (at base): 1.3-1.8 cm. Thickness: 0.3-0.4 cm.

Type K (not illustrated)

2 specimens. Broad, stemmed points, thin and finely chipped. Blade edges convex; shoulders narrow, tapering; broad stem with convex or straight base. Length: 4.3-4.5 cm. Width (at shoulders): 2.3-2.8 cm. Thickness: 0.6-0.8 cm.

Type L (fig. 15k)

1 specimen. A large, broad, stemmed point. Blade edges convex; shoulders wide, horizontal; short stem with straight sides and base. Length: 6.7 cm. Width (at shoulders): 4.7 cm. Thickness: 1.6 cm.

Blades and Blanks

The artifacts described below are of uncertain function. Some may be blanks, i.e., roughed out, unfinished points. Most of the examples show some pressure retouching of the edges, however, and may be finished points or knives.

Lanceolate (fig. 14l-n)

16 specimens. Small to medium-sized elongated blades with convex edges and straight bases. Edges retouched by pressure chipping. With two exceptions, the blades are thin and well made though usually slightly asymmetrical. Nine of the 16 examples are complete. Length: 3.9-6.3 cm. Width: 1.6-2.3 cm. Thickness: 0.6-0.9 cm.

Triangular (fig. 14k)

3 specimens. Medium-sized triangular blades with convex edges and straight bases. Two specimens are thin with retouched edges. The third is considerably thicker and without retouching. Two examples are complete. Length: 4.1-5.4 cm. Width: 2.7-3.5 cm. Thickness: 0.7-1.0

Recurved (fig. 14i-j)

3 specimens. Medium-sized blades with recurved edges. Base is straight to slightly concave. These examples are thicker and show less retouching of blade edges than the specimens in the two preceding groups. Length: 4.6-5.7 cm. Width: 1.6-2.5 cm. Thickness: 0.9-1.1

Large blade fragments (not illustrated)

3 specimens. Fragments of very large, parallel-sided blades. Very thin, well-made artifacts with even blade edges. None show pressure retouching. The base of one example has been ground. Length: no data. Width: 4.4-4.5 cm. Thickness: 0.8 cm.

Miscellaneous Small Artifacts

Stemmed drills (fig. 17a-b)

3 specimens. Drill points with wide bulbous stems. Length of complete specimen: 4.5 cm. Width (at shoulder): 2.0-3.3 cm.

Transverse base drill (fig. 17d)

1 specimen. Drill point with expanded base. Length: no data. Width (at base): 2.1 cm.

Flake drills (fig. 17c)

2 specimens. Random flakes with blade edges modified by pressure chipping. The ventral side of both specimens is a single flake scar. Length: 3.8 cm. Width: 1.5-2.3 cm.

Spatulate artifacts (fig. 17e-f)

2 specimens. Blunt bladed, stemmed specimens of unknown function. Both examples are crudely shaped by primary chipping without retouch. A small amount of battering on the frontal edge is the only indication of use.

Miscellaneous Blade and Core Tools

These bifacially chipped tools were sorted solely on the basis of shape. While obviously unsatisfactory, this turned out to be the only practiable method. Some attempt was made initially to distinguish function by the recognition of "use scars" and "battering." This fell through because of the author's inability to distinguish evidence of use from what must be the result of clumsy attempts at shaping the edges. Thus, the most extensive "use scarring" was found on the base of several knives.

Elongated blades with straight bases (fig. 17k-m) 15 specimens. Small to large blades which tend to have parallel sides and a straight base. Examples vary from thin with even edges to thicker specimens with sinuous edges. Only three examples show a significant amount of retouching on the edges. Only two examples are complete. While similar to the large blade fragments, these artifacts tend to be more crudely worked. Length: 5.1-10.2 cm. Width: 2.1-5.3 cm. Thickness: 0.9-1.5 cm.

Elongated blades with rounded bases (not illustrated)

9 specimens. These artifacts are very similar to those in the foregoing group but are distinguished by the shape of their bases. They also tend to be thicker and cruder. None show an appreciable amount of pressure flaking. No complete specimens were recovered, but the range of dimensions would seem to fall within that recorded for those above.

Triangular cores (fig. 17g-h)

4 specimens. Large traingular to ovate cores. None show appreciable retouching. Generally rather thick and crude. Two specimens are complete. Length: 6.1-6.8 cm. Width: 2.8-4.5 cm. Thickness: 1.0-1.4 cm.

Triangular flakes (fig. 17n)

4 specimens. Broad, crudely chipped flakes. Roughly triangular with convex sides. In one example the ventral side is a single flake scar. All specimens are complete and show a minor amount of pressure retouching on the edges. Length: 4.7-6.6 cm. Width: 2.9-4.4 cm. Thickness: 0.9-1.3 cm.

Ovate cores (fig. 17i-j)

5 specimens. These are thick but well-shaped artifacts with even edges. Biconvex in cross section. The edges of one example are ground. None are complete. Width: 4.1-4.6 cm. Thickness: 1.1-1.8 cm.

Leaf-shaped cores (not illustrated)

8 specimens. Thick, crude elongated cores shaped entirely by percussion chipping. Blade edges sinuous. Only three examples show evidence of possible use. The artifacts in this group are similar to ovate cores but are generally cruder and more elongated.

Flake Tools

The artifacts in this category were made from random discarded scrap. Rarely were they shaped, and then usually only by pressure chipping on the edges.

Lamellar blades, struck from prepared cores, have been included here. Thirty-five were recovered at Pharr, some used and some unused. A sample of the unused blades was sent to Raymond S. Baby of the Ohio Historical Society for possible identification of the flint source. He stated (personal communication) that six of the specimens submitted were of Flint Ridge, Ohio, material and that two examples suggested Elkhorn, Kentucky, flint.

Knives

5 examples. Random flakes with bifacial use scars. Four examples have pressure retouched edges.

End scrapers

15 examples. Roughly triangular to square flakes, unifacially pressure flaked on one end to produce a steep scraping edge. In most specimens, one edge was also used.

Side scrapers

21 specimens. Flakes with broad scraping edges indicated by unifacial use scarring; otherwise they were unaltered. Twelve examples are lamellar flakes.

"Spokeshaves"

5 specimens. Artifacts with a notch pressure flaked in one edge to produce a concave scraping edge.

Flake tool fragments

11 specimens. Tiny flakes with unifacial use scars on one edge. Most are perhaps fragments of larger artifacts.

Unused lamellar flakes

24 specimens. These blades, struck from prepared cores, were unaltered.