Alabama Artifacts
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HORSE CREEK CHERT ARTIFACTS
Charles E. Moore
Florence, Alabama
Central States Archaeological Journal
OCTOBER, 1998
VOLUME 45 NUMBER 4
Horse Creek chert is among the most beautiful flint types ever used by Native Americans. This red, yellow, and blue-gray chert is found sparingly on a few hill tops in south-central Tennessee and northern Mississippi. Probably a higher iron content in this chert than in other chert types causes the dramatic bright colors. When nodules are found, they are gray or brownish-gray in color on the exterior. When cracked open, the center of the nodule is brilliant red to red-orange surrounded by a yellow to yellow-white layer and finally the blue-gray exterior. This tri-colored chert is slightly heavier than other cherts and is very tough to work. It is sometimes referred to as Pickwick tricolor or Lost Quarry flint. Artifacts made from this material are found primarily along the Tennessee River Valley drainage area of northern Alabama, northern Mississippi, and southern Tennessee, though a few examples have been found as far away as Missouri. This material was used by all the Native American cultural periods from Paleo through Mississippian. There are nine fluted pieces made from Horse Creek chert known to this writer.
Above photo: Left: Hillsborough point found in Putnum County, Florida. Center: Hillsborough point from Dade County, Florida. Right: Hernado point found in Madison County, Florida. From the collection of David Abbott. Photo by Tony Clinton.
Early Native Americans occasionally heat treated this chert. Heat treating causes the red to turn a burgundy or slightly purple color. The yellow bands turn to a yellow-orange, and the blue-gray sections darken-slightly. The surface also becomes more lustrous when heat treated. This information was gained through personal
experimentation. The same molecular changes occurred when I heat treated several large flakes for 48 hours in a glowing charcoal fire.
Above photo: Artifacts made from Horse Creek chert from the collection of Charles E. Moore. Photo by Tony Clinton.
The accompanying photograph demonstrates the use of this material during the Archaic and Woodland Periods in the Southeastern United States. The point on the left is a resharpened Lost Lake point dating from the Early Archaic Period (7000 to 5000 B.C.). It was found by a Mr. Gray while he was quail hunting in Alcorn County, just north of Corinth, Mississippi. It is 3 1/4 inches long. The point in the center is a Little Bear Creek point and was found by James Thorn, of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, in 1996. He found the point in Lauderdale County, Alabama. This point is 4 inches long and dates from the Late Archaic to Late Woodland Periods (2000 B.C. to 500 A.D.). The Eva point was found by this writer in Lauderdale County, Alabama, around 1980. It is 2 3/4 inches in length. It dates from the Early to Middle Archaic Periods (5000 to 3000 B.C.).
Chronology and Stratigraphy at Dust Cave, Alabama
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2017
Asa R. Randall and
Dust Cave (1Lu496) is a habitation site in a karstic vestibule in the middle Tennessee River Valley of Northern Alabama. The cave, periodically occupied over 7,000 years, contains well-preserved bone and botanical materials and exhibits microstratigraphy and intact occupation surfaces. The chronostratigraphic framework for Dust Cave is based on 43 14C dates, temporally diagnostic artifacts, and detailed geoarchaeological analysis. In a broad sense, five cultural components are defined and designated: Quad/Beaver Lake/Dalton (10,650–9200 cal B.C.), Early Side-Notched (10,000–9000 cal B.C.), Kirk Stemmed (8200–5800 cal B.C.), Eva/Morrow Mountain (6400 to 4000 cal B.C.), and Benton (4500–3600 cal B.C.). Microstratigraphic and artifact analyses indicate that the primary differences in the deposits over time relate to intensity of activity and spatial organization with regard to changing conditions in the cave, not to the types of activities. Geomorphic transformations influenced the timing of occupation at Dust Cave, especially the initial occupation. The chronostratigraphy provides a framework for assessing the stratigraphic separation of Dalton and Early Side-Notched materials, the shift in technology from blades to bifacial tools, and the context of detailed flora and fauna evidence. These remains provide unique insights into forager adaptations in the Midsouth from the end of the Pleistocene through the first half of the Holocene.