This is a rare find for my part of the world.
In both Central Texas and along the Middle Texas coast the rains and associated humidity have washed away almost everything that is even remotely perishable. So you can imagine my surprise when I witnessed my friend Tim Page find this asphaultum covered artifact in the bottom of a Harris county creek!
Asphaultum washes up from the oil rich gulf of Mexico on the beaches here. While many people today mistake this asphaultum on the beaches for pollution from our offshore oil drilling activities, it has in fact been washing up naturally throughout time.
The Texas Indians were quick to take advantage of any gifts of nature and this naturally occurring asphalt was no exception. In late prehistoric times it was used to coat the inside of clay pots to make them more waterproof. All the way back into paleo times it was used to help haft projectile points. Asphaultum is most commonly seen as residue on points or other hafted artifacts. This point still has all of the asphaultum hafting left on it. Perhaps it survived because it was entirely under water, at any rate I was simply amazed to see it found!
This is actually a fairly common Gary or similar type projectile point made of petrified wood.
It looks like some of the original wood remains attached but I believe it is just a void left from the dart shaft.
You can also see where it looks like the lashing left impressions in the asphaultum.
I wish to thank my friend Tim Page for allowing me to study and record this unique artifact. As you might have noticed from the photos, over exposure to the water in Harris county creeks will make your skin peel a little!
References Cited:
Turner & Hester
“FIELD GUIDE TO STONE ARTIFACTS OF THE TEXAS INDIANS”
Mr. Mike Walker
Personal communications
Photos & Text (c) David Crain / Texasarrowheads.com