The first series of photos show both sides. The hafting area is ground smooth on the base. The side view shows the extreme thiness of this piece. The other views are my attempt at showing the super quality pressure flaking that created this piece.
It is truely amazing but Clayton has found a total of three Scottsbluff points at this same location. Five others have been found there by Mike and Jesse Walker. Along with a couple of Red River knives and broken Scottsbluff points, at least a dozen Cody Complex artifacts are known to have washed out within a few feet of each other at this undisclosed location in the Houston city limits! This is a spectacular place, where we have recovered artifacts ranging from Clovis to Historic Times with no apparent break in human activity during the entire occupation of North America!
Please note that we are blessed with the landowner's permission to study and record this site. It's really not an easy place to figure out since everything we salvage has been dislocated by modern development and the resulting floods.
This view shows some of the translucent qualities of the material.
Clayton's three Amigos. Note the variety of lithic material represented, which supports the widely accepted theory of a nomadic Cody Complex lifestyle.
As Clayton pointed out, it's actually thinner than some of the Catahoula arrowpoints he has found nearby!
This is just an incredibly well made Texas Paleo artifact. The skill of the ancient craftsman who made it is evidenced by the series of well controlled pressure flakes that created this artifact over 9,000 years ago. Scottsbluff artifacts were made by the nomadic Cody Complex people who are thought to have migrated throughout the North American plains following the migrating herds of prehistoric bison and other animals. But it appears they had favored camps along the way, if not outright settlements, as evidenced by this and other heavily used sites.
I wish to thank my friend Clayton Vandergriff for allowing me to study and publish his finds and participate in his search to unlock the secrets of our prehistoric past. I am also very thankful for the undisclosed landowner who has granted us permission to recover these artifacts and study and record his wonderful site!
And what a site it is!
References Cited:
Turner & Hester
“FIELD GUIDE TO STONE ARTIFACTS OF THE TEXAS INDIANS”
Mr. Clayton Vandergriff
Personal communications
Mr. Mike Walker
Personal communications
Mr. Jesse Walker
Personal communications
Photos & Text (c) David Crain / Texasarrowheads.com