After washing and cataloging, the lithic material was subdivided into three primary groups: chert/debitage, chert/tool, and groundstone/tool. Based on morphology, these three primary categories were in turn subdivided into secondary, tertiary, and quaternary groups as necessary. The material was then counted and weighed and entered into the collections database at the GBL. Although a formal lithic analysis has not been conducted, a brief description of each lithic category follows. The names of categories, especially at the tertiary and quaternary levels, are based solely on morphological criteria and are used primarily to facilitate the cataloging process. As such, the category names do not necessarily imply function. This caveat seems prudent for a Late Prehistoric lithic assemblage where the primary chert resource is glacial cobbles. The transition from tested cobble, to core, to crude biface, to tool type is notoriously difficult to quantify. A formal, use-wear analysis at a microscopic level might change some of the following totals, but that is outside the scope of this investigation. (For examples of the lithic assembles see Plate 3.4a.)
Chert/Debitage. Debitage is the waste created by the manufacture and maintenance of chert implements. Not surprisingly, the chert/debitage category is the most heavily represented lithic category both by count and by weight. (See Table 3.5.) This category is divided into two groups: flakes and blocky fragments. Flakes are identified by the presence of a definite bulb of percussion and a striking platform; they range from primary decortication flakes to pressure retouch flakes. Blocky fragments are angular pieces of chert produced in the initial stages of the lithic reduction sequence and show no evidence of subsequent reworking or utilization. Angular heat-fractured fragments are also included in this category. Combined, these two groups account for 96.5 percent of the count and 80.9 percent of the weight for all chert artifacts recovered at 12 Mg 1. The average weight for blocky fragments was 5.1 grams and for flakes 0.6 grams. The low average weight of the debitage may be a direct reflection of the small size of the raw material being utilized at the site. The full range of lithic debitage recovered indicates that all phases of tool production and maintenance took place at 12 Mg 1.
Chert/Tool. The chert/tool category subsumes all remaining chert artifacts recovered at 12 Mg 1. As the name implies, these artifacts are the result of a lithic technology that radically shaped and modified a raw material (chert) into preconceived forms having specific functions. As such, these artifacts represent a considerable human investment in terms of time, energy, and aesthetics. Included in this category are the easily recognized formal tool types such as drills and triangular points, as well as the more ambiguous cores, scrapers, and bifaces. In descending order of occurrence, these tool classes are: triangular points and point fragments (N=107), shaped and unshaped bifaces (N=49), utilized flakes (N=36), cores (N=24), drills and drill fragments (N=20), knives (N=11), scrapers (N=5) and gravers (N=2). (For a summary of these categories, see Table 3.5.)
Triangular Points and Point Fragments (N=107). One hundred and seven Late Prehistoric triangle points or point fragments were recovered from 12 Mg 1; only twelve of these were complete specimens. (One fragment of a nontriangular projectile point was recovered from the site, but it was impossible to determine its cultural affiliation. This fragment was classified as a biface fragment and not included in the projectile point analysis.) Metric and morphological data were recorded for 62 triangular projectile points (tables 3.6 and 3.7). Maximum length was taken only on complete specimens, but basal width and maximum thickness were recorded for all fragments that consisted of at least the basal one-third. Projectile point tips and midsections (N=45) were not considered for further analysis. Morphological observations included basal shape, blade shape, ear shape, edge morphology, and symmetry of cross section. In addition, raw material type, presence or absence of cortex, and occurrence of heat alteration were noted for each of the 62 specimens. Of the 62 projectile points analyzed, 21 (34 percent) are heat altered and 19 (31 percent) retain obvious remnants of waterworn cortex. Heat treatment is known to improve the workability of low-quality cherts, but in this case, there is no correlation between chert type and the presence of heat treatment indicating that heat alteration in the lithic assemblage is accidental. The heat alteration observed may have taken place after the point was discarded. The high incidence of artifacts with cortex probably is indicative of the small size of the raw materials. (See Table 3.7.)
Bifaces and Biface Fragments (N=49) Bifaces are defined as any chert artifact that has been shaped on all edges to create a rough edge and that shows flaking on both faces. By necessity, this category includes a wide range of shapes and sizes. It is further subdivided into shaped bifaces (N=32), unshaped bifaces, and biface fragments (N=17). Shaped bifaces are specimens that in plan view can be described in such geometric terms as ovate or triangular. In addition, a shaped biface must have a circumference that is semi-planar and a resulting cross section that is roughly symmetrical. (A macroscopic analysis such as this is not sufficient to determine whether these shaped bifaces represent a finished product. They may be preforms for more recognizable tools or aborted attempts in the reduction process.) Unshaped bifaces are more amorphous than the shaped category and have no orientation that is apparent. Despite the alleged crudeness of the Late Prehistoric lithic assemblage, the majority of bifaces fall within the shaped category. Biface fragments consist of specimens that do not exhibit cortex but do reveal definite flake scars. Most are too small to assess original shape or orientation. One projectile point tip that by cross section and flaking characteristics obviously is not Late Prehistoric is included in this category.
Utilized Flakes (N=36). A utilized flake is a nonspecific tool category for any flake that shows a minimal amount of retouch or wear on one or more edges. The term "expedient tool" is often applied to this group. Generally they are large-sized flakes, and it is assumed that they were not curated by their original users. Because the form and the area of edge retouch vary greatly between specimens, it is most likely that function and use life were equally variable.
Cores (N=24). With an average weight of 25.5 grams, cores were primarily distinguished by their large size relative to the rest of the chert tools. The number recovered is also sufficient to give a fair indication of the chert resource for the inhabitants of 12 Mg 1. The majority of the cores have one or more faces that retain the water-worn cortex, indicating chert far removed from its primary depositional context. Glacial/river cobbles appear to be the primary chert source. Measurements of cores that showed cortical remnants on opposing ends yielded an average of 6.0 cm on the long axis. The junior author suggests that the relatively small size of the primary raw material imposes limits on all aspects of the lithic industry typically associated with the Late Woodland and Upper Mississippian time periods. This reliance on small cobbles probably helps explain the narrow range of shapes and the small size of the Late Prehistoric chert tool assemblage.
Drills and Drill Fragments (N=20). Twenty drill or drill fragments were recovered at 12 Mg 1, including nine complete specimens, eight tip fragments, and three with only broken tips. Fourteen of the twenty are thin in cross section or have other attributes indicating that they are Madison-type triangular points reworked into the typical Late Prehistoric expanded-base drills. The remaining six (two complete, three tips, and one missing only the tip) are longer and relatively thick in cross section. These were made from a different type of preform and may have represented distinctly different tool types in the minds of their makers. Since there is little indication that 12 Mg 1 is multicomponent, all drills were assumed to be Late Prehistoric.
Knives (N=11). (see Table 3.8)Late Prehistoric knives, though triangular in shape, are typically larger and heavier than the Madison-type arrow points. Generally, a knife must possess the following combination of attributes: 1) be roughly triangular in plan view; 2) all edges exhibit percussion or pressure flaking or a combination of the two; 3) be symmetrical in cross section; 4) be almost completely devoid of cortex; and 5) possess a basal width to maximum thickness ratio that is equal to or greater than 2:1. Additionally, a specific class of knife, the "hump-backed knife," has been distinguished by Munson and Munson (1972) from the flat knives by a basal width to maximum thickness ratio less than 2:1 or by a lack of symmetry in cross section. To highlight this potentially diagnostic tool class, the knives from 12 Mg 1 were separated into flat knives and hump-backed knives. Five flat knives and six hump-backed knives were recovered at 12 Mg 1; only two (40 percent) of the flat knives were complete specimens. This high incidence of breakage may be a result of their relatively thin cross section, or it could be an indicator of differing function. Compared to the flat knives, four out of five (80 percent) of the hump-backed knives were complete specimens. The characteristic isolated knot that gives the hump-backed knife its asymmetrical cross section would do little to prevent a breakage pattern such as was observed in the flat knives. Three of the specimens were heat treated; the one fragmentary hump-backed knife revealed evidence of heat fracturing.
Scrapers (N=5). All five scrapers recovered at 12 Mg 1 are classed as sidescrapers. All are made from relatively large, thin, lunate flakes that either show wear or retouch on the lateral edge. The steeply beveled, teardrop-shaped endscraper is conspicuous by its absence in the lithic assemblage at 12 Mg 1.
Gravers (N=2). Two gravers were identified from the 12 Mg 1 lithic assemblage. Both consist of thin flakes with the characteristic graving spur systematically isolated by bifacial flaking.
Groundstone Tool. The groundstone tool category includes any nonchert lithic artifact showing use wear or purposeful alteration from pecking, polishing, or abrasion, or any combination of the three. These include hammerstones, pitted stones, and abraders. Excluded from this category are other hard stones and slate objects shaped by flaking.
Hammerstones (N=9). Nine hammerstones were recovered at 12 Mg 1. All are rounded river cobbles that vary from softball to golfball size. In short, all can be held comfortably in the hand and used to pound on something else. In most cases, the peck marks from use are concentrated in one or two discrete areas of the cobble, showing that these cobbles must have had a preferred orientation in use. As expected, granites and the hard dense quartzites are the preferred raw materials.
Pitted Stones (N=4). These are roughly discoidal or amorphous stones with one or more depressions worn into the surface. Depending upon the size and shape of the depression, they could be called anvil stones or nutting stones. To avoid both confusion and the implication of a specific function, they are all cataloged using the generic name of pitted stone.
Abraders (N=3). All three abraders from 12 Mg 1 are small, relatively soft sandstone chunks with multiple grooves worn on the artifact surface.
Celts (N=2). Two celts were recovered at 12 Mg 1. Neither represents a complete specimen, but both have a well-beveled and polished, curved bit end. One of the celt fragments was manufactured from a fine grained, black hardstone, the other from a soft siltstone.
