Thursday, October 29, 2015

Paleo-Indian Artifacts from the Hannacroix Creek

by G. Jack Urso
 

Erosion along the Hannacroix Creek in Southern Albany County, NY, following the impact of Hurricane Irene on the U.S. East Coast in 2012, uncovered a trove of pre-Columbian Paleo-Indian stone tools and artifacts. During the summers of 2013 and 2014, I undertook a series of excursions to a particular place along the Hannacroix where these ancient relics were found.

While I found a number of items, two are presented here for consideration: a hammerstone-like formation and another item whose precise identification is unknown — though the features are distinctly man-made. All the items I found were composed of sedimentary rock. While harder rocks were preferred as source material when available, there was a distinct lack of other rock types available in the areas I searched. Further, various types of sedimentary rocks were used as source material for tools, according to Understanding Stone Tools and Archaeological Sites (2000), by Brian Patrick Kooyman of the University of Calgary.
Fig. 1: Unfinished possible hammerstone or axe/club head.
The first item, fig. 1, appears to be an irregularly shaped cobblestone formation; however, closer examination reveals sharply defined cut marks outlining the stone (fig. 2), which appears to be a matrix for a hammer stone or possibly a rudimentary axe or club head. It is clearly incomplete, having been abandoned midway through creation. Was it found to be flawed in some way? Was it a practice rock for some young Stone Age apprentice learning his craft?

Fig. 2: Close-up of Fig. 1.
Those who doubt the ability of this type of sedimentary stone to cause damage are invited to experiment themselves. Tests I conducted with similar rocks found at the site reveal them to have acceptable tolerance levels for working with organic material and shale.

Fig. 3: Where the stone artifact in Fig. 1 was found.
This part of New York State was scoured by immense glaciers during the last Ice Age which ended approximately 10,000 years ago. Glacial striations can create deep impressions into rocks, so analyzing carved rocks requires a discerning eye. The rock pictured in fig. 3 stood out immediately, which you can see in the accompanying photo taken at the time of discovery. This oblong stone is approximately nine inches long and features a shallow carved-out impression with perfectly rounded ends (fig. 4).

Fig. 4: Scale comparison of the Fig. 1 artifact.
The skeptic in me immediately wondered if the items weren’t naturally made — perhaps being a remnant of glacial striation or possibly having flaked off another rock during erosion. Closer examination, however, revealed one edge to have three equally spaced cut marks (fig. 5), perhaps revealing where the maker cut into the rock to begin carving the impression. Further, the impression’s ends are too round, the sides too straight, and too sharply defined for a natural formation.

Fig. 5: Close-up view of Fig. 1 artifact.
My suspicion that the item was of human origin was further confirmed when a friend forwarded me an article from the University of Texas at Austin web page (Texasbeyondhistory.net) with a photo of a Woodland Period artifact (500 B.C.E. – 800 C.E.) from the Jonas Short Mound located on the Angelina River under the Sam Rayburn Reservoir in east Texas (fig. 6). Apart from the different rock type, the similarity between the two items is uncanny.

Fig. 6: Woodland Period artifact.
What fascinates me, and many others, about these items is that they were crafted, held, and used by people not so different from myself. Humans long ago held them in their hands as I do now. They stood where I stood and saw the same sunrise and sunset over the same isolated, rural landscape, which has seen little change, even in 21st century New York State.
 
The persons who made these items are long dead and forgotten. The uniqueness of their individual Iives is forever washed away by the tide of history and all that remain are these few stone tools.  I wonder, centuries from now, what artifacts from my life will be left for someone to hold and wonder? Will my existence also be washed away and forgotten with the relentless tide of time?

I can only hope that there will at least be someone who will wonder — very much the same as I do now. 

                         

12 comments:

  1. Important to remember the past is always with us, perhaps unseen, and, by what we leave behind, we will be part of the future, perhaps unseen.

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  2. If you pan out far enough everything happens at the same time(time which is arbitrary) so the native was standing where you were but a second before. Our lives will all be ground away past sand and past dust into the ether from which we came

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  3. I found a stone very similar to the first photo. Let me go dig it out and get a photo and I'll post it. It was found in southeast Tennessee very close to Chattanooga. The area had a ton of chert/chalcedony and quartz in a heavily forested area with trails blazed through several switchbacks. The trail descends in elevation until it runs parallel to a large creek. I walked the creek until I saw an inticing rock bed at the edge with an uprooted walnut tree fallen at the edge of the rock bed/sand/gravel bar. I found several artifacts that were obviously, to differing degrees of certainty, man made. After a while of digging my girlfriend was ready to head out (I was just getting started) and I told her give me 3 more minutes and the last bit of material I moved of rocks I uncovered the artifact. It has the same cutting 'chamfered' slightly worked edge that was done exactly like the one you photoed. I have been searching online for so long trying to find one that looks similar

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    1. Thank you for following up. Yes, please if you can find that rock please send it along to my email address posted on the About Me page (upper right margin) and I can post it as an update since the comments don't allow for image posting.

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  4. I have also found rocks like figure 1. ( I call them bike seats🙂)..I've always had a deep respect for native Americans. I have quite a few stone tools I've found over the past years. Its not easy finding sites like this to compare and give a name to.

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    1. Agreed, They do sort of look like the "Banana seats" on my old Schwinn bikes! Thanks for reading!

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  5. I too have the"bike seat" stone. In fact I've got 2.I found them in South Jersey where I reside. The Nanticoke Lenni Lenape tribe inhabited the area. I have a small collection of stone tools. D.DiSalvia.

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    1. Thanks for sharing! Nice to hear from others who share my interests and finds!

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  6. I found something this past weekend that I believe to be paleo-indian made. I was four-wheeling down in a gorge in an area that has several known native american sites in eastern Kentucky when I stopped to look at a rock overhang, and this was just sitting on top of the ground as if it was dropped there. At first, it was the axe-head shape that made me pick it up, but then I started noticing scapings and peck marks along the sides. On closer inspection I believe I've identified a grove for a thumb to rest. My belief is that this was an unfinished piece, possibly used as practice since the sandstone material would be easily shaped. The shape and location of the thumb indentation would have me believe it was some kind of digging or scraping tool. I'm very interested in finding someone to help me verify the artifact. Obviously, I stumped on your blog looking for similar finds.

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    1. Wow. Interesting find! There's so much waiting to be found. I wish Blogger comments allowed image posting. Would love to see of the find readers have noted of their own.

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  7. I have one that looks like the finished version of your first one. I picked it up not sure if it was a tool or a rock but now, seeing yours, makes me believe that it is, in fact, a stone tool. I've noticed such similarity between tools found in NY, PA & VA. (I'm in Northern VA). They seem distinct from artifacts from other states.

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    1. Thank you for sharing. It's interesting to hear other people's experiences with these types of artifacts.

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