Published: June 28, 2008 07:44 pm            

Other tools in the typical Dalton tool kit

Included in the archeological publication written by Dr. Albert Goodyear pertaining to the excavations at the Brand site in northeastern Arkansas was a section dealing with what Dr. Goodyear refers to as the typical Dalton tool kit.

When I read the term “tool kit” I generally think of what we nowadays refer to as a tool pouch. Since I spent most of my life working in the construction business, it was a common event to see a carpenter or an electrician strap on a tool belt and pouch every morning as they arrived at the construction site.

The same can be said for the iron workers and the plumbers. Everyone had a certain set of tools they wore to work every day. Needless to say there would be certain instances when one of these individuals needed another tool not included on their belt and they would have to go to one of the construction sheds to check out this specific tool.

According to Dr. Goodyear, the Dalton people had their own version of a tool kit. However, several of the tools they utilized were not carried with them on a daily basis. Instead they would craft on of these special tools each time it was needed.

Keep in mind these people were constantly on the move from area to area searching for animals as needed for both food and clothing. Projectile points were an absolute necessity to be used as weapon tips and knives so we feel sure they carried as many of these as possible.

The other tools typically found on a site may have been manufactured at the site after they made camp. This might depend on just how close they were to a dependable chert/gravel deposit. If we find a tool made out of an exotic piece of material we can assume this tool was brought to the site just in case there wasn’t a good nearby chert deposit. This may be the case for some of the Dalton adzes found on several of the sites in Arkansas.

One tool commonly found on a Dalton site is referred to as a spokeshave. A simpler name for this artifact is a notch.

A description of a spokeshave is as follows: It is a piece of chert which has at least one slightly concave side. Somewhere near the middle of this concave section, the Native American would take a small hammer stone or antler and remove a series of small flakes which resulted in a more or less half-moon area within the crescent shaped concave section.

Archeologists think spokeshaves were utilized to remove the bark and knots on pieces of wood or antler in an effort to straighten them into usable dart or arrow shafts. I have made a couple of spokeshaves myself just to see how efficient were these little chert tools. I was successful in scrapping several pieces of wood removing the knots and the bark but I also could see the spokeshave dulled rather quickly. I either needed to make an entirely new one or I had to remove several new flakes in an effort to resharpen the one I was using.

I quickly found out you can over-sharpen one and it will no longer remove knots without a lot of extra effort.

At the Brand site, the archeologists recovered 20 spokeshaves which is a good indicator the Dalton people were manufacturing new shafts for their atlatls. Not only did the archeologists find 20 spokeshaves made on flakes and chips, they also found two spokeshaves made on the bases of two Dalton points. Both of these points had the tips broken off due to the projectile point striking something hard, resulting in what we refer to as a snap break. Rather than discard these two projectile points, the Dalton individual removed both of the basal ears which resulted in making a shallow u-shaped spokeshave in the base of each point.

It is possible this individual could have turned the point around and hafted it to a stick to serve as a handle. Once more it shows these people were not wasteful of one of their most precious possessions, namely chert. They used it in any way possible until the piece could not be used again.

Another artifact included in the Dalton tool kit is very difficult for me to describe. The formal name for this artifact is a burin (bu-rin). Basically the Dalton person would take a fairly flat, thick piece of chert and holding it edgewise, he would strike a blow removing part of the flat surface, in turn forming a small 90-degree angle piece of chert. This small protrusion of thick chert could serve as a beak to cut into bone or wood.

In Europe, burins were utilized as a tool capable of cutting into bone to get at and remove the marrow. Bone marrow would be high in protein and it must have been desired by many of the earliest populations since we commonly find burins on early man sites.

Middle and Late Archaic sites typically do not produce burins so we think they are associated only with the earlier cultures, mainly the various Paleo people dating before 9,000 years ago.

Several years ago I saw a Dalton point which had been found on a site in Hill County. On this particular point a Dalton chert knapper had taken some form of a punch and struck four separate blows across the base of a Dalton point. It was very easy to see each and every blow and exactly where each piece hinged away after being struck. There wasn’t any of the base left on the point since both ears and most of the u-shaped base had been removed.

Obviously what I needed at the time and was not available was a high-powered microscope to see what wear polish might show on the point indicating exactly how the burin had been utilized.

Recently I have been reading and writing about Dalton adzes and it has dawned on me a Dalton adze may have served as a chisel in removing the pieces from the point which formed the burin. In some cases we know the Native Americans used deer antler tips as punches but a round punch would not have been suitable in removing pieces to form this particular burin.

Next week: Another site with Dalton components known as Big Eddy

        

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