Published: August 30, 2008 11:14 pm            

The Albany Scraper, an unusual tool of San Patrice people

In the past two weeks articles I have discussed changes in both the Dalton and San Patrice projectile point styles. In the case of the Dalton people we think they decided to add “ears” protruding outward from the stems of their points in an effort to achieve a better attachment to the shaft for the purpose of cutting. On the other hand the San Patrice people changed stem shapes so each blade of a projectile point could have a longer blade. By changing from a parallel-sided stem to a side-notched stem, they gained approximately 25 percent more blade which would allow for longer use of a point before it became necessary to discard it.

We are also convinced the Dalton people were doing a lot of wood working by the presence of many Dalton Adzes associated with their projectile points. The San Patrice people were not to be outdone by their counterpart, the Dalton civilization, when it came to making a specialized tool. They produced a stone tool we refer to as a Albany Scraper. Look at the first illustration in today’s article. First of all you can see a single fairly large side-notch on each side of the stem. On some specimens, the side notching is more distinct than on others but it is always present. It has been noted by several typologists some of the Albany Scrapers seem to be made out of reworked projectile points. However there is a problem with this idea. At least for now, there does not seem to be any side-notched projectile point known which would date to the same time period as the San Patrice culture, roughly 9,600 years to 10,500 years ago. One very well made side-notch point known as the White River point, named for the river by the same name in Arkansas, has the same stem shape as the Albany Scraper but the White River point has been dated to the Early Archaic time period at about a thousand years after the San Patrice culture. Also, another good argument against the Albany Scraper being reworked White River points is the fact many Albany Scrapers have been fashioned out of fairly thin river worn pebbles and the flaking is primarily done only on a single side. There isn’t any doubt whatsoever about Albany Scrapers being part of the San Patrice tool kit since so many have been found associated with San Patrice points. Two major sites excavated a number of years ago, one in Louisiana known as the John Pierce site and the other one in Texas near Lufkin called the Wolfs Head site, produced a lot of San Patrice points, both types, and Albany Scrapers. If any of you still have last week’s article where I illustrated both types of San Patrice points, turn the page upside down and you will be able to see what looks like a wolf’s head instead of a St. Johns projectile point. The Hope variety does not look like a wolf’s head. The reason the St. Johns variety looks like a miniature wolf head is because the two protruding stem tips resemble the ears on a wolf.

Looking at the Albany Scraper, you will note one edge has been worked diagonally from the tip to the side notch and the worked edge is concave shaped. Nearly every example of an Albany Scraper has this same shape so the archeological community feels sure the tool was used as a scraper. I really have a problem with this concept. First is the fact all of the recorded Albany Scrapers have been found left on sites which to me indicates each scraper was used up and therefore discarded. It makes more sense to me the tool was originally meant to be a hafted diagonal knife and after several resharpening episodes, the blade looks more like a scraper. Several years ago, I saw a small Albany tool which had a diagonal cutting blade which had not been resharpened. It had been made on a thin piece of petrified wood which is more difficult to flake than the better grade cherts. It had the typical side-notching just like any other Albany yet it was much smaller. To further add proof is the fact a number of classical San Patrice points were recovered from the same site. One of these days I will have to publish in one of the archeological journals my opinion about the fact I think an Albany Scraper started out as a knife instead of a scraper. I feel sure this will bring forth several opinions not in agreement with mine.

Look at the other illustration in today’s article and you will see a stone tool which is called a Red River knife. Red River knives are converted Scottsbluff points. The first evidence of the Scottsbluff culture came from an excavated site near Scottsbluff, Neb., hence the name, about 50 years ago. Since then several more sites have been excavated which contained Scottsbluff points and sometimes other Late Paleo artifacts. Also found in association with the Scottsbluff points were knives with a diagonal blade. These knives were given the name of Cody knives and a number of the knives looked to have been made out of converted Scottsbluff points. About 20 years ago, Leroy Johnson, an archeologist from the Austin area, published a book in which he talks about two cultures leaving the High Plains due to a big environmental change. This change is now referred to as the Younger Dryus and has been described as a major drought which hit all of North America about 9,500 years ago. Mr. Johnson felt sure the Scottsbluff people were forced to abandon their High Plains sites and ended up migrating into the eastern areas of Oklahoma, Missouri, East Texas and Louisiana. In fact, more Scottsbluff points have been found within a hundred mile radius of Texarkana than any other region of North America. However, to my knowledge, only a single Cody knife has been found anywhere within their newly adopted homeland. Instead they started producing Red River knives.

Next week: Did the Scottsbluff people come into contact with the San Patrice?

        

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