Lithic Technology


projectile point of
onondaga chertThe Herrick Hollow Prehistoric Archaeological District produced lithic assemblages indicating that bifacial reduction was the dominant technology practiced at all of the sites along Herrick Hollow Brook. Nearly all of the lithics were produced with Onondaga chert. Onondaga chert formations are common across upstate New York and occur in limestone and dolomite outcrops, as well as in locally available chert cobbles.

The lithic debitage yielded consistent evidence that prepared cores from river cobbles were brought to the sites. The size of the lithic debitage, as well as the percentage of debitage with more than three dorsal scars, show that late stage bifacial reduction was primarily being completed on a number of the Herrick Hollow sites, especially at the Early Woodland Herrick Hollow I site. Researchers use dorsal scar counts to determine where flakes were produced along the reduction sequence (Andrefsky 1998). The generally accepted theory is that debitage with few dorsal scars are produced during the earliest stages, before many flakes have been removed.
bifacesDebitage with more flake scars fall toward the end of the sequence. Here, over 96% of the lithic assemblage was smaller than ½ inch, with over 80% of the debitage containing three or more dorsal scars. On the primarily Late Woodland sites (Herrick Hollow II, III, IV, V, and VI), approximately 59-61% of the lithic assemblage was less than ½ inch in size, with 67-70% of the measurable assemblage containing three or more dorsal scars.

Projectile points and/or other bifaces in various stages of completion were recovered on every Herrick Hollow site; unfinished bifaces were found on all but one of the sites (Herrick Hollow VII). The recovery of unfinished bifaces suggests that these pieces either broke during manufacture of projectile points or blades, or that they were discarded due to mistakes in manufacture or flaws in the raw material.

    
- incomplete bifaces indicate possible breakage during manufacture or during use as projectiles

 
thumb and side scrapersIn addition to points and unfinished bifaces, other formal tools such as scrapers, a graver, and a drill were recovered, suggesting that some tools were used for daily group maintenance activities on at least three of the seven sites. Similar percentages of expedient tools were recovered on the series of sites from Herrick Hollow II through Herrick Hollow VI. In addition, the number of expedient tools recovered on the Herrick Hollow I site (n=96) is similar to the numbers recovered on Herrick Hollow III, IV, and VI.
scraper, drill, biface, and graver
(clockwise from upper left)The presence of expedient tools in such consistent numbers across the sites indicates that many of the activities performed on these sites did not require precisely formed and sharpened formal tools. Rather, quick but efficient flake tools adequately supplied “tools of the moment” for processing tasks. These flake tools suggest that processing of plant and/or animal resources occurred on every site adjacent to Herrick Hollow Brook within the archaeological district.


CERAMIC TECHNOLOGY>