DALTON
POINTS |
These ten Dalton points are part of a cache of 13 found on the Olive
Branch site in southern Illinois. They were all made of white Burlington
chert. |
These casts of five Dalton points show some of the different styles of
spear and knife points made by the Dalton people. They had as many
different types of spear points as some of the later cultures had arrow
point styles. |
This Dalton point is probably the best example out of 13 found in a cache on the Olive Branch site in Alexander Co., Illinois. The pressure flaking on this point is very even. It's made of white Burlington chert and measures 5 1/4 inches long |
This Dalton point is also from the cache of 13 found many years ago on the Olive Branch site. It's another very good example of Dalton flaking. |
This Dalton point is larger than average for this type of Early Archaic Knife. Dalton points of this quality have been found in caches in Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas. Although no human bones have been found it is suspected that some of the better made examples were placed with burials. The Sloan site in northern Arkansas produced many caches totaling 144 Dalton points along with various other stone tools. Radiocarbon assays for these points generally range from approximately 9,000 to 10,500 years ago. This point measures 8 1/16 inches long. |
This Dalton point is made of white Burlington chert and is much longer than average. It was made by a very skilled craftsman. The "hollow ground" flaking is very well done. This manufacturing technique of pressure flaking was used almost exclusively by the Dalton people. |
Sloan Dalton points are the largest flaked stone artifacts made during the Early Archaic period by the Dalton people. These two examples measure over 10 inches long. Dalton points of this size are very rare. One early document from the 1940's records one that was 15 inches long. |
The Dalton point is one of the best designed spear points from the Archaic Period. They were resharpened so much that many end up looking like drills. Although many may have been used as drills quite a large number of them just end up, through a process of resharpenings, to look like drills. |
The way stone artifacts become broken from use is an important area of study by archaeologists. These three Dalton spear points were most probably broken upon impact after the spear on which each was attached some 9,000 years ago was thrown. Some are broken along the edge like a burin break pattern (center) while others are broken on the face sometimes driving back long narrow flakes that look like flutes (right). |