The Ottawa Area's Newest Archaeological Discovery

by

Gordon D. Watson and Jean-Luc Pilon**


 

The specimen on the left is a beautiful example of a lanceolate dovetail point of the Early Archaic St. Charles Cluster, according to Noel D. Justice (1987) of Indiana University. Some of the salient characteristics of the specimen and indeed the type are the ground, convex base and the deep and narrow corner notches as well as lateral bevelling and quite often, edge serration. This point type occurs in the southern U.S. from Kentucky to Alabama and northern Florida. It is common in the U.S. Midwest (Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio) and dates between 8000 and 6000 years B.C.

St Charles triangularThe specimen on the right is a much smaller, triangular variety of St. Charles Cluster dovetail point. It exhibits the marked edge bevelling and edge serration often found on this point type.

In Ontario, Early Archaic dovertail points similar to the St. Charles points, are not well documented. Three possible examples (the three specimens on the right of this photograph), were found in the late nineteenth D.H. Price Collection at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. All three were found in southwestern Ontario (Elgin County to be precise, but then that's where Mr. Price seems to have been active). They are shown on the right along with the Cutts point (the one on the left). Arthur Roberts (1985) did not describe any points of this type during his survey of Southern Ontario Pre-Ceramic occupations.

Late Archaic Glacial Kame burials have provided projectile points that bear a good ressemblance to the Cutts point. The three points in this photograph were found at the Hind site and recently published in Ontario Archaeology No. 59 by W.S. Donaldson and S. Wortner. The specimen on the left is especially similar to the Cutts point. In fact, one can see how the general shapes of these Glacial Kame points and the much earlier St. Charles dovertail points ressemble each other.

And now, its your turn. Here are the obverse and reverse views of the Cutts point, the Nation's Capital's most recent archaeological discovery. The projectile has a thin elliptical cross-section with grinding along the convex basal portion, although this grinding is absent in the central portion of the base where short flakes were apparently removed at a later time. The lateral edges do not exhibit serration or bevelling, although they are carefully finished. What do you think it is? Send us your comments and thoughts.

Click here to see the references cited on this page.


**Jean-Luc Pilon
Canadian Museum of History

Hull Québec
CANADA
J8X 4H2




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This page was launched December 11, 1996 and updated December 1 2015.
Copyright © 1997, 1998, 1999 The Ottawa Chapter of the Ontario Archaeological Society Inc.