ArtiFACT: Plainview points found during Fort McCoy archaeology efforts

Courtesy Photo | Pictured are two Plainview projectile points Aug. 7, 2017, recovered from one of many archaeology digs at Fort McCoy, Wis., in recent years. These points are from the Late Paleoindian cultural period, and are approximately 9,000-10,000 years old. While Plainview points can be found as far away as Texas, these two are made from a stone called Prairie du Chien chert, which can be found in Monroe County, Wis. Both of these projectile points are much smaller than they would have originally been and have been very heavily “reworked” as a result of resharpening and repair over a long period of use. (Photo by Alexander Woods, Cultural Resource Manager, Fort McCoy, Wis.)  

FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES

08.25.2017

Courtesy Story

Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office           

Plainview projectile points are some of the many artifacts recovered from archaeology efforts at Fort McCoy, Wis. in more than three decades of work at the installation, said Alexander Woods, Ph.D., an archaeologist with Colorado State University's Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands under contract with Fort McCoy.

These kind of points are from the Late Paleoindian cultural period, and are approximately 9,000-10,000 years old, Woods said. While Plainview points can be found as far away as Texas, these two are made from a stone called Prairie du Chien chert, which can be found in Monroe County, Wis.

Both of these projectile points are much smaller than they would have originally been and have been very heavily “reworked” as a result of resharpening and repair over a long period of use.

On the bottom quarter of the broken grey point, you can see the part that was under the binding retains is original shape, while the exposed blade has been reshaped as the point was sharpened.

Much like a pencil, projectile points get smaller and smaller as you resharpen them, Woods said. This particular point exhibits a great deal of care to retain attractive flaking even as it was resharpened.

Plainview points such as these would have been used both as knives and as projectile points for hunting big game with a spearthrowing device called an atlatl. Other Plainview points have been found with the remains of a large, extinct form of bison called Bison antiquus.

The people who used these tools lived in a changing Wisconsin. The Ice Age was coming to an end, the environment was changing, and species such as mammoth and mastodon were replaced with species more familiar to us today, such as white tailed deer, Woods said.

People are reminded they should not collect artifacts on federal lands and should leave the digging to the professionals.

Any individual who excavates, removes, damages, or otherwise alters or defaces any historic or prehistoric site, artifact, or object of antiquity on federal property is in violation of federal law, Woods said.

(Article prepared by the Colorado State University Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands and Directorate of Public Works Natural Resources Branch.)

• Date Taken: 08.25.2017
• Date Posted: 08.25.2017 09:59
• Story ID: 245964
• Location: FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US