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The Oxbow Archaeologists

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Barnes site (20md1) Paleoindian Page 1

  

   The Barnes site was a small Paleo-indian site located in southern Midland County, Michigan.  The site was discovered and surface collected starting in the 1950's by the late Mr. Wallace (Wally) Hill of Midland County.  In 1966, Henry Wright and William Roosa published a description and analysis of Mr. Hill's collection in American Antiquity (Wright and Roosa 1966).  In 1974, Central Michigan University held a field school at the site under the direction of the late Dr. Jerome (Jerry) Voss in which 256 m2 were excavated.  The material from this excavation was published by Dr. Voss in the Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology in 1977 (Voss 1977).  The collections from the Barnes site are curated by Chippewa Nature Center.  In the 1970's, Mr. Hill graciously donated his collection from this important site to Chippewa Nature Center with the understanding that the collection would remain in Midland County where it would be available to researchers and for viewing by the public.  Several of the Barnes site artifacts are on display at Chippewa Nature Center and almost all of the diagnostic artifacts (with the exception of a few small fragments) can be viewed on this page.    Dr. Henry Wright of the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology has redrawn all of the artifacts and he is currently completing a reanalysis of the site.

   The Barnes site was probably a small hunting camp where spears were refurbished.  The site measured only about 12 to 15 meters in diameter.  The site was located on a beach ridge of an early lake that was located along the front of melting glacial ice ("proglacial Lake Warren").  The artifacts from the site are a type that dates about 12,500 years ago.


References


Wright, Henry T. and William B. Roosa.  "The Barnes Site:  A Fluted Point Assemblage from the Great Lakes Region."  American Antiquity 31 (1966), pages 850-860.


Voss, Jerome A.  "The Barnes Site:  Functional and Stylistic Variability in a Small Paleo-indian Assemblage.  Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology 2 (1977), pages 253-305.

Barnes Site Fluted Point #4369.  Patinated Bayport Chert.

FLUTED POINTS

  

  • The photos in this section illustrate the fluted points from the Barnes site.  "Fluting" refers to the (long) flake struck up the axis of the point from the base in order to thin the point.  This is a characteristic unique to Paleo-indian projectile points.  "Fluting nipples" and their remnants appear on several of the points and indicate that they were fluted with a technique similar to that used to flute Folsom points in the western Unitied States, see #4370, 4373, 4377, 4380, 4381, 4384.
  • References to the published articles on the Barnes site are provided below for the artifacts in the photo gallery.  The artifacts numbered between 4368 and 4398 were surface collected by Mr. Wallace Hill.  The artifacts numbered between 5318 and 5346 were recovered during the 1974 excavations at the site.

Fluted Points

 #4368    Not in Wright and Roosa 1966.  Bayport chert (cortex, patinated).

 #4369    Wright and Roosa 1966:854.  Drawing - Figure 3c.  Metrics - Table 2 #15.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

 #4370    Wright and Roosa 1966:854.  Drawing - Figure 3b.  Metrics - Table 2 #14.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

Fluted Points

 #4371    Wright and Roosa 1966:856.  Drawing - Figure 4c.  Metrics - Table 2 #22.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

 #4372    Wright and Roosa 1966.  Drawing - Figure 3d.  Metrics - Table 2 #16.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

 #4373    Wright and Roosa 1966:854.  Drawing - Figure 2e.  Metrics - Table 2 #11.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

Fluted Points

 #4374-4375    Wright and Roosa 1966:856.  Drawing - Figure 4b.  Metrics - Table 2 #21.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

 #4376    Wright and Roosa 1966:855.  Drawing - Figure 3g.  Metrics - Table 2 #19.  Bayport Chert variant (patinated).

 #4377    Wright and Roosa 1966:856.  Drawing - Figure 4d.  Metrics - Table 2 #23.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

Fluted Points

 #4378    Wright and Roosa 1966:854.  Drawing - Figure 2b.  Metrics - Table 2 #8.  Bayport Chert.

 #4379    Wright and Roosa 1966:856.  Drawing - Figure 5a.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

 #4380    Wright and Roosa 1966:854.  Drawing - Figure 2d.  Metrics - Table2 #10.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

Fluted Points

 #4381    Wright and Roosa 1966.  Drawing - Figure 3f.  Metrics - Table 2 #18.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

 #4382    Wright and Roosa 1966:855.  Drawing - Figure 4f.  Bayport Chert.

 #4383    Wright and Roosa 1966:855.  Drawing - Figure 4e.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

Fluted points

 #4384    Wright and Roosa 1966:854.  Drawing - Figure 2c.  Metrics - Table 2 #9.  Bayport Chert.

 #4398    Wright and Roosa 1966.  Drawing - Figure 3e.  Metrics - Table 2 #17.  Bayport Chert (heat modified).

 #5318    Voss 1977:257-258.  Drawing - Figure 4c.  Metrics - Table 1 #3.  Bayport Chert.

Fluted POints

 #5322    Voss 1977:257-258.  Not illustrated or measured.  Bayport Chert.

 #5323    Voss 1977:257-258.  Not illustrated or measured.  Bayport Chert.

 #5342    Voss 1977:257-258.  Drawing - Figure 4b.  Metrics - Table 1 #2.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

Fluted Points

 #5346    Voss 1977:257-258.  Drawing - Figure 4a.  Metrics - Table 1 #1. 

FLUTING FLAKES

The photos in the section below illustrate several of the "channel" or "fluting" flakes from the Barnes site.  These flakes are the by-product of the fluting process and are a diagnostic artifact of the Paleoindian period.

Fluting Flakes

#4400-820.  Bayport Chert.

#4400a. Bayport chert (patinated).

#4400b.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

Fluting Flakes

#4400c.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

#4400d.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

#4400e.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

Fluting Flakes

#4400f.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

#4400g.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

#4400h.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

Fluting Flake

#4400i.

#4400j.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

#4400k.  Bayport Chert.

Fluting Flakes

#4400l.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

#4400m.  Bayport Chert.  Striking platform at proximal end (lower end in photo).

#5320.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

Fluting Flakes

#5321.

#5322.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

#5324.  Bayport Chert

Fluting Flakes

#5327.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

#5338.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

#5341.  Bayport Chert (patinated).

Fluting flake

#5345.  Bayport Chert.

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