Point Type: CALF CREEK
Also See: Andice, Bell, Bristol Diagonal Notched, Castroville, Eva, Grundy, Kline, Lost Lake, Mehlville, Ocala

Location: Midwestern States

Associated Dates: 10,000 - 8,000 B.P. - Early Archaic
Morphology: Basal Notched

General Description: The Calf Creek blade is a very rare triangular, basal notched blade. The Calf Creek's primary use location was Missouri, Arkansas, eastern Kansas, western Kentucky, western Tennessee and eastern Oklahoma with a few points scattered in the south of Indiana and Illinois. It is one of the oldest basal notched points found in the Midwest.

Calf Creek blades have deep, narrow basal notches with drooping barbs that are parallel with the stem and end almost even with the base.  The barbs can be squared to rounded and in line with the base of the stem when the blade is in new condition.  Bases can be straight to slightly convex and grinding if present includes the base and stem extending into the notches. The blade edges are straight to convex. When the specimen has been resharpened the blade can have a slight pentagonal outline and is less triangular. Resharpening of the blade edges was often terminated in line with the notch terminus. As the blade becomes further resharpened, its overall outline becomes more acutely pentagonal. Some specimens have serrated blade edges. Heavily resharpened Calf Creek points which lack barbs can be very difficult to identify and type.

The average size of the Calf Creek is 64 mm in length and the material used tend to be Ozark cherts.

Perino suggests tha the Calf Creek is a knife form in which the handle is fastened to an internal stem and the wide projecting barbs and blade edges were used for cutting until they either were reduced due to resharpening or they broke off.  In Texas, this is a similar point to the Bell point type and a variat of it which an extremely long stem as the Andice point type. 

The type was named by Donald R. Dickson after specimens found in Calf Creek Cave, Searcy County, Arkansas.

About The Point Above (left): The magnificent Calf Creek point pictured at the top left hand side of this page, is from Greene County, Missouri and is from the former Roland Schumate collection (Springfield, MO). It is made from Ozark white chert that has a yellowish, orange and rust colored patina with very small light brown inclusions. It measures 58 mm in length, 59 mm wide and is 19 mm at its thickest point (at the top of the base) with the blade being 9 mm in thickness. The stem is 28 mm wide with the base and notches lightly ground. The left wing or barb which is the short wing is 58 mm long from tip to tip and the right wing is 67 mm long, tip to tip. Catalog Number 44-110-G

About The Point Above (Right): The Calf Creek point pictured at the top right hand side of this page, is from Webster, Missouri. It is made from Ozark white chert with very small light brown inclusions. It measures 55 mm in length, 50 mm wide and is 10 mm at its thickest point (at mide blade) . The stem is 22 mm wide with the base and notches lightly ground. The left wing or barb which is the short wing is 58 mm long from tip to tip and the right wing is 58 mm long, tip to tip. Catalog Number 145-86-D

References: Justice (1), Overstreet, Perino (1), Waldorf

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