Point Type: HAMILTON - Arrow: a.k.a Hamilton
Invcurvate
Also See: Camp
Creek, Fort Ancient, Levanna , Madison, Sand Mountain
Location: Southeastern - Especially Tennessee, Kentucky & northern Alabama
Associated Dates:
1600 - 1000 B.P.- Woodland to Mississippian
Morphology: Lanceolate (Triangular)
General Description: The Hamilton is
a small early triangular arrow point that has straight, recurved
or
slightly concave sides and a straight to slightly concave
basal edge. Some Hamilton points
have fine serrations on the blade
edges. Many examples are very thin and exhibit the finest quality
craftsmanship and flaking skills and technique. It
is believed that the Hamilton evolved from the Camp Creek
point type. Some North Carolina and Tennessee specimens have a special constricted
tip called the "Donnaha Tip". Extreme delicacy and symmetry are characteristic
of the type.
The Hamilton arrow point can range in length from
22mm to 55mm and the base
dimensions typically range from 12mm to 23mm wide
and the thickness ranges from 3mm to 6mm with the
average being 4mm.
The
Hamilton is a late Woodland point type assicatied with the Hamilton culture. It is
typically found in Tennessee, Kentucky, western North
Carolina, southern Ohio, southern Indiana and northern Alabama.
First recognized by Madeline
Kneburg, the Hamilton was named by Thomas M. N. Lewis (1955) from examples which Lewis found in
Hamilton County, Tennessee and documented in the paper "The Hamilton and
Eva Type Points of Tennessee", Bulletin of the Oklahoma
Anthropological Society , 1959, issue 3.
About the Point Above
: (Shown Twice Size) The point
pictured at the top left of this page is
an average sized classical example of the Hamilton Arrow point with a normal concave basal
edge and concave blade edges. This specimen is made from a black flint which is highly
patinated. The point measures 31 mm in length, 18.1 mm at the
widest point (across the base) and is a very thin 4.1 mm thick mid blade. The
point tips thin down to 2.7 mm in thickness near the tip. The base concavity is 2 mm deep. This
point was a surface find from Tennessee. Catalog Number 184-8-C
References: Baker, Justice, Hranicky, Overstreet, Perino (1)
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