Point Type: HEAVY DUTY
Also See: Genesee, Harpeth River , Kirk Serrated, Stone Square Stemmed

Location: Eastern United States

Associated Dates: 7000 - 5000 B.P. - Middle Archaic
Morphology: Stemmed

General Description: The Heavy Duty is a rare, medium to large sized, thick point with weak, narrow to tapered sloping shoulders and a small parallel sided stem which may have a slightly expanding or bulbous appearance. The basal edge is usually slightly convex but may be straight. The blade edges are excurvate to straight or slightly recurvate and can be serrated. The blade transverse section is a very thick, heavy, rugged diamond-like median ridged elliptical shape. Basal grinding is usually limited to stem sides but points with straight basal edges may also have grinding on the base. Often, large stem thinning flakes were removed from the base which can extend towards the distal end almost half way to the tip. These thinning flakes can terminate in a hinge fracture and are often v-shaped. In most specimens the blade outline is slim or slender in relation to the overall length of the projectile point. The Heavy Duty point is always very well made and shows fine pressure flaking and much symmetry in blade outline.

The Heavy Duty has never been assigned a formal name because none have been found in a dated stratigraphic context. The type has many of the physical attributes of points which date from the Early and Middle Archaic period and in all probability belongs to that time frame. Only one or two Heavy Duty points are typically found on any given site and the point is not a common type anywhere in its distribution range. Heavy Duty points are most commonly found in Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, West Virginia and Kentucky however they are found in most adjoining states in diminishing numbers. Some feel that the Heavy Duty is a close relation to the Kirk Serrated point type and may be a sub-type of the Kirk Stemmed Cluster.

The average size of the Heavy Duty point ranges between 50 mm and 127 mm. The average width range is between 20 mm and 36 mm.

About The Point Above: The small Heavy Duty point pictured at the top of this page, was found near Oxford, Ohio. The point is made from a glossy black flint with white and gray inclusions. The flaking style used in the manufacture of the blade is a series of very small, fine pressure flakes. The specimen exhibits the slightly indented stem and the stem thinning flakes which travel up to the blade face. The stem edges are ground however the basal edge is not. The cross section of the blade is thick and diamond shaped with a smoothed elliptical curve to both blade faces. Overall, the point measures 56 mm in length, is 23 mm wide across the shoulders, and is 11 mm thick in mid blade. The stem is 13 mm long and the base of the stem is 17 mm wide. The stem is 7 mm thick at mid point. Catalog Number 57-25-A

References: Converse, Edler, Justice (1), Overstreet, Waldorf

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