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SUWANNEE
POINT
PALEO-EARLY ARCHAIC
GILCHRIST COUNTY, FLORIDA
PRIVATE COLLECTION
COPYRIGHT FEBRUARY 29,
2012 PETER A. BOSTROM
CAST ILLUSTRATED
CAST
#P-99
SUWANNEE POINT
PALEO--EARLY ARCHAIC
GILCHRIST COUNTY, FLORIDA
This Suwannee point was
found many years ago in the Santa Fe River in Gilchrist County, Florida.
It's made of a black colored chert that is not the best quality. But
this is a good representative example of a Suwannee point. It measures 4
3/8 inches (11.1 cm) long.
Suwannee points were named by Ripley P. Bullen after the
Suwannee River and Suwannee County in Florida. The age of Suwannee
points still seems to be in question. Some researchers have placed
Suwannee points in the Early Archaic period while others believe they
are older. For example, James Dunbar (Senior
Archaeologist, Public Lands Archaeology, Florida Bureau of
Archaeological Research) writes that:
"Most archaeologists, including this author, place Suwannee points as
the post-Clovis, Middle Paleo-Indian type." He also says that Suwannee
points have tool kits that are similar to Clovis tool kits. Some
Suwannee points have multiple flutes and were made with over-shot
percussion (edge-to-edge) flaking. Suwannee points are found in the
coastal plain of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.
"REFERENCE"
2006, Dunbar, James, Webb, David S.,
"Paleoindian Archaeology," First Floridians And Last Mastodons: The
Page-Ladson Site In The Aucilla River, p.408-409.
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