GOSHEN POINTS
MILL IRON SITE

CARTER COUNTY, MONTANA
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COPYRIGHT JULY 31, 2009 PETER A. BOSTROM

     Thirty one complete and broken pieces of Goshen points were found during the excavation of the Mill Iron site. The picture above shows several casts that were molded from 15 of the better examples. Eleven points were found in the camp area, twelve in the bone bed meat processing area and seven points were found on the surface. The projectile point assemblage from Mill Iron have a wide range of style and flaking technique. Three of the bases in this picture are almost straight (the base is missing from the point at lower left). Most of these points have bases that vary from slightly to fairly deeply concave. Three of them have concave bases but are straight at the base of the concavity, similar to some Folsom points. The sides are straight to slightly convex and one example appears to be slightly fish-tailed because the ears are projected slightly outward. Some of the points in the assemblage have no ears, but most have either squared, rounded or pointed ears. Basal thinning is observed on some points. The rest only have minor pressure flaking, not large enough to be considered basal thinning. Hafting area edges and bases are also ground.
   The flaking patterns of Goshen points also show a wide range of skill level and technique. Flaking patterns range from random to parallel transverse. The point at top center represents the most skillfully made Goshen point found on the Mill Iron site. It's the longest point in this picture and measures 3 1/8 inches (8 cm) long.
   There is still a controversy involving the comparison of Goshen points to Plainview points. The issue surrounds the fact that both point types are very similar in style and they may one day prove to be the same point type. Frison suggests that they should be called Goshen/Plainview points until they are better understood.

15 Goshen points from the Mill Iron site (casts of originals)

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