FORM: The cross-section is biconvex. Shoulders are usually inversely tapered but may be tapered or, occasionally, horizontal. The blade is excurvate and is usually finely serrated; the distal end is acute. The stem, usually formed by corner or side notching, is expanded. The side edges of the stem are usually excurvate; rarely, straight. The stem base edge is usually excurvate but may, on rare examples, be straight. It may be thinned or unfinished with rind still in evidence. Several examples were lightly ground on the stem base edge.
FLAKING: The thick blade is shaped by broad, random flaking. Deep, narrow, and often long flakes were removed from the blade edges to shape and finish the blade and to form fine regular serrations. These flakes were removed alternately from opposite faces, making the serration projections rather sharp. Broad, deep flakes, struck from the basal corners or sometimes the sides of the hafting area, shape the stem. Some of the straighter stemmed examples are reworked along the stem side edges, but usually no retouch is noted in the notches. Basal edges are often slightly thinned by broad shallow flaking.
COMMENTS: The type was named from Cambron Site 78 on Flint Creek in Morgan County, Alabama, where numerous examples were first collected. The illustrated example is one of several from the predominantly Copena site, Cambron Site 53, in Morgan County, Alabama. At the Stanfield-Worley Bluff Shelter (DeJarnette, Kurjack and Cambron, 1962), 69 examples were recovered from Zone A, Levels 1 through 8. Of these 69 examples, 40 per cent were from Levels 3 and 4, indicating a climax in the late Archaic—early Woodland times. One example each was recovered from Levels 4, 5 and 7 at University of Alabama Site Ms 201 in Marshall County, Alabama. At Flint Creek Rock Shelter (Cambron and Waters, 1961), ten examples were recovered from Stratum I (Woodland) and one from Stratum II (Archaic). The Flint Creek type was important at Flint River Mound (Webb and DeJarnette, 1948a), where most examples were found in upper Zone C (Archaic) and lower Zone B (Woodland). This is a late Archaic to early Woodland type. The type appears to be related to Dustin points illustrated by Ritchie (1961). Similar examples may be recognized among points illustrated as Palmillos by Suhm, Krieger and Jelks (1954), who give the distribution as from East Texas across the state to the Trans-Pecos area, and from the upper Brazos and Trinity valleys to the central and eastern coastal plain. The distribution extends southward in Mexico to southern Tamaulipas. The type is associated with late Archaic and early Woodland cultures. The Dustin points are from Michigan and from the Lamoka Lake Site, Schuyler County, New York.
FLINT RIVER SPIKE, Cambron (DeJarnette, Kurjack and Cambron, 1962): A-38
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: This is a small to medium, narrow, lanceolate point.
MEASUREMENTS: Fifteen cotypes (including the illustrated example) from University of Alabama Site Ma 48 (Webb and DeJarnette, 1948a) range in measurements as follows: length—maximum, 58 mm.; minimum, 39 mm.; average, 50 mm.: width—maximum, 21 mm.; minimum, 12 mm.; average, 16 mm.: thickness—maximum, 11 mm.; minimum, 7 mm.; average, 9 mm.
FORM: The cross-section may be median ridged or biconvex. The blade is usually excurvate, but may be straight with an acute distal end. The base is usually rounded, but an occasional example may display a straight, unfinished basal edge. The hafting area includes the basal area from the base to the widest point of the blade, which is usually less than half way from base to distal end. The base is usually thinned.