FORM: The cross-section is usually biconvex but may be flattened. Shoulders are usually barbed but may be inversely tapered. Blade edges are serrated and are usually straight or excurvate but some examples may have one straight and one excurvate blade edge. The basal edge and sides of the stem are thinned, straight and may be lightly ground. The distal end is acute. Serrations on the blade edges are finely executed as opposed to deeper serrations on the Kirk Serrated projectile point. The shoulders are usually barbed. The stem and base are always straight whereas the Kirk Serrated base may be incurvate.
FLAKING: The blade and hafting area were formed by broad, shallow, random flaking. The blade edges were then finely serrated.
COMMENTS: The type was named from Ralph Allen Site 41 at Smithsonia, Alabama, where the type was first recognized. The illustrated example is from this site located on the north side of the Tennessee River in Lauderdale County, Alabama. Three examples are illustrated in Plate 152 (Webb and DeJarnette, 1942). One is in the top right of the plate and two are in the upper left of the lower figure on the same plate. These examples were recovered from the Bluff Creek Site Luo 59. This site was located fourteen miles west of Florence, Alabama, on the banks of the Tennessee River. These points were associated with burials along with other artifacts that indicate a late Archaic and early Woodland placement, as does the formal attributes of this point type.
SOUTH PRONG CREEK, Lewis (This Paper): A-138
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: The South Prong Creek point is a large, broad, stemmed, and serrated point.
MEASUREMENTS: Examples which provided the features, including the illustrated example, ranged in measurements as follows: length—maximum, 101 mm.; minimum, 46 mm.; average, 72 mm.: shoulder width—maximum, 59 mm.; minimum, 46 mm.; average, 38 mm.: stem width—maximum, 18 mm.; minimum, 17 mm.; average, 18 mm.: stem length—maximum, 12 mm.; minimum, 8 mm.; average, 11 mm.: thickness—maximum, 10 mm.; minimum, 8 mm.; average, 9 mm.
FORM: The cross-section is flattened. The blade edges are usually straight but may be slightly excurvate or recurvate and are always serrated with an acute distal end that is devoid of serrations. Shoulders may be straight or tapered. The stem is short and thinned at the base and along the side edges. The basal edge may be straight or excurvate and may exhibit light grinding.