my oldest antique weapon
Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:54 am
I found this stone point on a large gravel bed alongside the Brazos River back in 1983. I had taken my son there for some splashing around in the river on a hot summer day. We were walking back to our pickup when one of his sandals came off. I stopped to put it back on his foot when I looked down and right there, between my feet lay this artifact. Now, I know folks around these parts who find stone arrowheads all the time, but I never had found anything until that moment. I picked it up and immediately knew I had something old.
I remember that there was a family nearby with several small boys and they came over and saw what I had found. I had to laugh a little as they got busy right away looking for more.
Many years later, I was told it was quite old and had been a knife blade once. In fact, this "expert" called it the utility knife of its day. It's tan chert and most likely made by the Caddoan Culture, and is sometimes called a "Friday Knife". I have no idea why. How old is it? Good question and I don't have a definitive answer. Likely several hundred to maybe a thousand years.
This was Tonkawa country when the Spanish first came around. Very near to the place where the Little River which runs past Cameron empties into the much bigger Brazos River, there was a big, sandstone outcropping known as Sugarloaf Mountain.
There was a large Indian settlement in that bottom land and the mountain played a large role in their culture no doubt. In fact, about 30 years ago, a developer bought the mountain and the surrounding land and proceeded to run a bulldozer up it and tore away about 2/3 of the mountain. There had been a large boulder(about 12 feet tall) carved into the shape of a skull, with another skull in it's mouth, that had distinct pre-Columbian features and design. There was also a cave on the north slope that was covered over. The project was finally stopped when Tonkawa nation representatives came down from Oklahoma and testified in a hearing that the mountain had played a large part in their creation myth. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that that mountain wouldn't be there for all time. Damn some people.
At any rate, here's my only genuine artifact and the oldest weapon I own. Would I part with it? Not on your life.
I remember that there was a family nearby with several small boys and they came over and saw what I had found. I had to laugh a little as they got busy right away looking for more.
Many years later, I was told it was quite old and had been a knife blade once. In fact, this "expert" called it the utility knife of its day. It's tan chert and most likely made by the Caddoan Culture, and is sometimes called a "Friday Knife". I have no idea why. How old is it? Good question and I don't have a definitive answer. Likely several hundred to maybe a thousand years.
This was Tonkawa country when the Spanish first came around. Very near to the place where the Little River which runs past Cameron empties into the much bigger Brazos River, there was a big, sandstone outcropping known as Sugarloaf Mountain.
There was a large Indian settlement in that bottom land and the mountain played a large role in their culture no doubt. In fact, about 30 years ago, a developer bought the mountain and the surrounding land and proceeded to run a bulldozer up it and tore away about 2/3 of the mountain. There had been a large boulder(about 12 feet tall) carved into the shape of a skull, with another skull in it's mouth, that had distinct pre-Columbian features and design. There was also a cave on the north slope that was covered over. The project was finally stopped when Tonkawa nation representatives came down from Oklahoma and testified in a hearing that the mountain had played a large part in their creation myth. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that that mountain wouldn't be there for all time. Damn some people.
At any rate, here's my only genuine artifact and the oldest weapon I own. Would I part with it? Not on your life.
