Intervale Fluted Point

The history of Paleoindian studies in New Hampshire began on September 11, 1888. Grover Cleveland was in his first term of presidency and northern NH was enjoying a boom in tourism. Wealthy visitors flocked to the grand hotels and more modest patrons took rooms at many of the large farmhouses whose owners were willing to take on boarders during the summer months. The spectacular scenery was one of the principal attractions and there even developed a cadre of artists who specialized in landscape paintings and sketches. These artists produced illustrations of all sorts, much of which was either exhibited in the hotels or taken back to the cities by the visitors as lasting mementos.

One of these artists, Randall M. Erving, while at Intervale Park on the date in question found a point "about 3 ft. from top of ground." It is unlikely that Mr. Erving even remotely understood the age of the point, and it is unfortunate that he did not report its location any more precisely. It would seem however that he understood the potential importance of the piece, or perhaps he recognized the exquisite craftsmanship and artistry of the maker, because five years later he donated the point to the Smithsonian Institution. That he was an artist is attested only to his business car which accompanied his gift of the point on October 18, 1893. The card stated simply, "R.M. Erving, Artist," and proclaimed with a flourish "Oil Paintings" then below in much smaller, simpler type "Pencil Sketches to order." The card concluded with a simple address "INTERVALE, N.H." Efforts to learn more about Randall M. Erving have yielded nothing. No examples of his art have been identified (oil paintings or pencil sketches) nor have we discovered any other details of his life.

The point has been held by the Smithsonian since that time and it was known to a few researchers, although never illustrated and only barely described. In 1973 Howard Sargent (Sargent & Ledoux 1973:67) summarized the list of known fluted points from NH and referenced this specimen and its museum catalog number. No other information was provided. Subsequently, Arthur Spiess and Deborah Wilson included it in a survey of isolated fluted point finds as part of the Michaud Site report (1987:201). Their entire reference of the specimen is as follows:

Intervale A fluted point from Intervale, New Hampshire, near North Conway in the upper Saco River valley, is currently on display at the Smithsonian Institution. It is made of a red chert with streaks of a darker color, another possible Munsungun chert.

In 1995, A. Garrett Evans, then a student at the University of New Hampshire, was undertaking a study of fluted points in the Merrimack River valley and he encountered the above cited references, His curiosity piqued, he made attempts to gather additional information about the point. While on a trip to the nation's capitol, he went to view the point at the Smithsonian. The exhibit, however, had been removed a year before and efforts to locate the specimen at the museum were not successful. Fortuitously, this author encountered Dr. Dennis Stanford, Chairman of the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian, in April of 1996 and he was able to identify the location of the point. There followed an exchange of correspondence and eventually permission was given by the Smithsonian to transfer the point temporarily to Archaeological Research Consultants, Inc. of Ellsworth, Maine for the purpose of making cast replicas of the point. The firm of Ameya, Inc. has provided the financial support for making of the mold and production of the casts. While the point was In possession of ARC, Inc. this author was able to view and photograph the point.

The specimen is indeed a fluted Paleoindian point, made of Musungun chert. The material is the red variety, predominately a dusky red (10R3/3 on the Munsell scale) with patches at the base and midsection of a dark reddish gray (10R3/1). No cortex is visible on the point. The arrises (ridges where the flake sears meet) are worn and rounded, especially along the margins of the channel flutes. The specimen is complete, but has been broken at some time in the past. The break is oblique to the short axis of the point and is approximately 4 cm from the base. It appears to have been broken after its discovery and clearly at some time prior to its release to ARC, Inc. The specimen also bears a notation in white ink on one side which reads:

The missing numbers are probably 99, as the catalog number for the specimen recorded is "149925" on the original accession card.

Multiple fluting is not uncommon on Paleolndian points and most site assemblages of any considerable size will contain such specimens. What is unusual about the Intervale specimen is the extreme length of the primary flutes and the ability of the maker to successfully remove subsequent channel flakes without breaking the point. If indeed three channel flakes were removed from one surface, then the manufacturer possessed the highest degree of skill (leaving this lithic analyst in awe). It also raises the question as to why the maker removed the last set of channel flakes. A possible explanation is that a very thin basal area was desired. The thickness of the specimen 2cm from the base is just over 4 mm while the maximum thickness at the midsection is barely over 6 mm. The lateral grinding observed on the edges adjacent to the base extends just beyond the longer of the two final channel flakes, suggesting that the halfting binding was limited to this thinner extent of the fluting. If so, then a thin base must have been very highly valued because the likelihood of breaking the point in manufacture escalated substantially with each successive attempt at fluting. At least four, and quite possibly five, channel flakes were removed from this point by an individual who possesscd extraordinary skill.

The style of the Intervale point most approximates the Barnes type (Deller and Ellis 1988). Although longer than the typical Barnes point, it is by no means out of range. It shares the characteristic of having very long well made flutes, slightly indented base, and a slight construction above the base giving it a "fishtail" appearance. The Barnes style is considered to be temporally intermediate between the earlier Gainey type and the succeeding Crowfield variety. The internal chronology of Paleoindian in the Northeast is still unsettled, but an estimation of age at about 10,500 years ago will be considered safe by most researchers. The actual age of the Intervale point is unknown and. with the lack of any meaningful contextual data, will never be known.

Listed below are the metric attributes of the Intervale point. Side A is the side with the possible three channel flakes. Length of the flutes is calculated from the most indented portion of the base. Flute Width is at the place of maximum width of the flute.