A Relational Approach to Broadspear Lithic Typologies in Eastern North America

Presented by Amy Fox, PhD Candidate, University of Toronto
Virtual via Zoom

Northeastern North American regional stone tool typologies define three related types of broadpoint: the Atlantic point in the Maritimes and New England, the Snook Kill point in New York and Ontario regions, and the Lehigh/Koens Crispin point in the Susquehanna and Delaware River valleys. Each point existed at the same time and was made on locally available raw materials. A sample of 246 broadpoints all defined regionally as one of those types is studied using 2D elliptical Fourier outline analysis. Using a principal components analysis, the point types are compared for differences in shape. What results is a complete lack of defining characteristics that would separate the types. A history of Archaic Period research is taken into consideration to explain the reasons that these point types were initially separated and not considered the same type. What results is a critical examination of historic practice.

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