Artifacts in Focus: Full Grooved Axe and Abrader (May 20, 2020)

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As some of you may have read in our newsletter, Alex Gonzales, graphics specialist and videographer, has kindly shared some of his artifact collection with us! Featured in breathtaking clarity, he has sent us photos of some beautiful prehistoric pieces including this full-grooved axe found on the Jacob Wills Farm in Evesham, New Jersey. While the Jacob Wills House still stands and is on the National Register of Historic Places, some of the surrounding property has been developed and no longer survives for archaeological exploration. All that remains of the prehistory of the site are a collection of artifacts to be shared and learned from.

Full-grooved axes were made using ground stone technology, where stone was pecked and ground in order to form a desired shape, rather than flaked apart (in the way that projectile points were created). They would then have been hafted to a wooden handle. Abraders are coarse stones that would have been used to smooth other stones.

Artifacts in Focus: Personal Artifact Collection (February 26, 2020)

This assemblage of artifacts is part of the personal collection of the Mydlowski family, mostly found during the 1960s in Mercer County. The prehistoric artifacts in this image range from the Early Archaic through the Late Woodland periods and are made from a range of materials including argillite, chert, Cuesta quartzite and jasper. Mostly projectile points, the collection also includes drills and a hammerstone. When this assemblage was analyzed in 2013 during the graduate work of Evan Mydlowski, some items were determined to be non-cultural. Two other items in the collection are historic, including the gun powder horn and the hatchet/hand axe blade.  

This collection, generously shared with us today, includes many more artifacts than are pictured here. It also includes a variety of flakes and other stone tools that are not usually deemed “display worthy”. It is the hope of Evan that these artifacts will also be analyzed and cataloged in the future. 

If you have any interpretations of the artifacts in this assemblage to offer, please let us know! History and archaeology are an ongoing process; one that is improved by the shared knowledge of those who engage with it. 

📸: Evan Mydlowski

Artifacts in Focus: Rancocas Projectile Point (February 12, 2020)

This week’s #artifactinfocus is short, sweet, and to the point! 

This is a pre-contact period broken quartz projectile point found along the North Branch of the Rancocas Creek during an archaeological survey. 11,000 years ago, humans started populating the Rancocas Valley. Native Americans relied on the Rancocas Creek for fishing and trapping, as well as transportation and irrigation.   

“The earliest Europeans named the creek for Remkokes, the native king who occupied the surrounding lands. Whether this was the traditional name given to the stream by the indigenous people is unknown.”  (https://rcnwt.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/theforksoftherancocas.pdf)  

📸: Allison Gall