Calvert
Defining Attributes
The Calvert is typically a short, thick, wide point with rudimentary shoulders, a parallel sided or slightly contracting stem, and a straight or slightly rounded base. The stem often comprises 30 to 50 percent of the total point length.
Chronology
The Calvert point dates to the Early Woodland period. The Virginia Department of Historic Resources (www.dhr.virginia.gov) places it between 1200 and 500 BC, while Steponaitis (1986) suggests a range of 750 BC to 200 AD. In Maryland, a radiocarbon date of 80 ±125 AD (roughly the same date in calendar years) was obtained for Calvert points found in association with Accokeek and Popes Creek pottery at the Martins Pond 2 site (18AN141), a stratified shell midden in Anne Arundel County (Reeve 1992:114). At the Delaware Park site in Delaware, radiocarbon dates of 640 ±155 BC and 360 ±75 BC (approximately 800 BC and 375 BC in calendar years) were obtained for proveniences with Calvert points (Thomas 1981). Waselkov (1982) found Calvert points in association with Popes Creek pottery at the stratified White Oak Point site in Virginia’s lower Potomac drainage.
Description
Blade
The blade, thick and irregular in cross section, forms a short and stubby triangle, with convex edges and a sharp tip. Slight but abrupt shoulders separate the blade and the stem.
Haft Element
While the base is usually straight, it can be slightly convex. Thinner than the blade, the stem is straight or slightly contracting, and is usually wider than it is long (though in some examples width and length are about equal).
Size
Length ranges from 25 to 48 mm, with an average of 36 mm. Width ranges from 18 to 31 mm, with an average of 22 mm. Thickness ranges from 8 to 13 mm, with an average of 10 mm.
Technique of Manufacture
Moderately well-made using percussion flaking, with limited pressure flaking around the edges.
Material
In a sample of 421 Calvert points from the lower Patuxent drainage, Steponaitis (1980) reported that 83% were quartz, followed by rhyolite (9%), quartzite (7%), and chert and argillite (1%). In the area surrounding Zekiah Swamp on the lower Potomac, Wanser (1982) found that 85.5% of 202 Calvert points were quartz, with 7.5% quartzite, 6.5% rhyolite, and 0.5% jasper. At the Accokeek Creek site in Prince Georges County, approximately 90% were quartz and 10% quartzite, with rare examples of shale, chert, and argillite (Stephenson and Ferguson 1963). In the Monocacy River drainage, 65% of 229 Calverts were rhyolite, with 31% quartz and 3% quartzite (Kavanagh 1982). Quartz, quartzite, and rhyolite Calverts are found in the middle Potomac River Valley (Hranicky 2002).
Discussion
Stephenson and Ferguson (1963) placed the Calvert point in the Early Woodland, relating it in size and general shape to the earlier Vernon type. Morphologically, the two types blend into each other somewhat. The Calvert is similar to the Gypsy point in North Carolina and the Lagoon point in the Northeast (Kinsey 1972; Oliver 1981). Egghart (2014) noted the resemblance and possible linkage between the Calvert and the larger, earlier Savannah River point.
Defined in Literature
This type was originally defined by Stephenson and Ferguson (1963), based on 538 points recovered from the Accokeek Creek site (18PR8) in Maryland.
References
2014 What is the Point? Thoughts on Projectile Point Types as Temporal/Cultural Markers. Quarterly Bulletin of the Archeological Society of Virginia 69(3): 163-177.
2002 Lithic Technology in the Middle Potomac River Valley of Maryland and Virginia. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York.
1982 Archeological Resources of the Monocacy River Region, Frederick and Carroll Counties, Maryland: Final Report. Maryland Geological Survey, Division of Archeology, File Report 164.
1981 The Piedmont Tradition: Refinement of the Savannah River Stemmed Point Type. M.A. thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
1992 Changes in Time: A Seriation Chronology for Southern Maryland Projectile Points. Journal of Middle Atlantic Archaeology 8:107-137.
1963 The Accokeek Creek Site: A Middle Atlantic Seaboard Culture Sequence. University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology, Anthropological Papers n. 20, Ann Arbor.
1980 A Survey of Artifact Collections from the Patuxent River Drainage, Maryland. Maryland Historical Trust Monograph Series 1. Maryland Historical Trust and Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Annapolis, MD.
1986 Prehistoric Settlement Patterns in the Lower Patuxent Drainage, Maryland. Ph.D. dissertation, State University of New York at Binghamton.
1981 Archaeological Investigations at the Delaware Park Site. Report prepared for the Delaware Department of Transportation, Dover.
1982 A Survey of Artifact Collections from Central Southern Maryland. Maryland Historical Trust Manuscript Series 23. Maryland Historical Trust and Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Annapolis.
1982 Shellfish Gathering and Shell Midden Archaeology. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.