HARDAWAY-DALTON

Defining Attributes

The Hardaway-Dalton point has a broad, thin blade, shallow shoulders, and a deeply concave base. The base and shouldered sides are ground, and the edges are often finely serrated.

Chronology

The Hardaway-Dalton, Hardaway Side Notched, and Hardaway Blade points appear to be related Paleoindian period types.  All three were recovered from the same occupation zone at the Hardaway site in North Carolina.  Coe (1964) assumed these three types occurred as variations over a fairly long period prior to the beginning of the Early Archaic, and that the Hardaway-Dalton was the second of the three to be developed. Other scholars see the varieties as more contemporary, and place the Hardaway/Hardaway-Dalton complex at 10,500 to 9900 BP (approximately 10,550-9350 BC in calendar years), based on radiocarbon dates from the Midwest (Goodyear 1982). No radiocarbon dates have been obtained for the Hardaway-Dalton in the Mid-Atlantic. The Virginia Department of Historic Resources (www.dhr.virginia.gov) places it from 10,700 to 10,200 BP (10,850-10,000 BC), while McAvoy and McAvoy (1997) suggest 10,500 to 10,000 BP (10,550-9550 BC). 

Description

Blade: The blade is broad and thin, with rounded to flat sides that converge into a sharp point.  Eastern U.S. examples of the Hardaway-Dalton type that are similar to the Dalton point found further to the west have straight or slightly concave edges (from re-sharpening), lined with fine serrations.

Haft Element: The base is usually deeply concave, ground, and smooth.  Basal thinning that produces flute-like scars is common.  The haft element can have either incurvate lateral edges with outward flaring ears, or straight lateral edges with ears that point down (Daniel 1998). On some Maryland examples, the basal concavity is more shallow than on typical Southeastern specimens, and the ears somewhat less pronounced (Brown 1979).

Size: Coe’s 1964 type description indicated that length ranged from 50 to 80 mm, with an average of 60 mm; width ranged from 30 to 40 mm, with an average of 35 mm; and thickness ranged from 5 to 8 mm, with an average of 7 mm.  However, in a Maryland sample of seven points identified as Hardaway-Dalton, sizes were much smaller.  Lengths ranged from 26.9 to 46.1 mm, with a mean of 36.5 mm and a standard deviation of 7.16 mm.  Widths were between 16.3 and 26.6 mm, with a mean of 21.09 mm and a standard deviation of 4.2 mm.  Thicknesses were 4.5 to 7.4 mm, with a mean of 5.7 mm and a standard deviation of 0.95 mm (Brown 1979).  Although these size distinctions could reflect regional variation, they may be the result of differences in how the two investigators identified the Hardaway-Dalton points in their collections.

Technique of manufacture: Initially, soft percussion flaking, followed by fine retouching.  Many examples exhibit fine serrations, most commonly seen on points that show re-sharpened edges.  The base and shouldered sides are thoroughly ground.

Material: Most Hardaway/Hardaway-Dalton varieties found in Maryland are made of jasper or chert, but quartz, quartzite, and rhyolite have been reported (Brown 1979; Steponaitis 1980; Wanser 1982).

Discussion

Coe (1964) discusses the apparent connection between the Hardaway-Dalton in North Carolina and the Dalton type in Missouri.  The Hardaway-Dalton point echoes the style and manufacturing technique of the Dalton, but with regional adaptations, and Coe presumes that they both existed at about the same period.  In general, the Hardaway-Dalton is a Southeastern point that is relatively rare in Maryland and the Middle Atlantic area (Brown 1979; Steponaitis 1980; Wanser 1982; Custer 1996b; Hranicky 2002; Lowery 2002). Dent (1995) reports that in a study of over 200 Paleoindian bifaces in the Chesapeake region, only 5% were Hardaway varieties. 

Defined in Literature

Coe (1964) originally defined the type based on examples recovered from the Hardaway site in North Carolina.

Other Names Used

Dalton-Hardaway

References

Brown 1979; Coe 1964; Custer 1996b; Daniel 1998; Dent 1995; Goodyear 1982; Hranicky 2002; Lowery 2002; McAvoy and McAvoy 1997; Steponaitis 1980; Wanser 1982