Normanskill
Defining Attributes
The medium-sized Normanskill point is well-made, narrow and thick, and has wide, pronounced side notches.
Chronology
The Normanskill has been variously placed in the Middle and Late Archaic periods, although radiocarbon dating supports the latter age. Kinsey (1972) reports radiocarbon dates of 1930 ± 100 BC and 1350 ± 200 BC (approximately 2450 and 1650 BC in calendar years) for the type in New York. Funk (1993) indicates that radiocarbon dates and stratigraphic position place the Normanskill between 1900 and 1600 BC (2350-1850 BC calendar) in the Upper Susquehanna Valley.
Description
Blade
The blade is narrow and triangular, with straight to slightly excurvate edges and a biconvex cross section. Asymmetry of the shoulders sometimes occurs, with one at an acute angle and the other at an obtuse angle.
Haft Element
The stem has wide, deep, sometimes squarish side notches, and is slightly thinned by coarse flaking from the base. The base is expanded, and is generally straight, but some examples are slightly concave. Basal grinding occasionally occurs.
Size
The length ranges from 37 to 70 mm, with the majority averaging 41 to 51 mm. The width ranges from 16 to 32 mm, and the thickness from 5 to 10 mm.
Technique of Manufacture
Percussion is used for the rough shaping of the point, and pressure flaking to produce the marginal retouching.
Material
In the area surrounding Zekiah Swamp on the lower Potomac, Wanser (1982) found that 54% of 199 Normanskill and “Normanskill-like” points were quartzite, with 40% quartz, 5% rhyolite, and 1% argillite. Normanskills found in the middle Potomac River Valley are made of cherts, rhyolite, and quartzite (Hranicky 2002).
Discussion
The Normanskill point is found in the northeastern United States. Ritchie (1971) suggested it had a morphological relationship to the Lamoka and Brewerton points, and that it could even be a slender variant of the side notched Brewerton, but more recent dating indicates that the Normanskill is later than the other two types. Others have noted a similarity to the Clagett point, and Wanser (1982) suggested that the morphological and locational correlation between the two types in the Zekiah Swamp area indicated they might be variants of a generalized side notched type.
Defined in Literature
The Normanskill point was first defined by Ritchie in 1961, with revisions in 1971. It was named after the Normanskill, a tributary of the Hudson River in eastern New York.
References
1993 Archaeological Investigations in the Upper Susquehanna Valley, New York State: Volume 1. Persimmon Press, Buffalo.
2002 Lithic Technology in the Middle Potomac River Valley of Maryland and Virginia. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York.
1972 Archeology in the Upper Delaware Valley: A Study of the Cultural Chronology of the Tocks Island Reservoir. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg.
1971 A Typology and Nomenclature for New York Projectile Points. New York State Museum and Science Service Bulletin 384. Albany.
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.