Levanna
Defining Attributes
The Levanna is a large, well-made, equilateral triangular point.
Chronology
The Levanna point dates to the late Middle Woodland and Late Woodland periods. Justice (1987) suggests a range of 600 to 1200 AD. Ritchie (1971) places it between 700 and 1350 AD, when it begins to be replaced by the Madison point. He notes that it does not become common in New York until after 900 AD. Steponaitis (1980) suggests the Levanna dates between 800 and 1250 AD, while Kinsey (1972) places it between 900 and 1350 AD.
» Similar Archaic Period triangular points
Blade
The blade is triangular and broad. Most of the points are nearly equilateral, but some are isosceles. The edges are usually straight, but can be incurvate or excurvate.
Haft Element
The base is usually concave, in some examples deeply so, but straight bases do occur. Basal grinding is sometimes present.
Size
Length ranges from 22 to 75 mm, with an average of 38 mm. Width ranges from 24 to 36 mm, with an average of 29 mm. Thickness ranges from 4 to 8 mm, with an average of 5 mm.
Technique of Manufacture
Pressure flaking; flake scars are small, narrow, and well-controlled.
Material
In a sample of 40 Levanna points from the lower Patuxent drainage, Steponaitis (1980) reported that 42% were quartz, followed by chert (21%), quartzite (21%), rhyolite (8%), jasper (5%), and argillite (3%). In the area surrounding Zekiah Swamp on the lower Potomac, Wanser (1982) found that 81% of 58 Levanna points were quartz, with 7% quartzite, 7% chert, 3% rhyolite, and 2% jasper. In the Monocacy River drainage, 63% of 595 Levannas were rhyolite, with 18% quartz, 7% quartzite, 7% chert, 3% jasper, and 2% argillite (Kavanagh 1982). Rhyolite, chert, jasper, quartzite, and quartz are used for Levanna points in the middle Potomac River Valley (Hranicky 2002). In the Hagerstown Valley, over half of the triangular points were rhyolite, followed by lesser amounts of chert, jasper, quartz, and quartzite (Stewart 1980). In Delaware, triangular points are most commonly made from quartz, jasper, and chert (Custer 1996).
Discussion
The Levanna point is found across much of the Northeast. It is largely identical to the Yadkin type that was defined by Coe (1964) in North Carolina, and that name is preferred south of central Virginia. In Maryland, the Levanna is considered to be the first triangular point associated with the bow and arrow.
As a general rule of thumb in Maryland, large Late Woodland period equilateral points can be classified as Levanna, small equilaterals as Potomac, and isosceles points as Madison. However, the published type descriptions for all three show considerable morphological overlap. As a result of this, and given also the potential modification of triangular points through resharpening, the assignment of type names and dates to individual specimens can be problematic. Some researchers prefer to combine all the Late Woodland triangular points into one type (cf. Custer 1996; Wall et al. 1996).
Defined in Literature
This type was originally defined by Ritchie (1961, revised 1971) and named for the Levanna site in New York, which he excavated in the 1920s.
Other Names Used
- Yadkin
References
1964 The Formative Cultures of the Carolina Piedmont. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 54(5). Philadelphia.
1996 A Guide to Prehistoric Arrowheads and Spear Points of Delaware. Center for Archaeological Research, University of Delaware, Newark.
2002 Lithic Technology in the Middle Potomac River Valley of Maryland and Virginia. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York.
1987 Stone Age Spear and Arrow Points of the Midcontinental and Eastern United States: A Modern Survey and Reference. Indiana University Press, Bloomington.
1982 Archeological Resources of the Monocacy River Region, Frederick and Carroll Counties, Maryland: Final Report. Maryland Geological Survey, Division of Archeology, File Report 164.
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.
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.
1980 Prehistoric Settlement and Subsistence Patterns and the Testing of Predictive Site Location Models in the Great Valley of Maryland. Ph.D. dissertation, Catholic University of America.
1996 The Lithic Technology of the Trenton Complex. Trenton Complex Archaeology Report 13. The Cultural Resource Group, Louis Berger & Associates, East Orange, N J. Prepared for the New Jersey Department of Transportation.
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.