Potomac
Defining Attributes
The Potomac point is equilateral in shape. It is the smallest triangular point in Maryland, and is usually made from quartz.
Chronology
The Potomac point dates to the Late Woodland period. Stephenson and Ferguson (1963) identify the point as characteristic of the Potomac Creek Component, which they date to 1200 to 1700 AD. Potter (1993) sees the type developing after 1300 AD in the Potomac River Valley.
» Similar Archaic Period triangular points
Description
Blade
The blade is a small equilateral triangle, although Stephenson and Ferguson (1963) include isosceles points as a minor variant. It typically has straight sides, but some can be slightly incurvate or excurvate. The tip is sharp, and the blade is thin and lenticular.
Haft Element
The base is straight or concave. At the type site for the point, Accokeek Creek, 50% of the bases are concave, often extremely concave, while the other half are straight (Stephenson and Ferguson 1963).
Size
Equilateral specimens range from 16 to 26 mm in length and width, with an average of 21 mm. They are 3 to 7 mm thick, with a mean of 4 mm.
Technique of Manufacture
Well-made and symmetrical, with fine pressure flakes on both sides.
Material
At the Accokeek Creek site, 91% of 536 points were quartz, with the rest being quartzite, chert, slate, or argillite (Stephenson and Ferguson 1963). In a sample of 53 Potomac points from the lower Patuxent drainage, Steponaitis (1980) reported that 98% were quartz, with the rest chert (2%). In the area surrounding Zekiah Swamp on the lower Potomac, Wanser (1982) found that 91% of 59 Madison points were quartz, with lesser amounts of chert, quartzite, and other materials. Quartz is the dominant material for Potomac points in the middle Potomac River Valley, but quartzite, chert, and rhyolite are also used (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
Small equilateral Late Woodland period arrowheads are found throughout the East, but the name “Potomac” seems to be largely confined to the mid-Atlantic area, particularly Maryland and the north half of Virginia. Stephenson and Ferguson (1963:195) note that the Potomac point could be just a local variant of the Levanna, distinguished mostly by material preference. Potter (1993) agrees, and calls the Potomac “Levanna Small Triangular.” The Potomac is also similar to the contemporary Clarksville type, defined by Coe (1964) in North Carolina.
As a general rule of thumb in Maryland, small Late Woodland period equilateral points can be classified as Potomac, large equilaterals as Levanna, 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 Stephenson and Ferguson (1963) based on examples recovered from the Accokeek Creek site in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
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.
1993 Commoners, Tribute, and Chiefs: The Development of Algonquian Culture in the Potomac Valley. University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville.
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.
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.