Otter Creek
Defining Attributes
A medium to large, thick, narrow to medium-wide, side notched point with well-formed tangs and a concave base.
Chronology
The Otter Creek point is variously placed in the Middle and Late Archaic periods. Kinsey (1972) reports radiocarbon dates associated with Otter Creek components in the Northeast that range from 4610 ± 100 BC to 2270 ± 160 BC (approximately 5475-2850 BC in calendar years). However, most researchers suggest the core period of Otter Creek manufacture occurred between 6000 and 5000 BP (roughly 4850-3800 BC in calendar years) (Steponaitis 1980; Funk 1993; Dent 1995).
Description
Blade
The blade is ovoid or lanceolate, with edges that are usually excurvate, but sometimes straight. Shoulders are usually the same width as – or narrower than – the basal tangs, but can be wider.
Haft Element
The stem is side notched; notching seems to have been a final operation, usually resulting in well-defined square tangs, but some examples have rounded tangs. The base is usually concave, but can be straight. Usually the base, tang edges, and notches were ground. On some examples, the base has been thinned.
Size
Length ranges from 25 to 114 mm. Ritchie (1971) indicates that a majority fall between 70 and 89mm, but others report a smaller average length; at the Higgins site, the points ranged from 25 to 59 mm (Ebright 1992; see also Kinsey 1972). Width ranges from 18 to 28 mm, and thickness from 6 to 13 mm.
Technique of Manufacture
Manufacture was done by percussion, with secondary marginal pressure flaking common.
Material
At the Higgins site in Anne Arundel County, 56% of 24 Otter Creek points were quartz, with 40% rhyolite and 4% quartzite (Ebright 1992). In a sample of 12 Otter Creek points from the lower Patuxent drainage, Steponaitis (1980) reported that 59% were rhyolite, followed by quartzite (25%) and quartz (16%). In the area surrounding Zekiah Swamp on the lower Potomac, Wanser (1982) found that 65% of 26 Otter Creek points were quartz, with 31% quartzite and 4% rhyolite. In the Monocacy River drainage, 90% of 122 Otter Creek points were rhyolite, with 6% quartz and 4% chert (Kavanagh 1982). Of 11 Otter Creek-like points reported from the Hagerstown Valley, 64% were rhyolite, 27% chert, and 9% quartzite (Stewart 1980). In the middle Potomac Valley, chert Otter Creek are most common, but other local materials are used (Hranicky 2002). In the middle Potomac Valley, chert Otter Creek are most common, but other local materials are used (Hranicky 2002).
Discussion
Otter Creek points are found throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. However, morphologically-similar side notched points are found across the eastern U.S., under names like Big Sandy II and Raddatz (Justice 1987; Funk 1993). Ritchie (1971) thought that the Otter Creek point was related to the Brewerton Side Notched point, and they do co-occur on some sites, such as the Higgins site in Anne Arundel County, Maryland (Ebright 1992). Otter Creek is also similar to, but distinct from, the Warren point of Virginia (Gardner 1974; Ebright 1992).
At the Higgins site, Otter Creek points do not appear to have functioned as projectiles. They often exhibited heavy unilateral blade edge dulling, combined with polish on the flake scar ridges on one adjacent face, suggesting use as a scraper. Despite the unilateral wear, even exhausted blades maintained their symmetry relative to the base. However, many of the heavily re-worked Otter Creek points, particularly the rhyolite ones, had an asymmetric cross-section and an occasional resemblance to Brewerton Eared Notched points (Ebright 1992).
Defined in Literature
This type was originally defined by Ritchie (1961, revised 1971) based on points recovered from the Otter Creek valley of Vermont.
References
1995 Chesapeake Prehistory: Old Traditions, New Directions. Plenum Press, New York.
1992 Early Native American Prehistory on the Maryland Western Shore: Archeological Investigations at the Higgins Site. Maryland State Highway Administration Archeological Report Number 1. Report prepared for the Maryland State Railroad Administration.
1993 Archaeological Investigations in the Upper Susquehanna Valley, New York State: Volume 1. Persimmon Press, Buffalo.
1974 The Flint Run Paleo-Indian Complex: A Preliminary Report, 1971-73 Seasons. Occasional Publication No. 1, Department of Anthropology, Catholic University, Washington, DC.
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.
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.