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Dalton “Dalton Classic” and undifferentiated Daltons) *PLEASE NOTE: SIZE AND FORM VARIATIONS WITHIN THE DALTON FAMILY MAKE IT ESSENTIAL THAT SOMEONE WITH DALTON EXPERTISE “VET” THIS SECTION AND THE CURRENT DESCRIPTIONS FOR PROPER DESIGNATIONS AND ACCURACY Associated Dates: 10,000 - 8000 Y.B.P. - Late Paleo -Transitional Paleo Also See: Alamance, Chipola, Colbert-Dalton, Dalton-Greenbrier, Dalton-Hemphill, Debert, Golondrina, Hardaway, Holland, Meserve, Plainview, San Patrice, Sloan, Vandale Location: Midwestern to Eastern United States and Florida Morphology: Auriculate
General Description: The Dalton spear or dart point is a medium to large sized lanceolate, auriculate, fish tailed, type with a concave base and serrations along the blade edges. A key identifier is the fact that many specimens show some form of serrations on the blade edges and are finely flaked. If beveling occurs it typically is on one side of each blade face and usually on the right side.
ABOVE: DALTON01: Dalton point; Boone Co., Missouri; 2.5 inches (62.5mm); NOTE: an even larger version of this image can be found IN FRAME #172 IN THIS SECTION The hafting area has incurvate, heavily ground side edges and basal grinding. The concavity at the base is thinned by the removal of one or more thinning flakes. In some cases, these thinning flakes extend beyond the hafting area and up the blade to give the appearance of a flute. The pristine example of the Dalton shows excurvate blade edges. As use and reworking occurred, the blade shape became triangular and then eventually rapier or drill-like in form with an exaggerated wide hafting area and a drastically reduced blade width. The Dalton point and the Golondrina point are quite similar in general outline and may be part of a series. However a key differentiation is that the Golondrina's blade edges are not serrated as is often the case with Dalton points. The size of Dalton point can range from 33 mm to 68 mm in length. The average size is 48 mm in length, with a 14.5 mm stem length and 20.5 mm width. Thickness averages 6 mm and the average base concavity is 5.5 mm. The point was named by C. H. Chapman in 1948 for Judge S.P. Dalton of Jefferson City, Missouri who was the first person to make a serious study of this point type. About the Point Below: The large point pictured below was found in Pike County, Missouri.
The point is made from a white chert with light tan and rust colored inclusions. It has quite pronounced serrations on slightly excurvate blade edges. The serrations are still, to this day, quite sharp and one can do nothing but grimace at the thought of this blade used as a projectile point. Overall, the point measures 62 mm in length, is 27 mm wide (across the shoulders) and is only 6 mm thick in mid blade. The concavity of the base is 7 mm deep. The base is ground as are the ears and blade edges running 16 mm up from the ears of the base. The hafting area is 22 mm wide and the width across the ears is 25 mm. Additional Description (source: Lithic Casting Lab): “There are many different styles of Dalton points. Some of the different types are Breckenridge, Colbert, Hardaway, Greenbrier, Sloan and Meserve. They date to the Early Archaic period 10,000 to 11,000 years ago. The Dalton Complex covers a wide area in the southeastern region of the United States. Dalton points are found in central Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and eastward to the Atlantic coast to the Carolinas and south to central Florida. “ DALTON POINT THUMBNAIL GALLERY (960 images in this “general Dalton” section alone: 480 source images/480 thumbnails)
End of Dalton Thumbnails - 121 of 480 images complete |
Work in Progress - to be continued
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©2010 J Keffer |
