Bird figure in flint, Muskingum County, Ohio
Side 2 of the bird figure
The bird has a patch of quartz crystals on its head, like a sparkling crest, the only crystals on the piece. There is also an "eye" on the bird, increasing the chances of human intent to create the figure.
Patch of crystals catches the light
The bird perched in my hand
Two bird figures found 5 miles from each other, along Flint Ridge in east central Ohio demonstrate similar morphology. This indicates the creation of figures may have been widely practiced at Flint Ridge in prehistory. The bird figure at right was featured in an earlier post.
Levallois technology bird sculptures
The two bird figures are very close in size. They are sculpted in core preparation and then separated using Levallois technique, leaving a 3D type bird and a "flat" bird on the side detached from the core.
Muskingum County, Ohio, Levallois technique flake centered on a lighter colored stone inclusion has visible use wear
Ohio Levallois point has use wear on its edge
Levallois flake with use wear, Vanport flint, Flint Ridge, Ohio
Two different artifacts pictured here
Levallois point at left has a patch of quartz crystals on the left side in the picture here, just like the patch of crystals on the bird figure's head. At right is a lamellar blade which exhibits use wear
Classic Levallois technique flake requires explanation in the North American context. It has been described from three sites on this blog producing suspected portable rock art objects, each on the former margin of the Wisconsinin period glaciation.
The thumb would normally be placed on the side of the handaxe and used to propel the blade edge away from one's body during hide removal. The removal of the side for a thumb pad was the final step of manufacture of the hand axe.
-kbj