SUMAC BLUFF POINTS

Projetile points (or knives) were one of the largest categories of artifacts recovered at the Sumac Bluff site. Almost all of these points are made from Bayport chert (which outcrops on Saginaw Bay). They are arranged here roughly in chronological order.

Four points can be assigned to the Middle Archaic Raddatz point type (Photos 2 and 3). These points have ground bases and side-notches. Similar points have been dated to about 4,500-4,000 B.C. at the Weber site in Frankenmuth, Michigan (see Lovis 1999 and Robertson 1989). Ozker (1976:289 and Figure 6) assigned these points to her "CNC Side notched" category.

Two points with finely serrate blades and broken hafting elements (side or corner notched) may be a Late Archaic point type commonly referred to as Feeheley points in the Saginaw Valley (see Photos 4 and 5 and Taggart 1967) based on their form and flaking technique. However, Feeheley points are still not well dated in Michigan and some points which have been assigned to this type should be assigned to the Middle Woodland period (Lovis and Robertson 1989). Ozker (1976:291) thought these two points should be assigned to the Middle Woodland period.

One narrow-bladed expanding stem or side-notched point falls within the range of variation for Dustin points (Photos 6 and 7). These points are narrow bladed expanding-stemmed or side-notched points. These points have been dated between 1500 and 500 B.C. in the Saginaw Valley though similar narrow bladed forms occur into the Middle Woodland period.

One serrate blade point may date to sometime in the Archaic period (Photos 8 and 9).

Five points from Sumac Bluff can be assigned to the Early Woodland period (Photos 10 and 11). Ozker (1976:290) assigned the points in the top row to the Durst Stemmed type, commonly dated to the Terminal Archaic period. Similar points have also been recovered with other Early Woodland stemmed varieties at site 20IA37 in Ionia County dating about 400 B.C. (Garland and Beld 1999). The points in the bottom row are Adena points, common on Early Woodland sites in Michigan.

Sixteen heavily reworked corner-notched points can be assigned to the Middle Woodland period (Photos . Ozker (1976:289-290) thought these resembled utility points from Middle Woodland village sites. One corner-notched point is made from Norwood chert which outcrops in northwest lower Michigan (Photos 14 and 15) and a heavily reworked side-notched point with bipolar flaking may belong in this period (Photos 16 and 17).

Elizabeth B. Garland and Scott G. Beld (1999), "Chapter 7, The Early Woodland: Ceramics, Domesticated Plants, and Burial Mounds Foretell the Shape of the Future," pages 125-146 in Retrieving Michigan's Buried Past: The Archaeology of the Great Lakes State, edited by John R. Halsey (Cranbrook Institute of Science Bulletin 64, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, 1999).

William A. Lovis (1999), "Chapter 5, The Middle Archaic: Learning to Live in the Woodlands." Pages 83-94 in John R. Halsey, editor, Retrieving Michigan's Buried Past: The Archaeology of the Great Lakes State (Cranbrook Institute of Science Bulletin 64, Bloomfield Hills).

William A. Lovis and James A. Robertson (1989), "Rethinking the Archaic Chronology of the Saginaw Valley, Michigan," Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology 14, pages 226-260.

Doreen Ozker (1976), "Sumac Bluff(20MD25): A Site on the Chippewa River in Midland," The Michigan Archaeologist 22 (1976), pages 283-313.

James A. Robertson (1989), "The Lithic Assemblage of 20SA581: Description and Analysis." Pages 51-137 in William A. Lovis, editor, Archaeological Investigations at the Weber I (20SA581) and Weber II (20SA582) Sites, Frankenmuth Township, Saginaw County, Michigan (Michigan Cultural Resource Investigation Series Volume 1, Michigan Department of State and Michigan Department of Transportation, Lansing).

David W. Taggart (1967), "Seasonal Patterns in Settlement, Subsistence, and Industries in the Saginaw Late Archaic," The Michigan Archaeologist 13, pages 153-170.