pip. ?fo^' 2lY" JOHN H. KERR RESERVOIR BASIN — ^MILLER 113 



in the present instance, have been assigned to the Archaic Period, but 

 their actual relationship to each other may or may not be coeval in 

 that some forms may have had an earlier start, with others orig- 

 inating later. A number of the late starters were carried over through 

 the Transitional Period into Early Woodland horizons only to van- 

 ish during Middle Woodland times. Our chief criteria must be the 

 absence of the pottery-making art, indicating that it had not been 

 formulated or practiced by this time. 



Bifurcated-based points of Virginia and Alabama appear to be 

 identical in type to those found in the Concho area of Arizona. 

 The Virginia points vary both as to size and chipping. Some are 

 identical to the Arizona specimens, which have been dated around 

 4000 to 3000 B.C. (Wendorf and Thomas, 1951, pp. 107-114). 

 Points of this type are known to have a fairly wide distribution but 

 not a very dense one. They occur not only in the Eastern United 

 States but in the western sections as well (San Jose points of New 

 Mexico, Pinto Basin points of California, etc.). Bifurcated points 

 have been reported from sections of Virginia, Alabama, Tennessee, 

 Pennsylvania, and other Eastern States. The fact that they are 

 both so widespread and scarce would appear to indicate that they 

 were made and utilized by a roving hunting-gathering group. 



Lewis (1952, p. 61) is inclined to think that this type can be 



assigned to certain known historic Indian groups, probably the Yuchi 



and the Shawnee. 



The fact that . . . three of these points were found on Cumberland River 

 sites would seem to rule out the Shawnee, for the earliest maps of Tennessee 

 indicate a large Shawnee population along that River. University of Tennes- 

 see archeologists have recovered a small number of these points while excavating 

 sites along the Hiwassee River which were occupied by the Yuchi in the ISOO's 

 and 1600's until they were incorporated with the Creeks in the early 1700's. 

 History tells us very little about the Yuchi tribes, but it implies that they 

 did not settle in any particular place for more than a century at most. 



Even at that, more than a small number of points should have been 

 recovered if these historic Indian groups had settled in any given 

 place for a hundred or more years. It would appear more likely that 

 these points are much older than any recognized historic Indian 

 group or groups. 



The Pinto Basin type projectile point (Amsden, 1935, pp. 42-44) of 

 the reservoir area is characterized by having narrow shoulders ; usual- 

 ly concave based, the side of the blade just below the shoulder often 

 bears three serrations on each side. They are fairly thick in cross 

 section, and a number show pressure retouch, while others show that 

 an attempt was made at thinning the thick central section by cast- 

 ing off one or more long flakes starting from the base down the cen- 

 tral ridge and continuing less than halfway to the tip. 



