Length: 5 1/4"

Grade: 8

Description: This is a trade piece and is a Little Bear Creek Knife and are related to the Pickwick Cluster of Points. It is made of a brown to almost olive green Ft. Paynes Chert that would have been sourced in north Alabama. Normally Ft Paynes is a confederate grey, but long submersion in tanic water has charged the surface color. Note the black streak running thru the tip. Created by large randon percussion flaking followed by some fine pressure flaking all down the blade edges. These are rarely found this long in Florida. The tip and 2/3rds of the blade edges are carefully, and finely worked. The bottom 3rd (2 inches) has heavily ground blade edges, so as not to cut the lashings that would have held it in place in the knife handle. Actually quite an impressive piece when you study it. I am also pretty sure on the identification of the material and the typology, since I have found numerous Little Bear Creek blades on the Tennessee River and they are identical to this one.

Provenance: Found on private property with permission, Jackson Co. Florida.