Hardee

These are all Gibson type Hardee points from the Hillsborough County area (photos by Paleo Enterprises)

The Hardee point was named by Ripley P. Bullen (1975) for Hardee County, Florida noting examples from the Florida State Museum collection and the Tampa Bay Area. Not all of those “beveled stemmed points” reported by Bullen were Hardee points. James Gray (1975) identified another Hardee-like type from the collection of Mr. Jim Gibson naming it the Gibson Serrated point.

There are clearly two subtypes of this point. They differ in workmanship as much as diagnostic differences. The first, identified by Bullen, is made of North-central Florida chert and ranges from Marion County North to the Withlacoochee River. Bullen described the type as a medium-size point about 1 to 3 inches in length with a coarsely chipped triangular blade and illustrated it as having a left-sided bevel. Otherwise, in Bullen’s words, they were “the same as Florida Archaic Stemmed points.” Unfortunately, almost no points of this type have ever been recovered with a left-side bevel. Hundreds of examples, however, have been recovered that consistently display a right-side bevel. This distinction was also noted by Bullen as he described them in 1968.

The blade of this first type is developed through random percussion flaking with pressure flaking along the right side of the blade to form a bevel. Blade edges are straight and meet at an acute to acuminate distal end. The cross-section is heavy and rhomboid. The shoulders do not develop barbs but meet the stem with a wide curve similar to the Levy point. This juncture may also be angular, similar to the Marion point. The basal tang of the more northern type is generally tapering with a flat basal edge. The length of the tang in these examples is usually greater than that of the Gibson examples from the Tampa Bay area.

The “Gibson serrated” point identified by James Gray is more commonly called a Hardee point as far more examples have been recovered. The point is small to medium size measuring 1 to 3 inches in length. The blade is developed with random percussion flaking and also displays a pressure flaked bevel along the right side. They may also display a plain or beveled edge or may be finely serrated. These examples are thin in cross-section in contrast to the thick examples described by Bullen. The blade is triangular with straight to concave edges which meet at an acute to acuminate distal end. These points are frequently made of thermally altered agatiized coral. Blade shoulders of this type also meet the tang in a Levy-like sweeping curve or are more angular like the Marion point. The length of the tang is visibly shorter than their more northern counterpart. The basal tang is also tapering with a flat to rounded basal edge. In both instances, the type is unique among bevel points in that right-side alternate beveling is typical.

Both types are found in association with other Middle Archaic points, primarily the Newnan type. Some Cypress Creek and Six Mile Creek types have also been reported. The Hardee should be considered as a Middle Archaic type and would date from 7500 to 4500 years old.

The heaviest concentration of the Gibson Hardee type occurs in the Tampa Bay region of Hillsborough and surrounding counties the Bullen Hardee type occurs in North-central Florida as far north as Hamilton County in the Suwanee and Withlacoochee River regions.