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Name: Joffre Coe named the Morrow Mountain for examples from the Doerschuk site near Morrow Mountain in the Piedmont area of North Carolina. Jerald Ledbrttrer suggests that , based on the work of Joseph Caldwell, simply grouping these points as Morrow Mountain points may be an over simplification. Caldwell’s early discussions of the Old Quartz culture that stretched from today’s Early Archaic to Late Archaic periods was based on tool types. Coe, on the other hand, used projectile types to define cultural chronology. Cambron and Hulse[1] documented three different types, Morrow Mountain, Rounded Based, and Flat Based. These divisions reflected much of what Caldwell saw across north central Georgia and South Carolina. Based on Coe’s discussions, John Whatley designated Morrow Mountain I and II types.[2]
Date: Caldwell saw the use of small quartz points, blades, and scrapers covering an expanse from Paleoindian to Late Archaic times. Coe believed the Morrow Mountain point to be Middle Archaic as do Cambron and Hulse and the generally accepted date has been 7500 to 7000 BP based on work done in Tennessee. Sites in Baldwin and Richmond counties and the Morrow Mountain burial at the Mims Point site in Edgefield County, South Carolina date the use of the type as late as 5670+/_60 BP. 6660 years BP in Georgia. Morrow Mountain II points date to as late as 5500 years BP. Research in Georgia indicates a temperal difference between Morrow Mountain I and II types. The smaller Morrow Mountain I dates earlier as suggested above while the larger Morrow Mountain II type dates between 6500 and 5500 BP.
Description: Whatley also pointed out that examples made of Coastal Plain chert range slightly larger in size. Morrow Mountain I points are small, ranging in length between .75 to 1.5 inches. Morrow Mountain II points range in length between 2 and 3 inches. Some examples from the Savannah River site had what Whatley described as “hanging shoulders,” perhaps allowing for the Flat Based classification by Cambron and Hulse (Putnam County example).
Distribution: Their distribution centers north of the fall line in Georgia.
[1] Cambron, James W. and David C. Hulse, Handbook of Alabama Archaeology, Alabama Archaeological Society, Huntsville, Alabama 1990, p. 89, 90, 91
[2] Whatley, John S., An Overview of Georgia Projectile Points And Selected Cutting Tools, Early Georgia, Vol. 30, No. 1, The Society for Georgia Archaeology. April, 2002, p.81-85
