Wacissa

Picture by Paleo Enterprizes

The Wacissa point was named by Wilfred T. Neil for the Wacissa River, located in Jefferson County in northwest Florida (Neil 1963). The type was also reported by Ripley P. Bullen (1975).

The Wacissa is a medium-sized blade form normally measuring 1.5 to 2.5 inches in length, with some examples measuring in excess of 3.5 inches in length. The blade is developed by random flaking  on a flat blank. Blade edges are flaked to a double-sided bevel in the manufacturing process and maintained throughout the life of the point. The beveling process sometimes gives the blade a serrated appearance. The blade edges are convex but become straight to concave through rejuvenation. The distal and is acute. The cross-section appears flattened. The shoulders are broad and typically meet the stem at right angles. The stem is broad and usually short with straight, tapering, or expanding sides. The basal edge may be concave, straight, or convex.

Wilfred T. Neil’s originally recovery in Marion County was without context.  A later recovery from Jefferson County near the Wacissa River produced two examples of the Wacissa point in context with a Bolen point and a tool known to be of similar context. Only recently has a Wacissa point been recovered in an Early Archaic context at the Page/Ladson site (Dunbar and Carter 1993) along with Kirk Serrated points.

The Wacissa River is located in northern Florida. The Wacissa point, however, can be found from central Florida to southern Georgia.