A Projectile Point Guide for the Upper Mississippi River Valley

Thebes

Thebes This point type was first recognized as a result of survey work done in the Cache and Wabash valleys of Illinois. other possible names or related points: Key-Notched Point, Bristol DiagonalNotched , Cache Diagonal-Notched. age: 10,000 to 8,000 .. distribution: Thebes points are most concentrated in the central Midwest and become rare north of the Wisconsin River. description: Thebes points are medium to large spear points or knives with distinctly square notches. Blades are bifacially thinned by percussion flaking. Shoulder barbs are usually rounded. Blades are well made with straight sides, often exhibiting steep, alternate beveling from edge resharpening. Basal edges may be straight or slightly concave or convex. Basal tangs are usually rounded or lobed, and bases are usually ground. Stems are large but not as wide as the shoulders and they are usually heavily ground. Notches are broad and parallel-sided with slight upward angles. Some Thebes points were reworked into scrapers. Length: 5–16 cm/2–6.5 in. Width: 4–9 cm/1.5–3.5 in. 1 cm 3 recto running foot | 39 material: In the Upper Mississippi Valley, Thebes points tend to be made from Burlington chert, but a few known examples are made from Moline chert, Galena chert, and Hixton silicified sandstone. references: Goldstein and Osborn 1988; Justice 1987; Luchterhand 1970; Palmer 1974; Perino 1971; Winters 1963. 40 | early archaic stemmed and corner-notched points ...