Other Websites with Detailed Information:
Name Details:
Named By: Richard Homer
Named For: Type Site location (San Rafael Swell)
Date Identified: 1978
Type Site: Sudden Shelter,
Sevier County, Utah
San Rafael
Cluster: Northern Side Notch Cluster
Commonly Utilized Material:
Various local and exotic cherts followed by rhyolite and
obsidian
Date:
Cultural Period:
4,600 - 3,850 B.P.
Middle to Late Archaic
Middle Holocene to Neoglacial
Glacial Period:
Culture:
Outline is Representative of Size and Shape:
Description of Physical Characteristics and Flaking Pattern:
This is a thin medium triangular side notched point with a flattened cross section. The blade is primarily excurvate. Parallel U-shaped notches sit higher in the blade creating a larger squarish hafting area. The shoulders are horizontal with an expanding stem. The base is deeply
concave with some examples having a center basal notch at the apex of the concavity. Grinding of the hafting area is lacking, thinning may be seen more commonly on the
lateral edge of the hafting region. This point has a random flaking pattern.
Size Measurements: Total Length - 28 to
70 mm, Stem Length - 11 to 22 mm, Blade Width - 16 to 23 mm,
Neck Width - 11 to 17 mm, Stem Width - 18 to 29 mm,
Thickness - 4 to 8 mm
Distribution:
Distribution Comments:
This point is primarily found through out the Colorado Plateau and into the Southwest.
Related / Associated Points:
Additional Comments:
The Ventana distribution overlaps the distribution of the San Rachael distribution, except that the San Rafael distribution is more concentrated in the northern Colorado Plateau and the Rocky Mountains where the
Ventana has the highest concentrations in the southwest and southern Colorado Plateau (Justice, 2002).
Point Validity: Valid Type
Holmer was a well-respected
pioneering Anthropologist who as a driving force at the Department of Anthropology at the University of Utah. This type was named in a professional publication and has
many professional references. This is considered a valid type.
.
Age Details:
References: (See Reference Page, Entry Number):
23, 30, 39, 120
San Rafael Projectile Point, San Rafael Arrowhead
