Ohio History Journal

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BOOK  REVIEWS

PALAEO-INDIANS OF OHIO. By Olaf

H. Prufer and Raymond S. Baby. (Col-

umbus: Ohio Historical Society, 1963. v

??68p.; appendix   and  bibliography.

$3.00.)

Prufer and Baby's report is the result

of a two-year survey of Palaeo-Indian re-

mains in the state of Ohio, undertaken

with the financial support of the National

Science Foundation. All the material dealt

with is contained in public and private

collections. Although some of the tools

were recovered from what appear to have

been camp sites, all items are surface

finds. The majority of artifacts located

by the survey were collected by amateur

archaeologists and collectors and by farm-

ers who casually picked up stray speci-

mens in their fields. Only those specimens

with reliable provenience data were used

in the study.

The stray specimens were subjected

to a typological analysis and their lo-

cations according to point types were

plotted on county maps of Ohio which

contained pertinent geological features.

The resultant patterns of distribution

were then analyzed to discover their sig-

nificance. Tool assemblages from bona

fide Palaeo-Indian sites in Ohio were

analyzed and compared in relation to the

distribution patterns of the stray speci-

mens. The results of these investigations

were then compared with data from other

areas of eastern United States to discover

the position of Ohio remains in the overall

pattern of Palaeo-Indian occupation.

One of the major tasks of the study

was the establishment of a typological

scheme for the Palaeo-Indian points found

in Ohio. Two main criteria--morphology

and technology--were used to define the

types. Fluted points were divided into

six main categories: Type 1, Convex-

parallel-sided points (Clovis); Type 2,

Concavo-convex-sided points; Type 3, Ross

County Points; Type 4, Pentagonal, or

shouldered, points; Type 5, Triangular,

or convergent-sided, points; and Type 6,

Cumberland Points. In addition to the

fluted points, several non-fluted Palaeo-

Indian point forms were found in Ohio.

Among these were lanceolate and stemmed

Plano Complex forms similar to the Scotts-

bluff and Eden types in the Plains and

three Dalton - like points. Many points

conforming in general outline to the fluted

point types, but without flutes, also were

recorded. Drills, end scrapers, and knives

were also present, especially at sites at-

tributed to the Ohio Piano Complex.

Prufer and Baby found the pooled series

of all fluted point types to show two in-

terrelated patterns of distribution. The

maximum distribution of fluted points

seems to follow a diagonal line across

Ohio from southwest to northeast cor-

responding roughly to the maximum Wis-

consin glacial boundary. Secondary con-

centrations were found below the glacial

margin in the Great Miami and Scioto

rivers that flow southward to the Ohio.

Only a few specimens were found in the

rough, unglaciated areas of southeastern

Ohio and in the northwestern part of the

state. The authors suggest that the scar-

city of fluted points in the latter area was

due to the repeated covering of the area

by the predecessors of Lake Erie and

that the southeastern area was avoided

by Early Man because of the rough ter-

rain.

Fluted point types 1, 2, 3, and 5 were

found to be similar in distribution to the

pooled series. This group of types includes

the Clovis Point and the types most

closely related to it. The Type 4 pentag-