Broken point or knife, what is the material?

[Chris Pittman]

I had some interesting finds this weekend at a place in Massachusetts I first visited back in the spring. I found some debris in unusual materials and decided to take another look through my bag of rocks I picked up there months ago. I was pleased to spot this broken tool which I had somehow failed to recognize when I originally picked it up and lumped it in with the debitage. I believe this is a midsection of a projectile point or knife but am open to other opinions. I'm not sure what the material is, I have another point that appears to be made out of the same stuff, which I have included in the pictures, for comparison. Any ideas? Unfortunately I do not think that enough of the broken point remains to identify the type. Any comments would be appreciated.

[Chris Pittman]

More photos to show size and edges. It looks dirty but that is the patina, it doesn't wash off.

[Chris Pittman]

Breaks at the tip and base.

[zachMA]

Nice levanna, and that material is odd, I've seen it somewhere before. My first thought is argillite, but are the black spots mica? That would be strange.

[Chris Pittman]

Last picture, here it is wet. The stone is coarse and grainy and does not look like it would have chipped very well. Here in New England there was a shortage of quality materials so inferior local stuff like this was sometimes used. Thanks in advance for any opinions.

[zachMA]

Oh didn't get the other pics till just now, sort of rules out mica. But it does look like some sort of intrusive igneous rock. Bigger tool looks like an unfinished point or a broken knife in my opinion, not sure though.

[Chris Pittman]

Zach, thanks for the input, I appreciate it. I don't think the black spots are mica, maybe feldspar? I hadn't considered argillite, the only argillite pieces I have are a solid color and not mottled like this, but the flaking and overall "chunkiness" look the same, you could be right.

[zachMA]

Is it relatively light in your hand? If it's light i'd lean more towards argillite. If not then I have no clue lol. Texture looks a lot like the schist/granatic material that's all in the bedrock up by me, but like you said it's kind of broken like argillite.

[Chris Pittman]

It seems a little heavier than the argillite stuff I have but I'm not sure. I looked at some pictures of argillite and saw some types that did have this sort of "speckled" look, I am going to go with argillite as a material ID. Thanks again for your help.

[zachMA]

No problem, hope it helped. Thanks for sharing.