Copena Triangular

[MCS]

Ok I have a few of these points and they look a lot like a point called the Copena Triangular. Any Thoughts?

[MikeE]

Nice group MCS. I dont know much about your area and the middle archaic but I did read a report about a mostly Bolen group and they showed some nice big flat triangle also.
M

[MCS]

Thanks Mike,
Can you give the link for that report. I can't seem to find it searching google. The Bolens I have seen in books and online look nothing like this one but, I am going on pics I saw in a early Overstreet guide. Either way it is not an expensive rare type point but since I have several I wanted to know what the heck they may be because they do look different that the other triangles I have.
Mark

[ghost recon]

I think Copena triangular is a good call. I like the type they're usually thin and well made.

Here's a little Copena info I was just looking at.


beta_index

[MCS]

Thanks Ghost great link.

[MikeE]

MCS, The report I read was several years ago and I dont remember where it was. Ghost Recon covered it pretty well. I like yours, it shows little wear or use, might be a preform stage. I do know Bolen groups habitated the ohio river as far east as WV, maybe further, and that they were great knappers.
M

[joshuaream]

I think it depends on where the piece was found, to me Copena is one of the more over-used 'catch all' types out there.

Copenas are a specific type made by two related non-Hopewell groups in the Woodland period. The Copena group in Northern Alabama, parts of Tennessee and Mississippi, and the Crab Orchard group along the Ohio River in Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois. They did some limited trading with the Hopewell at big sites, but based on burial practices and related artifacts were definately not part of the Hopewell culture.

Lots of other groups (contemporary, earlier, and later), including the Hopewell, made preforms and finished points like that, but they wouldn't be Copena points because they weren't made by the 'Copena' people. (Kind of like Cahokia points needing to be found relatively near Cahokia mounds to be considered Cahokia points.)

[MCS]

Thanks that is good information.

[MikeE]

Josh
I agree that the "Copena" is a catch all name, but have most of my problem understanding the Benton connection. It appears to me, maybe wrong, but the Benton groups were slightly earlier and might be the earliest expression of a ritualistic group controlled by a ruling class. That this group had a burial tradition that appears similiar to the Hopewell might be important... that they traded widely surely is. I do think that the square base Benton Triangle is made different and better than the Copena Triangle.
I appreciate any feedback on this subject
M

[MikeE]

MCS looks like Ft Payne material,, any opinion there?