Clovis-Middle Clovis-Ross County Clovis-Simpson-Suwannee-Union-Greenbrier-Gilchrist-Big Sandy-Bolen
The Bolen Point was named by Ripley P. Bullen in 1958 for examples that he described which were excavated from the Bolen Bluff site near Gainesville, Florida. The property on which the site itself sits was owned by an African American family named Bolen.
-Ripley P. Bullen died in late 1976. It has been stated that, "He (Ripley Bullen) left behind a legacy of archeological research which few people can match. Ripley would be the first to admit that his Guide is by no means perfect; it was meant to continue to be revised as new information was gathered."
The Bolen Cluster of point types is commonly considered to be represented by a group of well made, small to large sized triangular bladed, corner or side notched point and knife forms with convex blades. These points are reduced through alternative beveling and are usually serrated. It has been noted that, blades are excurvate in early stages, becoming straighter and often drill like in later stages of resharpening. The result is that first stage Bolens are lenticular in cross section while resharpened examples often become markedly rhomboidal. The tip is broad and the stem is expanding. The shoulders are barbed. Please, note that *notching and basal treatment of these points is observed to vary considerably and various subtypes are generally thought to exist. Basal edges can be straight, convex or concave. As with the majority of early types, the hafting area is ground. The range of the Bolen point types is commonly considered to be the Deep South States of Florida, Alabama and Georgia although examples may have been recovered from as far north as South Carolina and then called Taylors. Thankfully, examples exist in collections and are available for comparative analysis of this point type. Interestingly enough, recent published scientific data exists and suggested dates for this remarkable point type are now thought to be from 11,500-10,500 YBP (years before present)!
Bolen is commonly considered to immediately follow Big Sandy within the Florida cultural chain. Studies directly point to the birth of a local group (TransPaleo/Protoarchaic) of highly intelligent and intuitive Deep South people who were the masters of their environment. Bolen cultural sites suggest that these people had a very wide-ranging diet, partly consisting of large amounts of big game that they were able to hunt themselves. Remains of the North American horse and tapir are commonly encountered in context and association with Bolen tools.
"On Typology"
typ-ology (noun) Origin: 1835-45 [typo+logy]:
...the systematic study of cultural artifacts (especially projectile points and knives) for the purpose of classification based upon the comparative study of structural features and patterns of morphology.
The acumen that I have acquired is very limited in scope as I have primarily dedicated my typological focus to the study of North American Projectile Points and Knives. I take full responsibility for any and all mistakes that I might make in my reports. I merely offer my opinions based on the best of my knowledge and experience. I do my very best to educate myself and -you should too!
It is my sincere belief that my typological study of cultural artifacts is a lifetime pursuit and that I will always be learning!
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