by Robert Woolard, Little Rock, Arkansas
January 2015 Central States Archaeological Journal
Quartz is a hard, brittle, durable mineral that occurs in nature in many varieties, but is best known from Arkansas as transparent crystals. Arkansas is known worldwide for the production of quartz, so much so that, in fact, that quartz crystal was designated as its official State Mineral. It can be found over a large area in the state, mainly within a belt about 30–40 miles wide that extends a distance of about 170 miles west southwest from Little Rock, Arkansas, to eastern Oklahoma. Most of the quartz in the Ouachita Mountains occurs as milky veins. The principal difference between milky quartz and clear rock crystal is the presence of innumerable microscopic bubbles in fluid-filled cavities in the former. These cavities scatter the light that otherwise would pass through as in clear crystal.
The existence of quartz crystal in the Ouachita Mountains has been known since humans first occupied the area. According to H. D. Miser, DeSoto’s men found native Americans had chipped projectile points from quartz crystals. The reason they were able to do this is that flint and quartz crystal share the property of “conchoidal fracture.” This term describes the way that brittle materials break when they do not follow any natural planes of separation. Conchoidal fracture forms the very basis of flint knapping, since the shape of the broken surface is controlled only by the stress applied, and not by some preferred orientation of the material.
Flint is much easier to knap, however, because fracture surfaces are not as uneven and curved. Because of this, it is easier to control the direction of splitting, and the edges are more straight. In flint, stress will dissipate into the material, whereas in a crystal, a stress-induced small crack will often propagate through the entire crystal and split it. Thus, quartz crystal is much harder to work with, as the talented modern flint knapper Woody Blackwell attests to on his website:
“I don’t knap much quartz crystal. When I do, I swear I’ll never do it again. Flakes shatter into thousands of invisible needles that shred my hands and arms. In one direction, flakes run smoothly and terminate predictably. Knapped in another plane, every flake chatters along in micro-steps that threaten to end badly… Between the blood, the pain, and the frustration, it’s not a pleasant experience… I’m done with this miserable stuff.”
Located within the heart of the quartz crystal distribution area, Carden Bottoms is a rich alluvial flood plain in northeastern Yell County created by the Arkansas River and internationally known for its rich archaeological heritage. Investigations from the early 1990s indicate that some of these acres were also farmed from 500 to 1,500 years ago, while a forging activity extended as far back as 11,500 years. The expedition of Hernando de Soto also provided information on these Mississippian peoples in the Arkansas River Valley. The expedition visited an important capital city, Tanico, in September 1542. The inhabitants were many, but they apparently lived in scattered settlements. The Spaniards stayed awhile, made salt, and then with an elaborate filtration process, and eventually headed out for a big battle two days’ march away at Tula with the Caddo. Because the great quantity of pottery recovered in the Carden Bottoms area suggested a large Native American population, it has been proposed that this area could be associated with Tanico.
In the last two decades there has been a renewal of scientific interest in the archaeological evidence of Native Americans in the Carden Bottoms, focused on the lifeways of these ancient people. Test excavation in 1993 and more work in 2009 have confirmed that some of the trash deposits there contain the full range of Native American artifacts, as well as glass and brass beads and iron objects that could only have come from encounters with Europeans. The artifacts and other data from the pit document the climax of the Mississippian culture and the beginnings of the contact period.
The pottery vessels of the late prehistoric occupation that made the Carden Bottoms famous date as early as the 1870s, though most prominently in the 1920s and 1930s. It was during this time that this incredibly delicate and beautiful Caddoan quartz crystal Talco point was found, still lying on top of the bed of red ochre upon which it had been placed centuries before. The prominent collector, G. E. Pilquist of Dardanelle, Arkansas most likely obtained the point sometime around 1935. Charlie Shewey of Kansas City, Missouri purchased it from him in 1937 or 1938. It remained in his collection for a little over 40 years, when he sold it to Dr. Kent Westbrook of Little Rock, Arkansas in 1979. On August 10, 1982, Dr. Westbrook graciously agreed to allow me to acquire this fabulous artifact from him.
Bell’s Guide to the Identification of Certain American Indian Projectile Points describes the Talco point as follows:
“This type is a finely made triangular arrow point characterized by a curved blade and a slightly concave base. Suhm and Krieger (1954) describe the Talco point as follows: Slender triangular points with edges occasionally almost straight but usually with constriction approximately in middle. Bases almost always concave. Workmanship extremely fine, blades thin and flat. Edges commonly minutely serrated, tips often slanted down to a needle-like point.”
In size, this type ranges from about 0.75 to 2 inches in length with many specimens averaging about 1.5 inches.
This type is found in the Caddoan area, particularly the northern parts of East Texas, extending northward into southeastern Oklahoma, and eastward into Arkansas. The estimated age for the Talco point is 800 to 500 B.P. It is associated with the Fulton Aspect in the Caddoan Area and occurs as a common type in the Titus Focus of Texas.
References
Arkansas Quartz Crystals – J. Michael Howard, Arkansas Geological Survey, 2008
Guide to the Identification of Certain American Projectile Points – Bell, 1958
The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture – Leslie C. Stewart-Abernathy, Arkansas Archaeological Survey, 2010