Lerma
A Greatly Misunderstood Blade
In the 1940’s, Richard S. MacNeish discovered a blade at the Diablo Canyon Site in the Lerma Valley, Tamaulipas, Mexico and named the artifact for the region. Later, in 1954, three archaeologists in Texas described a similar point in a book about artifacts found in that state. For over fifty years we have had descriptions of this point but many or perhaps even most collectors today know little of it – Lerma – a greatly misunderstood blade.
The Texas authors and a host of other archaeologists have written about this point for many years as to the description and age. It is an ovoid shaped lanceolate point or blade with excurvate sides. The cross section may be rhomboid or lenticular with the often parallel flaking extending to the center or ridge line of the blade. The basal end or stem may be pointed or rounded and is usually thinned. The stem may be lightly ground and small serrations may be present on the blade edges. The overall workmanship can be excellent to poor which probably relates to the experience and ability of the ancient knapper. The point/blade is normally considered to be medium to large size meaning about three to six inches in length and the age of this artifact is usually explained as 9,000 BC to 3,500 BC which would place it into the Paleo and Archaic Periods. These points have been found in the southern states bordering the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico all the way across the country to the Pacific Ocean and south into Mexico and as far north as western Canada. The Lerma may encompass the second largest area of occupation by prehistoric people of any blade type in the Americas - only surpassed by the Clovis point. Now the above description is a little complicated but can easily be broken down as a willow leaf shaped point with rounded or pointed base. That should be simple enough for anyone to classify this artifact. But it apparently is not.
The Lerma is often misclassified because there are many almost identical and better known blades across the USA. These go by such names as Guilford, Angostura, Lake Mohave, Black Creek, Mahaffey, Desmuke, Haskett and Cascade and are all well known in their respective regions. Also the age of the Lerma is recorded as 9,000-3,500 BC and this is a problem because that is a very long interval of time for a single point type to have been in existence. No other named point/blade is believed to have been used by ancient natives for over five thousand years. Why is this blade so difficult to identify and just how old is it?
The true Lerma point or blade is reasonably uncommon. This writer has observed maybe a couple hundred out of tens of thousands of points/blades actually seen and studied. But there have been many similar blades that may have been the Lerma type but were called by other names most likely because the collectors simply did not know of and understand the Lerma. Of the few actual Radiocarbon-14 dates that have been obtained for this point (Mexico, Texas and northwestern USA) all have fallen into the 7300 to 4800 BC range which is certainly far less than the five thousand plus age range guess work that has been used as fact for the past half century. And for information purposes, a given stone projectile point or blade cannot be Carbon-14 dated because only organic materials (including you and me) can absorb Radiocarbon-14 isotopes which are needed for this test. For a stone point to be accurately dated, it must be found in the same stratigraphic level as datable carbonaceous materials such as burned wood, plant seeds or bones of a past living organism that can be scientifically analyzed.
In the Carolinas and Virginia there has been no Carbon-14 dating of the Lerma blade but this artifact has certainly been found in the region. Most of the known observed examples from this area are made of rhyolite or silicified slate with a few being in quartz or quartzite and even fewer being jasper or coastal plains chert. Most are in the roughly two to four inch long range and are heavily patinated from being in the soil for thousands of years. A reasonable guess as to the age of these elusive points in the Piedmont and surrounding territory is 7000 to 4000 BC (or 9,000 to 6,000 years old) which would make the blades Early Archaic in time. Some knowledgeable collectors, though, firmly believe that the Lerma is from the Paleo Period or more than ten thousand years ago but without reliable Carbon-14 data, this will always be just supposition. But by guess or by golly, this ancient point/blade certainly can be and has been found in the Southeast. The difficulty, apparently, is that after discovering one, the finder must then decide if it is truly a Lerma – this greatly misunderstood blade.
REFERENCES:
Cambron, James W. & David Hulse
HANDBOOK OF ALABAMA ARCHAEOLOGY, Part I
1975
DeJarnette, David L., Edward Kurjack & James W. Cambron
“Stanfield-Worley Bluff Shelter Excavations”,
JOURNAL OF ALABAMA ARCHAEOLOGY, Vol. VIII, Nos. 1-2
1962
Painter, Floyd & Wm. Jack Hranicky
“The Lerma Projectile Point Type in Virginia”,
Chesopiean, Vol. 26, Nos. 3-4
1989
Perino, Gregory
SELECTED PREFORMS, POINTS AND KNIVES OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS, Vol. I
Suhm, Dee Ann, Alex D. Kreiger & Edward B. Jelks
“An Introductory Handbook of Texas Archaeology”,
TEXAS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, Vol. 25
1954
Tully, Lawrence N.
FLINT BLADES & PROJECTILE POINTS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN
1989