Huber Fluted Point Evaluation	by Nils E. Nilsson
Central States Archaeological Societies 2025 April Journal	Ohio

Figure 1. Collection of the Author

 

This paper will look at and examine four Paleo period points from an old farm collection located just across the Ohio border in Indiana. Some of the things that will be examined are what constitutes an encampment and what to think about when looking at getting a Certificate of Authenticity (COA). This paper will build on the analysis of a similar collection between Tymochtee Creek and Blood Run described in a recent publication (Nilsson, 2024).

Paleo Point Characteristics and Classification
The author had the good fortune to be able to inspect lithic materials from the Huber farm in Randolph County, Indiana. It is just across the border from Darke County, Ohio. William R. Huber was born on the family farm in 1897. He found the lithic artifacts that are described here on the family farm in the early 1900s. There was a lot of lithic material in the collection, and the collection was indicative of a multi-component site. The four artifacts shown here are nice examples of fluted points that do not exhibit much, if any, resharpening. A review of Tables 1-4 indicate that these lithic artifacts are fluted on both sides. Three of the four have a side with exactly one flute and another side with multiple fluting. The fourth has multiple fluting on both sides. A poster presented by Mark Seeman, Gary Summers, Paul Summers and myself at the 2013 Paleo-American Odyssey Conference in Santa Fe clearly explains and illustrates that fluted points with these characteristics are Gainey Phase (Seeman, et al, 2013). Prominent Gainey Phase Sites include Nobles Pond and Gainey. They can be distinguished by basal concavity with the deeper basal concavity associated with Gainey (Morris, et al, 1999). In fact, the evolution of fluted points from Clovis to Nobles Pond to Gainey shows progressively deeper basal concavity. This is why NoblesPond is often considered pre-Gainey or early Gainey.

Major Site Affiliation
There are no major Gainey Phase sites west of the Huber Campsite. This means that it should be affiliated with either Gainey or Nobles Pond. The Huber Camp Site is about 325 km (200 miles) west southwest of Nobles Pond. The Huber Campsite is even further from Gainey, which is located in north central Michigan. Interestingly, the Tymochtee Creek Campsite is located about 195 kM (120 miles) west of Nobles Pond (see Fig. 5). The tool type inventory of the Tymochtee Creek Campsite is described in a previous paper (Nilsson, 2024). The tool inventory at the Huber Campsite is similar to that inventory at the Tymochtee Creek Campsite. End scrapers and particularly trianguloid end scrapers are not noticeable at either of these sites. This is not surprising when one takes note of the fact that Nobles Pond has the highest ratio of trianguloid end scrapers to fluted points of any major paleo Indian sites in North America. This would mean that the campsites like the Huber Site and the Tymochtee Creek Site were employed to hunt game. The hides were probably collected and sent back to hide-processing centers (those with trianguloid endscrapers) like Nobles Pond. For more information on satellite camps, see Eren, et al, 2019.

Identification of the lithic materials will help to decide if Nobles Pond or Gainey was the major site from which hunters originated. Fluted Point 1 (Fig. 1) is made from Upper Mercer flint. The quarry is located southwest of Nobles Pond. Fluted Point 2 (Fig. 2) and Fluted Point 3 (Fig. 3) are Flint Ridge flint. The Flint Ridge quarry is farther southwest from Nobles Pond than the Upper Mercer flint outcropping. The relative distance is illustrated in Figure 5, which is about 150 km (93 miles). The analysis up to this point in time would indicate that the Huber Site is a satellite camp of Nobles Pond. Fluted Point 4 may favor Gainey over Nobles Pond. Fluted Point 4 (Fig. 4) is amber in color which is very different from Fluted Point 3. This means that it could be from the Pipe Creek flint outcropping. The Pipe Creek outcropping is near the NASA Plum Brook Test Facility near Sandusky, Ohio. Being so far north, it would be in the path of hunters from Gainey.

In order to pin down the material type of Fluted Point 4, a more...

Read the complete "Huber Fluted Point Evaluation" column in the Central States Archaeological Societies 2025 April Journal which can be purchased on-line after March 2026