Mark,

Whew! Thanks for the confession, I was worried about you there for a minute. 
But don't you think you besmirch the honour of the colonial gunflint 
industry with your bias against knappers? *chuckle* ;)

My thought is that this was not an example of a mass production technique 
(nor even the style adopted by a particular mirror maker), but probably the 
re-use or "sizing" of a larger mirror for another purpose, i. e., a 
vernacular attempt to produce repair piece(s) that emulated a broken piece 
that had ground dimples around the edge ... and not having the tools, 
knowledge or wherewithal to produce ground dimples, did it using the only 
vernacular method known ... furthermore, looking at one of the impast 
fracture edges, it looks like the "punch" used may have been just an old 
square-tipped nail.

Bob Skiles
~~~~~~~~
Pleistocene extinctions? Clovis kaput? It was the bolide, stupid!



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Branstner" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, June 11, 2007 9:22 AM
Subject: Re: Flaking on edge of wall mirror


> Bob,
>
> Sorry, my bad ...  I did not scroll down and see the close-up photo ...  I 
> retract my original comment, but I am still not happy with the thought of 
> "controlled flaking" as a mass production technique ....
>
> Mark
> -- 
>
> Mark C. Branstner
> Historic Archaeologist
>
> Illinois Transportation
> Archaeological Research Program
> 209 Nuclear Physics Lab, MC-571
> 23 East Stadium Drive
> Champaign, IL 61820
>
> Phone: 217.244.0892
> Fax: 217.244.7458
> Cell: 517.927.4556
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
> "Liebe: eine Gleichung mit zwei Unbekannten"
>
> - Gerhard Branstner (1927- )
>
> "There is also an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth,
> without either virtue or talents ... The artificial aristocracy is a
> mischievous ingredient in government, and provisions should be made to
> prevent its ascendancy."
>
> - Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)