Sweetwater Biface

Today we will be highlighting the Sweetwater biface, which is attributed to the Caddoan Mississippian culture (1200-1500 A.D.) (“North America”). The Sweetwater biface was recovered in Nolan County, Texas, by Roland Kamer. Kamer spotted this projectile lying on the surface when attending the 1986 Rattlesnake Roundup (“The Sweetwater Biface”). Although the biface was recovered on the ground surface, it is perfectly preserved and shows magnificent craftsmanship (“The Sweetwater Biface”). The Sweetwater biface is considered one of the thinnest known flint artifacts ever made. The blade has an ovoid shape and is 239.7 inches in length with an average thickness of 4.76 mm (“North America”).

Lithic tools, such as the Sweetwater biface, were crafted using a reduction process called flintknapping. Hammer stones were used to strike cobbles, usually chert, to remove smaller flakes from the stone (Wallace, “Flintknapping”). Other tools, such as deer antlers or animal bones, were then used to help shape the tool and sharpen the edges (Wallace, “Flintknapping”). Flintknapping has been used by Indigenous communities throughout the world for millenniums and is a heavily skilled trade (Wallace, “Flintknapping”). To learn more about this process from modern Native American communities, check out this video posted by the Cherokee Nation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8lwAeBacxw.

Scholars believe that the Sweetwater biface was likely crafted to be a knife due to similar artifacts found in the area; however, it was likely not used for utilitarian, or functional, purposes (“North America”). This projectile shows limited use and does not appear to have been resharpened during its lifetime (“The Sweetwater Biface”). Due to the magnificent skill needed to craft this incredibly thin blade and lack of use of ware, the Sweetwater biface may have been an object of prestige or burial good (“North America”).

Works Cited

“North America: Knives and Daggers.” Museum of Stone Tools, https://stonetoolsmuseum.com/artefact/north-america/sweetwater-biface/2059/#:~:text=Caddo%20biface%2C%20Texas-,This%20exceptionally%20thin%20chert%20biface%20is%20from%20Nolan%20County%2C%20Texas,average%20thickness%20of%204.76mm. Accessed 15 March 2023.

“The Sweetwater Biface.” Lithic Casting Lab, http://www.lithiccastinglab.com/cast-page/sweetwaterbifacecast.htm. Accessed 15 March 2023.

Wallace, Martha. “Flintknapping.” Green River Preserve, 25 Jan. 2021, https://greenriverpreserve.org/blog/2021/1/flintknapping#:~:text=Flintknapping%20is%20a%20reduction%20process,edges%20and%20thin%20a%20tool. Accessed 15 March 2023.

Credit to Liley Bozard and Olivia Lee