Key for Stemmed Points

Stemmed points have bases that are roughly parallel sided (although most expand or contract slightly), and the bases are notably narrower than the point's blade. Shoulder Angles range between 80º and 100º. Stemmed points are often referred to as "corner-removed" points (to distinguish them from corner-notched points) because the lower corners on both margins were removed during the knapping of the point.

Follow the steps below to accurately key stemmed points.

Step: Go to:

  1. Blade Width
    1. Greater than 16.5 mm - Step 2
    2. Less than 16.5 mm - Rosespring Corner-notched
  2. Base
    1. Markedly concave or indented (greater than 2mm) - Gatecliff Split-stem
    2. Not concave but is straight or convex - Cody
All content Copyright © 2009 by Richard N. Holmer
Informatics Research Institute