Top, left to right: Charlie Lake Cave flaked scraper, perforated stone bead, fluted point, all 10,500 years old; fluted-point base, surface find, Shuswap Lake area of the Plateau; fluted point, surface find, Peace River. Middle, left to right flaked scraper, fluted knife, flaked scraper, surface finds, Peace River area. Bottom: heavy flaked-quartzite chopper, 10,500 years old, Charlie Lake Cave (15 cm long). The fluted points are characteristic artifacts of early big-game hunting cultures throughout North America. The fluting, which consists of several large flakes driven up from the base of the point, probably helped to fasten the spearhead to the shaft. Scrapers were used to work hides and other organic materials and are usually thought to have been women's tools. These types are also characteristic of early cultures. The large chopper may have been used for butchering bison and other game.
Courtesy: Simon Fraser University Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
