Last night I had the pleasure of attending a talk by John Broster ( Tennessee Divisison of Archaeology ) about the newly discovered "Sinclair Site" in Wayne County, Tennessee. This Paleo Period quarry site spans 15 acres and is home to a high quality Buffalo River chert that was favored by these ancient hunters. We saw photographs of huge blades and blade tools ( some exceeding 12 inches ) as well as several points, blade cores and other lithic debitage. The site was visited last week by Ken Tankersley from the Smithsonian, and it PROBABLY will fundmentally change our view of Paleo Man in North America. It was discovered in September of 2008, so the talk was on the 'cuting edge' of knowledge and research.
This talk was hosted by Dr. Kevin Smith and the Middle Cumberland Archaeological Society (MCAS ) one of the oldest groups in Tennessee. I had the pleasure of seeing many other collectors and amateur archaeologists. John Pafford and Dr. Cushman attended, and John and I had a very good chat. He filled me in on the GIRS Nashville Show that will be held at a new location, the Briley Parkway Mariott. It sounds like a fine event.
I also had the pleasure of speaking with Ellis Durham about his interest in IR technology. Ellis is quite an advanced collector with a background in the sciences. He has been investigating the applications of IR technology and what if can and cannot do. As some of you know, I wrote and article in the January Journal that discussed this technology and it's possible impact on collecting and artifacts. Bill Breckenrdige, Dave Walley and Jim Horst are all advocates of this new technology. Hopefully it can help improve our knowledge of the ancients. I know Dr. jim Cherry, who helped me research the article had a long talk with Bill and Jim at the recent Springdale Show. I'm looking forward to discussing with him what he learned.