To the Point
Hidden Valley
Neal Lopinot
T
his point type is named
after Hidden Valley
Rock Shelter, a site that was
located along a tributary
of Joachim Creek in Jefferson County, Missouri.
Excavations were undertaken there in 1939–1941
by the Academy of Science
of St. Louis, with support
from the Work Projects Administration (Adams 1941, Figure 1. Hidden Valley point
1949). The lowest deposits, from 23wb304. Illustration by
which Chapman (1948:140) Del Thompson.
referred to as Hidden Valley
Shelter One, yielded several
examples of the contracting stemmed point that became
known as the Hidden Valley point. Unfortunately, Hidden
Valley Rock Shelter was destroyed in 1941 by the Aubuchon
Sand Quarry Company, shortly after three weeks of intensive archaeological investigations.
Description
Adams (1941:191) originally described the Hidden Valley Stemmed type as consisting of “very long projectile
points with [contracting] stems, elongated S shaped edges
and concave bases, [and] a long curved blade.” It is now
known that Hidden Valley points are much more variable
Figure 2. Hidden Valley point preforms from the Big Eddy site,
23ce426. Photo courtesy of Center for Archaeological Research.
in length, and that the stem and base are usually ground.
Resharpened specimens may exhibit left beveling and fine
serrations. Unresharpened specimens generally exhibit short
barbs, but repeated resharpenings ultimately resulted in
removal of the barbs (Sandstrom and Ray 2004:51).
Age
Hidden Valley points date to the Early Archaic period.
Unfortunately, most radiocarbon ages for Hidden Valley
points derive from mixed deposits in rockshelters and caves.
Based on dates from several rockshelters and caves, O’Brien
and Wood (1998:129) suggest that Hidden Valley points
date to 7500–6800 b.c., or to early Early Archaic times.
More recent radiocarbon and stratigraphic evidence from
the Big Eddy site (23ce426) indicate that Hidden Valley
points date later, appearing after Rice Lobed points. At
Big Eddy, bracketing radiocarbon ages indicate that the
Hidden Valley occupation dates to about 5900–5200 b.c.,
or toward the end of the Early Archaic sequence (Ray and
Lopinot 2005:246–247).
Distribution
As defined here, this point is distributed throughout the
Ozarks of Missouri, but mainly north of the Ozarks Divide. It is uncommon to rare elsewhere in Missouri. They
Figure 3. Basally ground Hidden Valley point from 23sl591 near
Creve Coeur Lake. Note the fossil at the corner break. From the
collection of Richard Martens; photo courtesy of Richard Martens.
Figure 4. Hidden Valley points from Hidden Valley Rock Shelter,
23je135. Illustration by Eleanor Chapman.
have also been found at Modoc Rock Shelter (Fowler 1959)
and the Nochta site in the American Bottom of Illinois
(Higgins 1990:71–72), for example, so its range does extend
slightly eastward across the Mississippi River. At least at
Big Eddy, Hidden Valley points were found in stratigraphic
association with Searcy points/knives.
Comments
The identification of contracting stemmed points can
be a difficult undertaking, particularly if one is dealing
with broken specimens or those that had been repeatedly
resharpened. Attributes such as short barbs, stem grinding,
beveling, and serrations help differentiate Hidden Valley
points from younger contracting stemmed points. O’Brien
and Wood (1998:129) contend that Rice Contracting
Stemmed points (Chapman 1975:252–253) appear to be the
same as Hidden Valley. A slightly different perspective is
presented by Ray and Lopinot (2005:235), who suggest that
there are some subtle technological differences distinguishing the two cognate forms.
References Cited
Adams, Robert McC.
1941 Archaeological Investigations in Jefferson County, Missouri,
1939–40. Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis
30(5):151–221.
1949 Archaeological Investigations in Jefferson County, Missouri.
The Missouri Archaeologist 11(3–4):1–72.
Chapman, Carl H.
1948 A Preliminary Survey of Missouri Archaeology: Part IV,
Ancient Cultures and Sequence. The Missouri Archaeologist
10(4):136–164.
1975 The Archaeology of Missouri, I. University of Missouri Press,
Columbia.
Figure 5. Hidden Valley points from the Big Eddy site, 23ce426.
Photo courtesy of Center for Archaeological Research.
Fowler, Melvin L.
1959 Modoc Rock Shelter: A Summary and Analysis of Four Seasons
of Excavations. Report of Investigations No. 8. Illinois State
Museum, Springfield.
Higgins, Michael J.
1990 The Nochta Site: The Early, Middle, and Late Archaic Occupations (11-Ms-128). American Bottom Archaeology FAI-270 Site
Reports Vol. 21. University of Illinois Press, Urbana.
Ray, Jack H., and Neal H. Lopinot
2005 Early Archaic. In Regional Research and the Archaic Record at
the Big Eddy Site (23ce426), Southwest Missouri, edited by Neal
H. Lopinot, Jack H. Ray, and Michael D. Conner, pp. 223–283.
Special Publication No. 4. Center for Archaeological Research,
Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield.
O’Brien, Michael J., and W. Raymond Wood
1998 The Prehistory of Missouri. University of Missouri Press, Columbia.
Sandstrom, Carl B., and Jack H. Ray
2004 A Point Identification Guide for Southwest Missouri. Ozarks
Chapter of the Missouri Archaeological Society, Springfield.
Editor’s note: The MAS invites contributions of photos from
members for future To the Point editions. The next featured
point will be Searcy, also referred to as Rice Lanceolate. To be
considered, points must be from an ASM- or DNR-registered
site, and not acquired through purchase. Full credit will be
given to the member to whom the point belongs. Please send
point information and photos via e-mail or U.S. Mail to the
MAS office.