gems, archaeology, archaeogemology, North America, Native Americans, Indians

A Hog Back Comer-notched aowpoint from an excavated hunting camp near timberline in the Colorado Front Range is patinated on all surfaces except for flake scars produced in modifying its blade and tip for secondary use as a cutting and perforating tool. Fewer than 300 years can have elapsed between manufacture and reworking of the point-too little time for heavy patination to occur by natural weathering processes. The point is made of Kremmling chert, a rock type that develops an opaque whit patina in less than a week when heated in sodium-rich spring water. Native inhabitants of the Plains and Front Range foothills left a"owpoints as offerings to spirits believed to reside in springs, and may have deliberately patinated points in hot springs as a source of hunting magic. Ritual activities must be added to the list of factors that can potentially influence rates of patina development."