This replica Dickson Contracting Stem point was made from heat-treated Burlington chert by flintknapper Tim Dillard in ca. 2002.
The model is one of Dillard’s Dickson Contracting Stem replicas, made from heat-treated Burlington chert. These tools date to the Early Woodland period in the Eastern Woodlands of North America and are found in the Midwestern U.S, especially in Illinois and surrounding states.
The replica is held in the Michigan State University Museum, Archaeology Teaching Collection, catalogue no. 2002:226.2.
Tim Dillard is a contemporary flintknapper based in Illinois who learned the art when he was about 12 years old. He is experienced at making a diverse array of bifacial stone tools from the North American archaeological record, using a variety of techniques and methods. Rather than relying on copper, he uses exclusively ‘traditional’ tools such as hammerstones, antler percussion flakers (called ‘billets’), and antler pressure flakers. Dillard is the principal instructor at the Center for American Archeology’s week-long Flintknapping Workshop, in Kampsville, Illinois. A recent review concluded that this workshop is the best venue available for receiving instruction in all-traditional methods and techniques for making North American-style bifacial tools.
