Early man and his flying machine? Not really, but he did have one of the most important parts.

It may be a bit before some of the Pecos visitors memory, but there was a time when airplanes had props on them. The propeller was, without doubt, a very needed part of early flying carpets.

But early man? Yes, sort of.

They are rare, but from time to time a stone point is found that is best described as a twister. Not flat as is the norm, with chipped stone, but so shaped as to be all but usable as a propeller.

In most instances it would be safe to suggest that these are the work of a playful or inquisitive mind. There would seem to be little useful reason for making a hunting point so misshaped.

But not so this reasoning, in the Pecos - Rio Grande region of west Texas. Here the inhabitants of the shelters did make a twister point that was common. The Pandale is the only point listed with this feature.

As with the Langtry point and their 7,000 year history of development, the Pandale also finds it's roots dating back to the time man first entered the shelters.

The Langtry found a path in time, that used a pronounced hafting stem. While the Pandale ancestors were a point that remained blade shaped.

In time even these blades were to find their lower or hafting area becoming more distinct from the blade or forward area. One form of giving the hafting area a pronounced zone was to bevel it.

As bevelling had been a prime factor in making the Langtry a work of art, so had it the effect of making the Pandale a point separate from all others.

In fact bevelling was to become the Pandale point. From distal tip to base the Pandale is bevelled. Unlike other points that have bevelling along a base or blade edge, the beveling on the Pandale goes from side to side.

As is visible in the photo above, on a Pandale blade the blow used to produce the chipping would drive a chip off the full width of the point blank. The term used here is transverse chipping. A skill rarely seen, and one more common with points made during the Paleo era.

With the Pandale this transverse removal of chips was repeated on each face or side of the blade. Then the blank was rotated so it could be repeated again at the hafting area of the point.

This rotating of the blank and the strong transverse chips, done on four parts of the point gives it it's twister form.