Hey Basketweaverz, I am glad you were inspired to go and dig that old box of rocks out of your attic or upstairs. What a beautiful collection of artifacts was bestowed on you!
I love the materials used out there. Jaspers and agates, petrified
wood, and, ofcourse, obsidian.
There is no naturally occuring obsidian east of the Missisippi, so it is very rare to find a projectile point made from it roun' hea'. And the petrified wood around here generally isn't of the same knappable quality as out there, so it is/was seldom used.
I tried doing a little surfing on point names and dates for your area before replying but good simple comprehensive information
doesn't seem easy to come by. Alot of areas have a Typology chart or poster that show some of the classic forms along with their dates, but I couldn't find one.
It's funny tho, you are intrigued by the differences in styles from our two areas and I was intrigued by the similarities.
I'll try to explain what I mean by trying to answer your question about the "bird points".
The size of a projectile point has more to do with the technology
used to propel it than the type of game they were hunting.
ie: spears vs arrows. Typically spearpoints are larger than arrowheads. An arrow wouldn't travel very far with a big old spearpoint on it. Bow and arrow technology did not begin until about 4000 years ago in this area. I'm not sure when it began in your area and different cultures adopted it at different times. But
deer were hunted in both time periods and a sharp little rock on the end of an arrow will kill the same, if not better, as a large rock on the end of a big stick. So, just because the projectile point is smaller does not neccesarily mean they were hunting smaller game. The type of game hunted could definately be a factor, but overall it is the technology used that makes the bigger difference.
And. ofcourse, fish are a whole nother story.
Once you get into the time period of the bow and arrow you see alot more variations in the style and form of the points from one area or culture to another. Like the beautiful 'eccentric' little point you mentioned in the bottom right hand corner of your pic. While some of the larger, and possibly older, points in your pic are very similar to types we have here.
Thanks for posting your pic and would love to see more. I especially would be interested in seeing what those blue trade beads look like and what they are made of.
Joe