The Lord Collins site: A late prehistoric human use of southeastern Maine, USA
A bifacial, bipointed, flaked stone knife was found during the expansion of a house cellar in the early 20th Century in Sanford, Maine. It was brought to my attention in 2011 by the current owner of the artifact. The geological surface map indicated that the find spot was likely an exposure of late Pleistocene deposits and the form of the artifact resembles some other bipointed knives that may be of Late Glacial Maximum origin.
The locality was investigated through test excavations (funded by the British Academy) with the geology verified, however, no in-place archaeological deposits were encountered. Dating of the deposits by optical stimulated luminescence (OSL) was also unsuccessful. Nevertheless there is circumstantial evidence that the knife may have been in late Pleistocene deposits and that it could represent an early use of the area when it was an interface between glacial outwash and the ocean beach.
A small stone end scraper, typical of Late Pleistocene/early Holocene cultures, has also been recovered from the locality, but other than its type, there is no indication of its time of origin.