Tiny Arrowheads

[jamesp]

Called bird points in the south.From a modern camp in a plowed field overlooking the Etowah River.Black material is local there.

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[Fossilman]

How did you find these?Looks like you had to screen these to find them...WOW!

[jamesp]

I hunted arrowheads in this giant cornfield for years Fossilman.It was 1000 acres in a sharp bend of the notorius Etowah River.You could stand in the middle up on the ridge and see 5 black spots in the soil about 1-4 acres each at 3,5,7 9 and 11:00 o'clock.They were stained by ancient campfires,to this day.Two had existing fish weirs(3 and 9 oclock).The one at 3 was the biggest camp/stain.We found 2-300 broken points at that camp and never matched up a single one.
Any way,the west camp at 9:00 had bird points.And 25 years ago i had good eyes.But that one camp was the bird point one.

[n8hounder]

Very nice ditto on the WOW ... I have a old woman friend who has a bit of a gift for finding neat stuff and in the bluffs east of Co.Springs..she found a perfect tiny point just about like those ..made of brown chert. So small it's hard to think how the heck it was made.... to bad I can't find a way to look there , all privet a-hole land owners now...

[jamesp]

The govt is paying people to grow timber pine on AG fields in the south.Do not want to know why.But it has way slowed artifact hunting.And i will not dig -it is not moral to me.That location was posted due to liability awareness in our new age-imagine that n8.

[n8hounder]

I feel the same about digging around for artifacts and also for valued crystals. Colorado has so many people looking for crystals many of the known easy to get to by car spots look like a war happened with all the damn pits... Artifacts are less actively hunted. But I feel it just plain wrong for a untrained unprofessional to brake ground to look. But if it's on the surface or under a cow pie I say fair game unless it's more important than the most common artifacts. Like the tepee rings here .. only a few are visible still. Cows ,people,and time has moved most stones all around. And even though it's only a rock , I wouldn't dream of moving one out of the soil.

[phil]

As a former arrowhead (point) maker, the small ones are the easiest. I can make a 1/4 to 1/2 inch point fairly quickly, but a 3 or 4 inch point is tougher and takes me hours.

[jamesp]

That has to take a lot of skill.I wondered how long it takes to make them.An old school rockhound buddy of mine gave me a set of knapped points.He said they were made 30 years ago from scratch,not using slabs.

[n8hounder]

Cool phil , am I wrong in thinking that a point with more tiny chips taken out than large flakes on the finished product had more time and skill put into it? like the small one I found?

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[jcinpc]

for the small one all you have to do is pressure flake these into a usable point, bigger points and you have to use percusiion flaking to reduce spall into a point

[jamesp]

I cooked some high ground coral from Zephyr jc.It turns strong.I wish i had better stock.Most of mine are samall heads w/not much meat on the inside-what i did get out of them sure looks great though.

[phil]

Feb 12, 2013 18:04:54 GMT -5 n8hounder said:

Cool phil , am I wrong in thinking that a point with more tiny chips taken out than large flakes on the finished product had more time and skill put into it? like the small one I found?

In general, yes. That one looks like the point is broken off, and was probably abandoned after it did it's job, rather than resharpen it. Most NA's I know say once a point has done as asked, i/e kill something, it was never used again.
One that is finely flaked and symetrical, etc like that also flies truer than a coarsely made one.

Nice find!
Phil

[jamesp]

I find small arrow points about 1 inch. It looks like it is spiralled.Apparently a practice when resharpening.It can be chipped left or right for lack of better description.Common on kirk points.This arrow point shows this 'rifleing' or twisted design.



Thanks fo ideas opinions

[RickB]

Nice point James. I may be wrong, but your point looks like a Bolen Bevel to me. Google some photos and see if your point looks like one of them. best, Rick B

[jamesp]

May be hard for me to tell difference sometimes Phil.I do find classic kirks at this site.It was found at the same place the other arrows were at in the other thread

[gingerkid]

Nice arrowheads, James! The last one is really pretty!

[jamesp]

Thanks