Point ID

[campboy]

I love seeing other people’s finds so here’s one that has been in my nightstand drawer for years. Found in Floyd county

 

[Nicodemus]

Looks like a Savannah River. Middle Archaic.

 

[campboy]

Looks like a Savannah River. Middle Archaic.

Nic, can you elaborate on that a little for an uneducated country boy? I’m assuming savannah river is the material?

 

[Nicodemus]

Nic, can you elaborate on that a little for an uneducated country boy? I’m assuming savannah river is the material?

No, that`s the name of the point. It`s about 4,000 years old, give or take. Probably used as an atlatl spear point and-or knife blade. The material looks like Fort Payne Chert.

 

[campboy]

No, that`s the name of the point. It`s about 4,000 years old, give or take. Probably used as an atlatl spear point and-or knife blade. The material looks like Fort Payne Chert.

What tribe of native people would have made/used it?

 

[Nicodemus]

What tribe of native people would have made/used it?

We have no way of knowing what those people called themselves. They weren`t what we know as Cherokees, Muscogees, or any of the known tribes.

 

[campboy]

No, that`s the name of the point. It`s about 4,000 years old, give or take. Probably used as an atlatl spear point and-or knife blade. The material looks like Fort Payne Chert.

I figured too big for a true “arrowhead”. I thought of atlatl first. (I do know what an atlatl is )

 

[Jimmypop]

I think Adena.

 

[NCHillbilly]

I think Adena.

Yeah, it's got a contracting stem. That is a hard one to type past Archaic stemmed point.

 

[NCHillbilly]

What tribe of native people would have made/used it?

As Nic said, that one dates to several thousand years ago, long before the historic tribes that were here when Europeans arrived. Totally different culture. Almost no agriculture, no pottery, no bows and arrows.

 

[Tentwing]

I don’t know what it is, but it is awesome

 

[campboy]

Yeah, it's got a contracting stem. That is a hard one to type past Archaic stemmed point.

Ok what is “adena” and “contracting stem”?

 

[NCHillbilly]

Ok what is “adena” and “contracting stem”?

Adena is just a stemmed projectile point type from the Hopewell culture, that is found throught the midwest and Tennessee Valley. Contracting stem means that the hafting stem on the point gets narrower toward the end instead of being and even width or expanding.

 

[antharper]

Nice find !

 

[campboy]

As Nic said, that one dates to several thousand years ago, long before the historic tribes that were here when Europeans arrived. Totally different culture. Almost no agriculture, no pottery, no bows and arrows.

Most likely hunters and gatherers?

 

[Nicodemus]

Most likely hunters and gatherers?

Yes. Paleo, Trans-Paleo, Early -Mid Archaic were hunter gatherers. Roughly.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Most likely hunters and gatherers?

Yes, for the most part. By the mid-late archaic, they were probably starting to settle down a little more, and had the beginnings of agriculture with stuff like goosefoot, Amaranth, and a few other crops. Corn, beans, and squash hadn't gotten to North America yet, though.

 

[campboy]

Yes. Paleo, Trans-Paleo, Early -Mid Archaic were hunter gatherers. Roughly.

Yes, for the most part. By the mid-late archaic, they were probably starting to settle down a little more, and had the beginnings of agriculture with stuff like goosefoot, Amaranth, and a few other crops. Corn, beans, and squash hadn't gotten to North America yet, though.

So the people that lived in these periods were probably mostly nomadic?

 

[Nicodemus]

So the people that lived in these periods were probably mostly nomadic?

No probably to it. They were nomadic.

 

[campboy]

No probably to it. They were nomadic.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around holding something in my hand that was made +\- 4000 years ago