Something totally different - arrowheads

[Conquistador_del_mar]

Since I was organizing and catagorizing some points this morning, I thought I would show some very nice pieces from my collection that I bought within the past 3 years. You have to be an astute collector knowing how to discriminate authenticity or you could easily buy modern made "artifakes". These are all late paleo to early archaic pieces (meaning they are 7500-9500 years old) except the Motley from Tennessee at top right (4000 years old) and the Clovis from my county here in Texas (10,000-13,500 years old) at the bottom center. From left to right are Dalton, Holland, Agate Basin, indented base Dovetail, Pinetree, Pike County, Dalton and Dalton. The upper left piece is a Quad found in Martin County, Indiana. These are all exceptional "arrowheads", but the Pinetree found in Martin County, Tennessee is the finest example of the type that I have seen in any collection in the US. The longest piece is the center 5.5" Dovetail found in Obion County, Tennessee for reference on sizes. Enjoy! Bill

[Just Say N20]

Is there anything you don't know about and collect? :biggrin:

I wish I had the knowledge to be able to tell how nice they looked. I could say that, but to me, they could all be fakes made yesterday.

Thanks for sharing them.

[Conquistador_del_mar]

Is there anything you don't know about and collect? :biggrin:

I wish I had the knowledge to be able to tell how nice they looked. I could say that, but to me, they could all be fakes made yesterday.

Thanks for sharing them.

You are welcome for the look - I had hoped some of you guys might appreciate seeing a few of them.
My collecting consists of only a few things, but mostly arrowheads from North America - not much else, though. I did amass a pretty good collection of US stamps years ago, but that got clobbered by the modern copy machines. I really love holding the pieces that the indigenous man made here on our continent to survive, and many of the pieces are works of art to me. Speaking of buying fakes (modern made relicas) - we call them artifakes instead of artifacts - here is a frame of some of the first pieces I bought years ago before getting the knowledge to know authenticity. You are looking at about $7500 of fakes here - ouch! Bill

[Conquistador_del_mar]

Here is an Agate Basin (about 9500 years old) found by a deer hunting guide in August, 2003 along the North Fabius River in Lewis County, Missouri. It has parallel collateral flaking and the base is ground about 1/3 of the distance from the base to the distal tip (prevented the hafting from being cut). It has spectacular flaking and is - a real work of art. I have many well made pieces, but this is one of my personal favorites. Bill

[The Hedgehog]

I really need to get my collection out. Most of them were found in Lauderdale County Alabama but I have a number from the Coosa river valley in central AL.

We would scrounge around old burn sights and find all sorts of stuff. I agree, the real deal that you find yourself is cool. That is a nice looking assortment Bill. Really neat stuff.

[Conquistador_del_mar]

I really need to get my collection out. Most of them were found in Lauderdale County Alabama but I have a number from the Coosa river valley in central AL.

We would scrounge around old burn sights and find all sorts of stuff. I agree, the real deal that you find yourself is cool. That is a nice looking assortment Bill. Really neat stuff.

Thanks. Lauderdale County is a hotbed of great finds. Here is what I believe is the most famous Cumberland ever found - it was found in Lauderdale County, Alabama. It has the flute running from the base to the tip on both sides - a very difficult thing to accomplish by single pressure strikes on the flint at the base. This piece would likely bring close to $40,000 if it were to be sold by a collector. Bill

[The Hedgehog]

Thanks. Lauderdale County is a hotbed of great finds. Here is what I believe is the most famous Cumberland ever found - it was found in Lauderdale County, Alabama. It has the flute running from the base to the tip on both sides - a very difficult thing to accomplish by single pressure strikes on the flint at the base. This piece would likely bring close to $40,000 if it were to be sold by a collector. Bill

That is a work of art.

[Bubba Dog]

Greetings, Conquistador,
The points you have are exquisite, the skill and precision necessary to create artifacts like that is incredible, truly works of art.
I've attached a picture of three points I found on my property, Granville County, North Carolina. The quartz point on the far left, is actually two different points, they match in section. They are flat on one side and beveled on the other, as is the middle point.
The pieces I've found cannot compare in beauty to the pieces you have, are they more primitive, or is it a matter of the skill of the artisan?
Thank you for sharing,
Michael

[The Hedgehog]

Greetings, Conquistador,
The points you have are exquisite, the skill and precision necessary to create artifacts like that is incredible, truly works of art.
I've attached a picture of three points I found on my property, Granville County, North Carolina. The quartz point on the far left, is actually two different points, they match in section. They are flat on one side and beveled on the other, as is the middle point.
The pieces I've found cannot compare in beauty to the pieces you have, are they more primitive, or is it a matter of the skill of the artisan?
Thank you for sharing,
Michael

That looks more like mine. Very cool.

I am just waiting for Bill to break out some other neat collection.

[Conquistador_del_mar]

Greetings, Conquistador,
The points you have are exquisite, the skill and precision necessary to create artifacts like that is incredible, truly works of art.
I've attached a picture of three points I found on my property, Granville County, North Carolina. The quartz point on the far left, is actually two different points, they match in section. They are flat on one side and beveled on the other, as is the middle point.
The pieces I've found cannot compare in beauty to the pieces you have, are they more primitive, or is it a matter of the skill of the artisan?
Thank you for sharing,
Michael

Michael,
For the most part, the earliest artifacts from the paleo and early archaic time period were much better made pieces than the ones made in the middle and late archaic and woodland periods which would span from about 7000 to 1300 years ago. There are exceptions though. The ones you showed are typical crudely made pieces that show the maker was not trying for perfection - only quick usage. Indigenous man on our continent typically would use a well made point or knife until it was exhausted by resharpening them. When a piece is large and near perfect with almost no beveling of the blade edge, it is considered first stage or what the maker originally made without resharpening it. Bill

[Conquistador_del_mar]

That looks more like mine. Very cool.

I am just waiting for Bill to break out some other neat collection.

Here are a few frames and individual pieces in my collection. This is a good sample of the collection which is fairly huge. As you can tell, I really got into collecting artifacts. Bill

[Bubba Dog]

That looks more like mine. Very cool.

I am just waiting for Bill to break out some other neat collection.


I thought it was wild to find two pieces, a top and bottom from different points, that matched up so well.



Here are a few frames and individual pieces in my collection. This is a good sample of the collection which is fairly huge. As you can tell, I really got into collecting artifacts. Bill

Incredible, Bill. I really like the Stilwell6 and Cornertang, beautiful forms.

[maddad]

Bill, your contributions to this site never cease to amaze me.

[silverghost]

Bill:
I was a Boy Scout (Eagle Scout); and later a scout leader for many years in a very active troop in PA.
We went camping outdoors every month year-around.
We would often look for points around creeks in the area.
Many times new younger scouts would luck-into an arrowhead find on their first camping trip.
Sadly as much as I looked myself I have never had any luck in finding any arrow points.
Do you have, or know of the types of points usually found in PA & NJ ?
I know nothing about arrow points~
BUT~
I suspect the scout finds that I saw were most likely very late Native American examples.

[Conquistador_del_mar]

I thought it was wild to find two pieces, a top and bottom from different points, that matched up so well.

Incredible, Bill. I really like the Stilwell6 and Cornertang, beautiful forms.

Michael,
I have many friends around the country who have found the two halves of a piece - sometimes as much as 10 years later in the same field. Farming equipment breaks up a lot of artifacts, but they also bring them to the surface after tilling.
You have good tastes in the pieces I showed. That 6" Stilwell was collected by a doctor in Perry County, Indiana in about 1905 (over 100 years ago). It stayed in his family until one of them consigned it to be sold - lucky me - :yes: It is the largest and most perfect one of that type I have seen in any collection so far. The cornertang knife is a style just about only found in Texas. Dwain Rogers is the foremost authority on the type and has written a book about them. He had one that was an incredible 11.5". Mine is in his book, and I have his authenticity COA on it (certificate of authenticity). They are bringing fairly huge money nowadays - that one cost me $4500. Bill

[Conquistador_del_mar]

Bill, your contributions to this site never cease to amaze me.

Don't make me blush - thanks. I enjoy sharing what took me a while to learn and accomplish.

[Conquistador_del_mar]

Bill:
I was a Boy Scout (Eagle Scout); and later a scout leader for many years in a very active troop in PA.
We went camping outdoors every month year-around.
We would often look for points around creeks in the area.
Many times new younger scouts would luck-into an arrowhead find on their first camping trip.
Sadly as much as I looked myself I have never had any luck in finding any arrow points.
Do you have, or know of the types of points usually found in PA & NJ ?
I know nothing about arrow points~
BUT~
I suspect the scout finds that I saw were most likely very late Native American examples.

There are a wide variety from that area, but not nearly like in the midwest. Unfortunately, there are not great quarries of materials up there so you will not typically find great pieces since the materials did not flake well. The older paleo and early archaic pieces are everywhere in this continent though, since the indiginous man was nomadic then. Therefore, you could find flintridge flint from Ohio pieces there for instance. Get a copy of Overstreets Indentification and Price Guide books - I think they are up to a 10th or even 11th editions now. It breaks down the areas of the country into geographical areas with many pictures of the types found in those areas - it is the bible of collectors. There are many paleo sites up there - at least one is considered to be one of the oldest sites in the US. Bill

[Cuda]

I was up on Lake George on the St John's River, when I saw this guy bringing in his boat. I assumed he had been fishing, so I stopped to ask him what he got. He told me he had been hunting artifacts in the river. He had a couple arrowheads, and one arrowhead that had a hole drilled in it. He said that an Indian wore that as a necklace. He had them all in a can full of water.

When I was in boyscouts in Panama City, Fla. We use to find arrowheads while we were camping. I remember once we were hiking down a road. It had been raining, and there was an arrowhead sitting on top of the dirt, with all the dirt washed out around it. It was like on it's own pedestal.

[mike o]

When I was about 10, I found an arrow head at a local lake in about 6" of water while standing on the shore in NH. I took it school (5th grd) and lost it out of my pocket on the play ground.:frown: I remember looking for it for hrs, but never found it..........:frown::frown::frown:

[Conquistador_del_mar]

When I was about 10, I found an arrow head at a local lake in about 6" of water while standing on the shore in NH. I took it school (5th grd) and lost it out of my pocket on the play ground.:frown: I remember looking for it for hrs, but never found it..........:frown::frown::frown:

Your story reminded me of my wife's first find. After we had been together for less than a year (about 14 years ago), I took her out to a place here on our lake that has tons of arrowheads. She had told me that she had never found one. I showed her how to find them - bingo! - her first find. Somehow, she lost it before we got back in that day, and she was extremely bummed. She never lost another one that she found after that day - lol. Erosion is the key to finding them. Find places that have recently eroded back along rivers or streams or the best places are fields that have recently been tilled and rained on. I once found a field near the Buffalo River in Tennessee where you could find parts every few feet - it was awesome! In the 1 hour we had before a truck came to pick us up, I had both my pockets full, but only one whole Motley (the one shown here). Most of the old farmers would not bother picking them up, but some did. Now, they all know the value and pick them up. I heard of one family farm in Ohio where they had picked them up over the years and thrown them onto a trailer that was full. I tried to track down a family farm in Arkansas where a friend of mine saw the entire inside of the house loaded with artifacts of all sorts including pots, etc. No luck - sold. Sorry about my rambling. Bill

[Bubba Dog]

Michael,
I have many friends around the country who have found the two halves of a piece - sometimes as much as 10 years later in the same field. Farming equipment breaks up a lot of artifacts, but they also bring them to the surface after tilling.
You have good tastes in the pieces I showed. That 6" Stilwell was collected by a doctor in Perry County, Indiana in about 1905 (over 100 years ago). It stayed in his family until one of them consigned it to be sold - lucky me - :yes: It is the largest and most perfect one of that type I have seen in any collection so far. The cornertang knife is a style just about only found in Texas. Dwain Rogers is the foremost authority on the type and has written a book about them. He had one that was an incredible 11.5". Mine is in his book, and I have his authenticity COA on it (certificate of authenticity). They are bringing fairly huge money nowadays - that one cost me $4500. Bill

Bill, You are indeed a lucky man, your enthusiasm is contagious, I will look for the book by Dwain Rogers.
Best regards, Michael

[Cuda]

We used to find bits of pottery on Panama City Beach.

[Conquistador_del_mar]

I was up on Lake George on the St John's River, when I saw this guy bringing in his boat. I assumed he had been fishing, so I stopped to ask him what he got. He told me he had been hunting artifacts in the river. He had a couple arrowheads, and one arrowhead that had a hole drilled in it. He said that an Indian wore that as a necklace. He had them all in a can full of water.

When I was in boyscouts in Panama City, Fla. We use to find arrowheads while we were camping. I remember once we were hiking down a road. It had been raining, and there was an arrowhead sitting on top of the dirt, with all the dirt washed out around it. It was like on it's own pedestal.


We used to find bits of pottery on Panama City Beach.

Finding them on one of those pedestals is photo worthy. I have found quite a few like that on the sand islands here. Many collectors have taken some great pictures of them on those pedestals - the piece makes a protective shelf, but the stuff around it gets washed away by rain. The St. John's River is a good place to find them - many paleo pieces have come from there. Bill

[Conquistador_del_mar]

Here is a relatively famous artifact not in my collection. It is called the Hook's Dovetail. The link gives a brief history of it. Just thought some of you might enjoy seeing it. Bill

http://www.lithiccastinglab.com/gallery-pages/hooksdovepage1.htm

[Conquistador_del_mar]

Here are a few more frames of my Texas pieces found near where I live except the two frames of knife forms from central Texas. The white/pinkish heat-treated novaculite knife in the third frame to the right of the black celt is one of only three double tang knives known to have been found in Texas, and the dished gorget above it is unique. Enjoy. Bill