found arrowhead

[chiggersngrits]

i found my first arrowhead the other day. althought i never go out to just look for them, i would kind of look around if i was in a place that looked "heady". i was about 5 miles northeast of huntland tn.. a buddy and i went to look at some land for sale that had a small cabin on it. access was via an old logging road. we decided to walk it because we didn't know the road and it was pretty rough. we made it up to the cabin (it was pretty nice) rested for a bit and decided to go on down the trail to check on a creek that was supposed to be nearby. we walked for about 1.5 miles but never found water so we headed back. about half way back to the cabin i just happen to look down and there it was. now i am neither a geologist or an artifact collector so i went to an online arrowhead i.d. site. it looks to be made from ft. payne chirt, its 2.5 in. long by 1.5 in. wide, very symmetrical and nicely serrated. i belive its an elora type? anyhow it got me to thinking, i wonder who made it? where they young or old? were they an expert or novice at making such tools? were they happy, did they have plentiful food or did they struggle just to survive? did they live in peace with their neighbors or live in fear of them? its not the best looking arrowhead i have ever seen,but it will be cherished.

[Ole WV Coot]

I found a few years ago in KY around Blockhouse Bottom. Should be plenty there since it was hit often enough. I never looked for them but I did find a metal rusted one in an old chestnut log that was part of an old house in the early 50s. House was still standing and I was too young to know what to look for. Me and a friend would get in it and throw some corn outside and shoot quail with BB guns.

[RobertRogers]

Very good find! It is fun to think about people who were here before us, and finding evidence of their existence.

[crashdive123]

Nice find Chiggersngrits - careful - it could be addictive. One of my customers has several hundred display shadow boxes with quite a collection. He's got stuff that dates back several thousand years. Truely works of art, although to the people that made them probably just a matter of survival.

[Rick]

A couple of things you can do.

1) find out the geology of the area you found it in. That might tell you if it was made locally or if it was made somewhere else and "traded" finally finding it's way to the area.

2) Find out what people were indigenous to the area. You should be able to discover their lifestyle and whether the lived in peace with others in the area.

You should be able to do both on line. Just a couple of thoughts. It might answer some of the questions you have.

[chiggersngrits]

i think i will take it to Russell Cave Museum this weekend for a more positive id. they have a nice little collection there. they have both prehistoric and modern(?) artifacts. they also do demos on making such tools. the last time i was there they let us throw a spear with an atalatal at a deer target. talk about tough, seemed the harder i threw it the less distance it would fly. of course this lady steps up and after 3 or 4 mins. just trying to get the spear and launcher to stay together in her grip she let it fly. it went about 50 feet up in the air and bamm. it stuck perfectly in the spine of the deer target right between the shoulder blades. everyone in the group started yelling and cheering and the rangers came running out of the museum thinking someone had gotten hurt. the guy running the demo said that was the first time anyone had hit the target in the 3 years he had worked there.

[gourdhead1997]

Nice find Chiggers! That's weird I just got my box out of my closet over the weekend and was looking at my arrowhead collection. I only have about six or seven. All of them came from around Dawson Springs, Ky, (central part of state). There are a lot of limestone bluffs with small caves around there where I found them. I haven't looked at them in years.