Sunday, May 31, 2009

My First Arrowhead

Found my first arrowhead yesterday. It was in a general area where there has been at least four thousand years of Indian activity. I've been researching it lately for a project. It's a translucent stone. Could be quartz which is ubiquitous around here, or it could be Ramah chert from Labrador, artifacts of which have been found hereabouts, though very rarely. If it is, the implications are extremely interesting. I have to investigate it a bit further.

Most adults I've talked to have found an arrowhead sometime in their lives, but I hadn't until yesterday. Naturally, this called for a celebration.


Googling "Ramah Chert," I learned a fluted point made of the material was discovered twenty years ago in Vermont, but only recently determined to have come from Northern Labrador and dated at 10,000 years old. That boggles the mind. Here's are images of that point from Dr. Stephen Loring:

Artifacts of a Vermont chert have been found locally, as well as some made of materials from New Hampshire, New York State, and Mount Kineo on Moosehead Lake in Maine. I'll post more on this in summer sometime, after I've had a chance to do more research. This is how history geeks like me recreate.

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