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In North American
archaeological terminology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes ...
, a projectile point is an object that was hafted to a weapon that was capable of being thrown or projected, such as a
javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...
,
dart Dart or DART may refer to: * Dart, the equipment in the game of darts Arts, entertainment and media * Dart (comics), an Image Comics superhero * Dart, a character from ''G.I. Joe'' * Dart, a ''Thomas & Friends'' railway engine character * Dar ...
, or
arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...
. They are thus different from weapons presumed to have been kept in the hand, such as knives,
spear A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...
s,
axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...
s,
hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as w ...
s, and maces. Stone tools, including projectile points, can survive for long periods, were often lost or discarded, and are relatively plentiful, especially at
archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...
s. They provide useful clues to the human past, including prehistoric
trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...
. A distinctive form of point, identified though
lithic analysis In archaeology, lithic analysis is the analysis of stone tools and other chipped stone artifacts using basic scientific techniques. At its most basic level, lithic analyses involve an analysis of the artifact’s morphology, the measurement of ...
of the way it was made, is often a key diagnostic factor in identifying an
archaeological industry :''Not to be confused with industrial archaeology, the archaeology of (modern) industrial sites.'' In the archaeology of the Stone Age, an industry or technocomplex is a typological classification of stone tools. An industry consists of a nu ...
or culture. Scientific techniques exist to track the specific kinds of rock or minerals that were used to make stone tools in various regions back to their original sources. As well as stone, projectile points were also made of worked
wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...
,
bone A bone is a Stiffness, rigid Organ (biology), organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red blood cell, red and white blood cells, store minerals, provid ...
,
antler Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally found only on male ...
,
horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...
, or
ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is ...
; all of these are less common in the Americas. In regions where
metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...
emerged, projectile points were eventually made from
copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
,
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
, or
iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
, though the change was by no means immediate. In North America, some late prehistoric points were fashioned from copper that was mined in the
Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...
region and elsewhere.


History in North America

A large variety of prehistoric arrowheads, dart points, javelin points, and spear points have been discovered.
Chert Chert () is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a prec ...
,
obsidian Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements s ...
,
quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...
,
quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...
, and many other rocks and minerals were commonly used to make points in North America. The oldest projectile points found in North America were long thought to date from about 13,000 years ago, during the Paleo-Indian period, however recent evidence suggests that North American projectile points may date to as old as 15,500 years. Some of the more famous Paleo-Indian types include Clovis,
Folsom Folsom may refer to: People * Folsom (surname) Places in the United States * Folsom, Perry County, Alabama * Folsom, Randolph County, Alabama * Folsom, California * Folsom, Georgia * Folsom, Louisiana * Folsom, Missouri * Folsom, New Jerse ...
and Dalton points.


Types

Projectile points fall into two general types:
dart Dart or DART may refer to: * Dart, the equipment in the game of darts Arts, entertainment and media * Dart (comics), an Image Comics superhero * Dart, a character from ''G.I. Joe'' * Dart, a ''Thomas & Friends'' railway engine character * Dar ...
,
javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...
, or
spear A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...
points and arrow points. Larger points were used to tip
atlatl A spear-thrower, spear-throwing lever or ''atlatl'' (pronounced or ; Nahuatl ''ahtlatl'' ) is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in dart or javelin-throwing, and includes a bearing surface which allows the user to store ene ...
javelins or darts and spears. Arrow points are smaller and lighter than dart points, and were used to tip arrows. The question of how to distinguish an arrow point from a point used on a larger projectile is non-trivial. According to some investigators, the best indication is the width of the
hafting Hafting is a process by which an artifact, often bone, stone, or metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appeara ...
area, which is thought to correlate to the width of the shaft. An alternative approach is to distinguish arrow points by their necessarily smaller size (weight, length, thickness). Projectile points come in an amazing variety of shapes and styles, which vary according to chronological periods, cultural identities, and intended functions. Typological studies of projectile points have become more elaborate through the years. For instance,
Gregory Perino Gregory Herman Perino (February 25, 1914 – July 4, 2005) was an American self-taught professional archaeologist, author, consultant, and the last living founder of the Illinois State Archaeological Society. Perino was considered one of the fore ...
began his categorical study of projectile point typology in the late 1950s. Collaborating with Robert Bell, he published a set of four volumes defining the known point types of that time. Perino followed this several years later with a three-volume study of "Selected Preforms, Points and Knives of the North American Indians". Another recent set of typological studies of North American projectile points has been produced by Noel Justice.Justice 2002b


Selected North American types

*
Bare Island projectile point up360px, A Bare Island projectile point made of flint from central New York State.">flint.html" ;"title="projectile point made of flint">projectile point made of flint from central New York State. The Bare Island projectile point is a stone proj ...
* Barnes projectile point *
Cascade point A Cascade point is a projectile point associated with the Cascade phase, an ancient culture of Native Americans that settled in the Pacific Northwest that existed from 9000 or 10000 BC until about 5500 BC. The Cascade (Bipointed) point is typical ...
* Clovis point *
Cumberland point A Cumberland point is a lithic projectile point, attached to a spear and used as a hunting tool. These sturdy points were intended for use as thrusting weapons and employed by various mid-Paleo-Indians (c. 11,000 BP) in the Southeastern United Stat ...
*
Eden point Eden Points are a form of chipped stone projectile points associated with a sub-group of the larger Plano culture. Sometimes also called Yuma points, the first Eden points were discovered in washouts in Yuma County, Colorado. They were first d ...
* Elko point *
Folsom point Folsom points are projectile points associated with the Folsom tradition of North America. The style of tool-making was named after the Folsom site located in Folsom, New Mexico, where the first sample was found in 1908 by George McJunkin within t ...
*
Greene projectile point upGreene projectile point from central New York State Greene projectile points are stone projectile point In North American archaeological terminology, a projectile point is an object that was hafted to a weapon that was capable of being thro ...
*
Jack's Reef pentagonal projectile point 300px, Jack's Reef pentagonal projectile point from central New York State Jacks Reef Pentagonal is the name for small (1" to 1 ½"), broad projectiles and specialized knives. They were named by William A. Ritchie based on examples recovered from ...
*
Lamoka projectile point image:LamokaProjPoint.jpg, 360px, Lamoka projectile points from central New York State. The point on the left is a "stemmed" lamoka point made of quartz. The middle one is a "stemmed" lamoka point made of flint and, the point on the right is a flin ...
*
Levanna projectile point Levanna projectile points are stone projectile points manufactured by Native Americans what is now the Northeastern United States, generally in the time interval of 700-1350 AD. They are true arrowheads rather than atlatl dart points, and they de ...
* Neville projectile point *
Susquehanna broad projectile point upSusquehanna broad projectile point from central New York State. Made from rhyolite, probably quarried near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. ">Gettysburg,_Pennsylvania.html" ;"title="rhyolite, probably quarried near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania">rhyolite, p ...
*
Plano point In archaeology, Plano point is flaked stone projectile points and tools created by the various Plano cultures of the North American Great Plains between 9000 BC and 6000 BC for hunting, and possibly to kill other humans. They are bifacially work ...


Australia

*
Kimberley points Kimberley points are a type of Aboriginal stone tool made by pressure flaking both discarded glass and stone. Best known for the points made of glass, these artifacts are an example of adaptive reuse of Western technology by a non-western culture ...


Gallery

File:Coqueirinho - Artefato Ponta projectil Video 1.webm, Pre-historic projectile point from
Lapa do Santo Lapa do Santo is an archaeological site located in the northern part of the Lagoa Santa karst, in the state of Minas Gerais in east-central Brazil. It documents human presence since ca. 12000 years ago presenting three discrete occupation phase ...
File:Native American Projectile Points York County Pennsylvania 2014.jpg, Prehistoric Native American projectile points from
York County, Pennsylvania York County ( Pennsylvania Dutch: Yarrick Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 456,438. Its county seat is York. The county was created on August 19, 1749, from part of Lancaster ...
. File:Na arrowheads.jpg, A collection of stone projectile points from North America. File:Projectilepoint.jpg, A knapped flint arrowhead. File:Hohokam Arrowhead Sahuarita Arizona 2014.jpg, Prehistoric stone arrowhead
in situ ''In situ'' (; often not italicized in English) is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "on site" or "in position." It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in ...
. File:Lapa do Santo - Ponta de projétil (Lst 5534).jpg, Prehistoric stone (Lapa do Lago, Brazil). File:Lorida, FL Thonotosassa type.JPG, Thonotosassa type,
Lorida, Florida Lorida is an unincorporated community in eastern Highlands County, Florida, United States. It lies along U.S. Route 98 between the cities of Sebring and Okeechobee. In addition to some light industry located along U.S. 98 corridor, Lorida and ...
. File:Little Gasparilla Island.JPG, Little Gasparilla Island beach find. File:Heads of spear.JPG, Ancient spear heads.


See also

* Elf-arrow *
Levallois technique The Levallois technique () is a name given by archaeologists to a distinctive type of stone knapping developed around 250,000 to 300,000 years ago during the Middle Palaeolithic period. It is part of the Mousterian stone tool industry, and was u ...
*
Lithic reduction In archaeology, in particular of the Stone Age, lithic reduction is the process of fashioning stones or rocks from their natural state into tools or weapons by removing some parts. It has been intensely studied and many archaeological industrie ...


Notes


References

* * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Projectile Point 01 Lithics Archaeological artefact types Primitive technology Primitive weapons Stone Age Archaic period in North America Jōmon period Paleolithic Japan