Early, Early Projectile

[CarlS]

Good day and hope everyone had a nice weekend.  Today I went for a short trail run and found a first for me: a small arrow head.  It is the first projectile I've found in quite a while!  As you can see it is about  an inch and an eighth (1.125") long.  The amazing thing is I eyeballed it about 30 feet from where I eyeballed that fired Whitworth bullet back in December of 2012:
     http://bulletandshell.com/forum/index.php?topic=764.msg5708#msg5708
Not the most rare or valuable find but my first and I think it is pretty cool.  My wife even liked it!  Just thought I'd share with everyone.

[Pete George]

  I'm logged in, and I cannot see your photo.

  If I recall correctly from way back when my college Minor was "Archeology & Anthropology of the North American Indian," the inch-long projectile points are called a "bird point"... made for shooting small birds which a larger arrowhead would cut to pieces.

Regards,
Pete

[CarlS]

Pete,

Sorry for the omission.  I had a brain cramp as the saying goes and neglected to add them.  As you can hopefully see they are there now.

I've heard the term "bird point" before but never had one.  Now I do!  Thanks for the info.

[tom buckley]

Since this was found near where you found a fired Whitworth can we assume that it's Confederate? 
After a good rain yesterday, I have a freshly plowed field I need to check out. Maybe I can get lucky too.

[CarlS]

RelicRunner sent these images to his brother who works with a lithic (relates to stone tools) specialist.  He has knowledge about arrowheads.  His reply was:

• It looks like a Bakers Creek point…Middle Woodland associated typically with Swift Creek pottery (ca. AD 150-600). The raw material is difficult to make out in the picture, but I would guess that it is made from some type of Ridge and Valley chert (probably Fort Payne).

I presume the reference to "Fort Payne" is Fort Payne, Alabama area.

[Pete George]

  Yes, the reference is to the Fort Payne, Alabama area.  I did cave-exploring and rockhounding there, back in the late-1960s. The area is famous for its colorful varieties of chert/flint nodules, found in the aptly-named "Paint Rock Valley." It was a prime flint harvesting spot for Native Americans. The creeks were absolutely loaded with chert nodules... some of which were hollow, containing Amethyst crystals.

Regards,
Pete

[misipirelichtr]

I've got to weigh in on this thread - and while I'm not an expert on Indian relics I can bring a bit more info to the discussion.

First, most "arrowheads" are not arrowheads at all - rather they are knives, scrapers, drills, or spear points.  In North America, the bow and stone arrow was a relatively new invention - late Woodland or Mississippian eras in the eastern US, for example.  Carl, I'd like to see your point in hand before calling it a Baker Creek - looks like it might have a bit of rework on one side.  It does appear to be a type of flint or chert.  And "birdpoints" is a misnomer as well - very tiny stone points were used for hunting deer and other game.  In the southeastern US, most "birdpoints" are actually Mississippian culture arrowheads, knives or scrapers.

Carl, its a great find and maybe the beginning of a whole new collecting interest for you!  Congratulations - and keep running in that area.  Who knows what you might turn up next.

[6lbgun]

Looks like a profile of a women to me.  On the left you see the eye, small nose, lips and chin.  Her long hair is in the middle of the stone. 
Dan

[CarlS]

Misipirelichtr,

Thanks for your sharing of your knowledge.  I know you've found quite a few over the years.   will you be at Brandon?  If so I'll bring it for you to get a good look at.  When looking around on the web I also noticed that "birdpoint" is more of a generic term used for the smaller sized arrowhead shaped items.  Most are big enough they would filet most birds on impact.  I think this one is likely in that size range.  It does appear to have been resharpened or fixed when a big chunk popped off on the left side of the above images.

[alwion]

interesting shape and material. misipirelichtr is correct. the type chert is usually named after the "quarry" locality the Indians got it at. although through trade a chert type could go 100's of miles, especially if its a pretty color( around here the Indians heat treated the banded white chert turning it red or blue just for Aesthetics) usually most points were found in the area the node was found and formed. heres an example from my area, showing one heat treated. nice find, especially from that distance!!!!!