Copper spear point....

[Cubfan64]

I'm new here, so hopefully I do this right in posting a couple pictures and telling a little story.

My great great aunt and uncle lived on a farm in Winnebago County Wisconsin (Town of Clayton). I used to love to visit there while I was in high school to just wander around in the woods, fields and old barn buildings. I used to have an old Whites metal detector that I tried out there on occasion, but I pretty much didn't know what I was doing and only found scrap metal, nails, bolts, etc... (junk).

Shortly before my great great uncle passed away, I had an opportunity to see some of the rooms in the upstairs of their old stone farmhouse where they had boxes and boxes of "stuff." One of the small cigar boxes I saw contained 20-30 arrowheads which they had found while out plowing the fields and/or planting in the garden. My great great aunt allowed me to pick one of the arrowheads out of the box to keep as a momento just because I was so interested in them and the stories behind finding them.

The pictures below show what I took out of the box.

It was shortly after (1-2 months) my gg uncle died that my gg aunt sadly had to go live in a nursing home and she also died shortly afterwards. I wish to this day that I had been as interested in metal detecting and "treasure hunting" then as I am now - unfortunately I was in HS and had little interest in anything but girls and trying to get away with drinking.

The farm was sold shortly after she passed away and although the stone farmhouse is still there (it was renovated somewhat and being lived in - it was one of the first homes built in the area so it survives as a landmark and was only able to be renovated to a certain extent), the surrounding barns/sheds/outbuildings have been torn down 20+ years ago and the fields and woods where I wandered are now yards for duplexes and homes.

What I wouldn't have given to have spent more time not only looking for hidden "treasures" such as the one in the picture, but also learning the history and listening to the stories my gg aunt and uncle could have told me about their lives there - I'm ashamed to say it wasn't important to me at the time

I have no idea of the value of the spear head they gave me, and although I didn't actually find it on my own, it is priceless to me and I dream of the stories that it longs to tell me each time I pick it up and look at it.

I've never had it authenticated, but I know where it came from and I trust my relatives stories to the utmost. I work in a laboratory and the first picture includes data from a Scanning Electron Microscope with Elemental Xray Detection capability. I always felt it was a copper spearhead, and although this is only a surface test as I didn't want anything done to damage the spearhead, it clearly is copper, with the other elements being indicative of oxidation, dirt residue etc...

I recently purchased a Fisher CZ-20 and have moved from the midwest to New Hampshire a couple years ago. Thanks to not only this site, but stories I've read, my desire to search for such treasures has been rekindled and I hope to be able to add many stories and pictures to this forum for years to come

Thanks for listening to me rant and if anyone does have information as to how old this spearhead may be or anything else of interest, I would love to hear from you!

Thanks and enjoy the pictures.

 

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[Gypsy Heart]

Excellent keepsake...Wisconsin holds the record for copper tools and weapons ....dating back centuries....more info go here.......
http://copperculture.homestead.com/

 

[bk]

Nice spearpoint!
It's nice to have access to analytical tools such as SEM. I used to use one also. (mid 70's) it had EDAC capabilities to do elemental analysis. I used it on a token that I found that was a pattern struck in "white metal".
I don't exactly remember the composition ratios, but as I recall it was zinc, lead, tin, and silicon.
I was at a coin hunt in central WI. last summer. One of the contestants found one very similar to yours in the hunt field. It was not planted. I believe his was about 4" long.

 

[Michigan Badger]

Very nice copper spear and to the garden-variety ebayer it's worth $125 to $200.
An intelligent person wouldn't mind paying $300 or more for it. Ancient North American spear points are extremely sought after by collectors.

Ebay usually brings about 1/3 the value of truly valuable items and 3 times the worth of junk.

Actually, in a way, your point is priceless. The memories you have and the actual history itself make it a true treasure. One day the world will wake up and realize the value of these unspeakably awesome relics of history.

To know the exact age of your relic you'd need to take it to a specialist. From the photo it doesn't appear to be Copper Culture (ca. 3000 B.C.) but I could be wrong.

The Copper Culture people hammered raw float copper into thin sheets and then rolled it into points.

I'd figure your point of more recent origin. Maybe 1100 A.D. or so?

I recently sold my entire collection of northern Michigan Copper Culture artifacts. The buyer got them dirt-cheap because most people in the world have never even heard of the Copper Culture.

Very nice find and too bad you can't go back in time with a modern detector!

 

[Cubfan64]

Thanks for the kind words and even more so the information!!

Michigan Badger, I wish I shared your optimism that the world will wake up and realize the significance of these items. I personally don't think that will ever happen, but for now I think it's enough that a tiny percentage of us take enjoyment and appreciation for those things and do what we can to pass that enjoyment on to others.

I'm going to spend the weekend reading about my CZ-20 - both the manual and more importantly relevant information on forums such as this and I REALLY look forward to doing some hunting this year!!

Thanks again - great site!!

 

[nhbenz]

WOW. That is a great item.

 

[suwannee pirate]

I have hunted artfacts most of my life and never came across anything like that , thats a keeper for sure!Maybe the people in the stone house would let you detect around there if you asked them and told them the history of the place, as you could tell them more than they now know about it. Very nice spear tip! Bob

 

[Gypsy Heart]

I am looking at an almost identical spearpoint in the 6th edition of North American Indian Artifacts....page 166 ....and see they are going for 500-1000.00 dollars .....Old Copper Culture ...Wisconsin.....

 

[Cubfan64]

In the short time I've been reading this forum, I could tell right away it was a "gold mine" (no pun intended) of information as it seems there's always someone out there who can answer a question or provide more information - thanks very much!

It's fun to know that value of this might be in the hundreds to a thousand dollars, but I doubt I'd ever sell it with the history that it has for me. There's always the possibility that I might try to contact the current owners of the house, but since I don't live in the area anymore, I honestly doubt I'll ever have a chance to do that again. The places I really wanted to search would have been the fields where the arrow heads were found in the first place, but as I said, sadly those are now front and backyards of duplexes and highway :-(.

Oh - one last thing. I didn't realize at the time I posted this that there is also an Indian Artifcat section in this forum. If the moderators want to move this thread there, please go ahead and do so.

Thanks again for the information - gypsy, I'll have to get my hands on that native american guide sometime!

 

[DJ_Quinn]

That's a nice spearhead. The copper mines in Northern Michigan have been mined for over 5,000 yrs. Interesting find. All the family keepsakes like that I would never sell. I've got a few antyique pistols from the Civil War era that belom=nged to my Grandfather, who was a collector, and I wouldn't dream of parting with them. That piece certainly looks authentic, and it looks identical to spearheads I've seen here in Ireland from the Bronze Age. Happy hunting with your new detector.

 

[EDDE]

bump

 

[kenb]

I missed the original post on this. Fantastic spear head cubfan.

kenb

 

[trevilians01]

Because of the similarity of these items to points in Europe (and other evidence), there is a growing theory of Pre-Colombian colonists from various parts of the Old Country. Check this out: http://www.econ.ohio-state.edu/jhm/arch/outliers.html

 

[Old Dog]

Hey Cub,

That is an awesome point.
Every time I see this stuff I am in awe.

and you want to come out here to find treasure?

I'm confused.

LOL
Thom

 

[DJ_Quinn]

Because of the similarity of these items to points in Europe (and other evidence), there is a growing theory of Pre-Colombian colonists from various parts of the Old Country. Check this out: http://www.econ.ohio-state.edu/jhm/arch/outliers.html

Of course there was. Coca traces in Egyptian mummies confirmed this beyond a doubt. Finding a relic that would link pre-columus trade routes to N America would be a metal detectors dream.

BTW, I not only enjyoyed seeing your find, but the story was great as well. Cheers.

 

[COUNTRY GIRL]

Pictures do not do that point justice. It is a gotgeous piece and I was honored to be able to hold it in my hand!

Think spring!