Im not sure what this is or how old, spear head maybe?

[Ctrustme]

I'm not sure what this is or how old, spear head maybe?

My grandmother found this in 1918 near Gunpowder River in Fallston, MD. It's about 5 1/4 inches long and 1 1/2 inches at the widest point. I'm super new at this forum thing and hope I'm in the right spot. Any feedback and or guidance would be greatly appreciated! My father values this piece dearly and would love to get more information. Many thanks for your help! Carrie

 

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[GatorBoy]

That is a beautiful piece!!! Yes you are in the right place. You will get plenty of info on that I'm sure. I've got to run but if when I get back you still need info I will be happy.

 

[timekiller]

Very nice early Archaic,Lost Lake point.
Take Care,
Pete,

 

[birdpointgriswold]

I would guess..I'm no expert a few guys up here are very good with I.Ds "the grim reaper" "larson", "sohio", "americus", 'harry",... but I'm going to give it a shot! I would say Archaic early some sort of Kirk corner notch, St. Charles plevena, or lost lake

Johnathan Griswold

 

[WhiteCountyPaleo]

Looks like a Dovetail / St. Charles. Has the characteristic (in the picture) of also being left hand beveled. It seems to to have been resharpened for a left handed person. Looks like it's made of Coshocton / Upper Mercer or Onondaga Flint?

 

[WhiteCountyPaleo]

Looking again at the picture, it looks like it's not beveled, but resharpened from both sides. Seems kind of odd. You should show a picture that looks down on the piece from the tip. Interesting.

 

[Ctrustme]

Looking again at the picture, it looks like it's not beveled, but resharpened from both sides. Seems kind of odd. You should show a picture that looks down on the piece from the tip. Interesting.

Thanks so much for your help. This is amazing how I had no idea how old and rare this item is! Now I'm wondering who I should contact to hopefully assign a value to it? Do you have any suggestions? Thank you!
Ps I will try to upload the pic you suggested soon.

 

[Chrystal]

Dont know to much about indian artifacts, but you truely have an awesome piece. You certainly have found the right place, good luck and welcome yo tnet!!!

 

[Ctrustme]

I sent this picture to the Smithsonian Institute for evaluation. Evidentially, they provide a service that will attempt to identify your artifact and estimate its age, etc. I'll be sure to post their feedback if I get any. Thanks to all for your posts, they're very helpful!

 

[Twitch]

It's most likely ~7,500-8,500 years old, +/- 1,000 years. It appears to be a Dovetail (not substantially different from Lost Lake). Like WCP said the resharpening on the point is unusual and it's a little bit out of it's area for being found, but not crazily so. A closer up picture of the blade would be great. Value could potentially be into the high hundreds of dollars, but a number of things would have to be looked at closer to determine that. Are there any other points in the collection?

Thanks.

 

[Ctrustme]

Here's some close ups. 😊

 

[bsit1361]

wow

Here's some close ups. 

Are you positive it came from Gunpowder area? That is an amazing piece for that area. I am a local artifact hunter and I can tell you I have never seen anything come close to that in our neck of the woods. Here we call em St Charles but they are essentially Lost Lake. Most points from here are quartz jasper or rhyolite and that doesnt appear to be any of it. An occasional rare material pops up but not that big. I have been hunting for years and have 100s of points and misc artifacts but only 1 half of a St Charles. I know many collectors too and none of them have 1 from our area. That is truley an amazing find for the gunpowder. Keep it safe. Would love to see it one day. Ben