Arrowheads?

[Carly K]

Hi there, someone kindly advised me to move my post here. I'm hoping that someone can help me with what these are and what they're worth. I'm assuming they're arrowheads made from some type of stone. There are two made from different material. How can I found what they're made from and when?

Many thanks

 

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[redbeardrelics]

Can you tell us where you got them, or what part of the country they came from?
The one in the top photos, with the lighter tan color looks to me to be made of jasper stone, and could be a "Jacks Reef" type point. The Jacks Reef points are roughly 1000 to 2000 years old, and may have been too early and too large to have been used as arrow points. The bottom point may also be made of a grainier type of jasper that has been heat treated ?

 

[arrow86]

Like redbeard said where they came from will help identifying the type and age. As far as value them would probably only bring a few dollars each.

 

[Charl]

That first one does look like a jasper Jack's Reef Corner Notch. Here in New England, they are regarded as the first true arrow points to be used with a bow. Larger examples would have served other purposes, such as knives, for instance. Most typologies are region based, so knowing where they were found helps to come up with type names. I agree that the value would only be a few dollars each....

 

[Carly K]

Thank you. Sadly, I don't actually know where they are from or anything about them really! I'm based in the UK and they were in a bunch of stuff my mum gave to me. I've asked her and she also doesn't know much about them other than they were my grandads! He was in the army and travelled to many places but could have acquired them from anywhere/anyone I guess! If they're not worth much I'll probably hang on to them as they look pretty cool but was interested to understand a little more about them too.

What would they have been used for if not arrows? Forgive my naivety but I don't know very much about this topic at all!

 

[rock]

Thank you. Sadly, I don't actually know where they are from or anything about them really! I'm based in the UK and they were in a bunch of stuff my mum gave to me. I've asked her and she also doesn't know much about them other than they were my grandads! He was in the army and travelled to many places but could have acquired them from anywhere/anyone I guess! If they're not worth much I'll probably hang on to them as they look pretty cool but was interested to understand a little more about them too.

What would they have been used for if not arrows? Forgive my naivety but I don't know very much about this topic at all!

Knifes most likely. If your grandfather found them they are priceless. But if you were to sell them you would be looking at $5-$20 for the pretty one on the high end for the other on the low end.

 

[monsterrack]

They are priceless that they came from your grandfather, keep them close. Welcome to T-net

 

[Charl]

Thank you. Sadly, I don't actually know where they are from or anything about them really! I'm based in the UK and they were in a bunch of stuff my mum gave to me. I've asked her and she also doesn't know much about them other than they were my grandads! He was in the army and travelled to many places but could have acquired them from anywhere/anyone I guess! If they're not worth much I'll probably hang on to them as they look pretty cool but was interested to understand a little more about them too.

What would they have been used for if not arrows? Forgive my naivety but I don't know very much about this topic at all!

Well, that first one is a Jack's Reef Corner Notch, named for the Jack's Reef archaeological site in New York State.
You can see a distribution map and many other examples on this page:

Jacks Reef Corner Notch Projectile Point

And more info and examples on these two pages:

New York State Museum - Projectile Point Type Collection


New York State Museum - Projectile Point Type Collection

It looks like Pennsylvania jasper, which was a material favored by the Jack's Reef culture in the northeastern United States. It was traded far and wide by these people. It is likely your point originates in the eastern part of the United States, as the distribution map shows.

As for usage, northeastern archaeologists regard these projectiles as the first true arrowheads, that is the first to be used with the bow, about 1500 years ago. That's about when use of the bow was introduced. Prior to the bow, natives used a spear throwing equipment known as an atlatl. So, while man in the Americas goes back over 20,000 years, the bow is relatively recent. Most projectile points served other purposes, as well as use as actual projectile points with an atlatl or a bow. They might have been used as knives when they were bigger then an arrowhead, or they might serve as scrapers. Here are two Jack's Reef points. The one on the left suffered a broken tip, and was repurposed as a scraper. And see the rounded tip on the one on the right? It too was used as a scraper. The stem is broken on that example. Hope this helps fill you in to some degree....

 

[joshuaream]

Given the rather sharp angles, I think the first one might be an Afton vs a Jacks Reef Pentagonal. That would take it from New England more towards Mississippi River Valley (Missouri/Arkansas.)

 

[Charl]

I can certainly see Afton as well, although in the case of the common pentagonal blade form of Jack's Reef Corner Notch, the angles can also be fairly sharp, as on these two RI examples for instance. Also, Jack's Reef Pentagonal is a dIfferent type from Jack's Reef Corner Notch....

 

[Charl]

I often find that collectors confuse JR Corner Notch and JR Pentagonal. Some think of JR Pentagonal as the Un-Notched form of the JR Corner Notch, although that cannot always be the case, some JR Pentagonal were no doubt used as is.
Here are examples of JR Pentagonal points:

New York State Museum - Projectile Point Type Collection

New York State Museum - Projectile Point Type Collection

Not all JR Corner Notched points display the pentagonal blade form, as the two in my previous comment do. For instance, here are two JR's, both made of Braintree Hornfels, and both found on the same RI beach. The one on the left is a JR Corner Notched, but without a pentagonal blade. And on the right is a JR Pentagonal. The pentagonal form of the JR Corner Notched was likely the result of steep resharpening of the points.