questions for the professional archaeologists

[Aurora1959]

1. How was the timeline for bow-and-arrow technology determined, given that bows are wood and presumably would rot away. Wondering because every site I hunt seems to have very small points that could conceivably be used on an arrow.

2. And these small points are commonly called "bird points" by collectors...is that a legit term for the pros? Most seem to be a non-specific type.

 

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[GopherDaGold]

I'm not an archaeologist but I play one on the internet. Even though the term bird point is used for smaller arrowheads, they were not always used to hunt birds. Many were used on much larger game as well and were quite effective.

 

[Older The Better]

I’m just throwing my two cents out there, but I would imagine it’s tied to when “bird” points began to appear in the record, no bow no need for small points.

 

[The Grim Reaper]

I believe a lot of these smaller Points commonly referred to as a Birdpoint are actually Atl Atl Dart Points.

 

[Buckleberry]

I believe a lot of these smaller Points commonly referred to as a Birdpoint are actually Atl Atl Dart Points.

Agreed and as to wood rot, occasionally they find old bows and sometimes Atlatls in dry old caves and arid climes.

 

[joshuaream]

So I am not a professional archaeologist, but I do have a degree in archaeology. (Poverty didn't suit my wife too well, so I switched my masters degree to business.)

The timeline has always been a bit debatable. There aren't any actual bow and arrows left from 50,000 years ago, but the damage from impacts from arrows are a bit different under a microscope than dart points from a spear thrower. (According to the researchers.)

The term bird points is just common term for small points. The term arrowhead is also pretty generic. I know archaeologists who use the term for notched stuff that is later than paleo and early archaic stuff, but it isn't a scientific term. There are two common origins for the term. The first is that bird points were small and logically for small game like birds, and collectors assumed bigger pieces were for bigger game like deer and bison. The other origin story is that many small arrowheads seem to be made from higher quality material, and they were colorful like birds. It seems to depend where you are from. I think the colorful bird points term was a Pacific Northwest thing for a while, but now most collectors use the term to mean small points.

 

[ToddsPoint]

Middle Woodland period. The Hopewell culture. Many Hopewell mounds dug, skeletons examined. To my knowledge, no Hopewell skeletons are found with embedded arrow points. Now to the Late Woodland. Dixon Mounds Archaeological site on the Spoon River in W.Cent. IL. Skeletons dug at this site were shot with arrowheads and had holes knocked in their heads with celts. Some skeletons had up to 9 points. The bow and arrow may have existed before Late Woodland times, but that is the time period where bow use exploded. That would be 400-500 AD. Gary

 

[Aurora1959]

"but I play one on the internet" made me lol!

 

[redbeardrelics]

Good questions ! I am not a professional archaeologist either, but I spent 3 nights this month in a Holiday Inn Express, which counts for something in some circles. I have been interested in the timeline for bow & arrow introduction, or invention, in the Americas for a while myself, and ToddsPoint's info is the first real info I have heard on the subject in my casual observation. I would be curious in knowing how it was determined that the points found within the profiles of the skeletons were deemed to be from arrows, rather than from darts, spears, or knives, perhaps some thin wood ends of arrows still remained with the points?
I find the 400-500 AD dating particularly interesting because it seems to correspond with some of the dates I have seen regarding the introduction of Jack Reef points, which some researchers seem to be thinking originated in the Newfoundland area of Canada. I have wondered if perhaps an early appearance of Scandinavians in that area of Canada might have been how and where bow & arrow technology was introduced to the Americas? I saw somewhere some images of roughly 500 AD metal arrow points from Scandinavia that reminded me of the profile of Jacks Reef points, but then again a lot of much earlier American lithic points have very similar profiles.
I also suspect that the early east coast contact period accounts of the points witnessed on arrows being triangular, and subsequent digs dating triangular points to the middle and late-middle woodland period, had resulted in a consensus that triangular points=arrow points, and thus arrows were introduced when triangular points were.

 

[CaptEsteban]

I am not an archeologist , but have studied it & assisted them in many aspects over the years.
Like so many things in their field, the origin of bows & arrows in the U.S. is debatable. One will say that it is many thousands of years old, but most I have been around , suggest starting about 500 A.D.
Yes, wood will rot, but most natives sought out better quality wood, if available, for their bows. Osage Orange, Black Locust , are highly rot resistant & are great for making bows.
Somehow," bird points" has taken on the meaning of a point used to hunt birds & other small game. Those small points hunted deer size game . They were lighted than larger points making it ideal for longer shots.

 

[Older The Better]

You can also work backwards and make an educated guess. look at the arrowheads fixed to shafts of historical groups, note approximate size and design then look back into the archaeological record and see when points of those general size see a spike in numbers. Even though there could have been bows around before that it would be most reasonable to say they caught on there

 

[RGINN]

I believe a lot of these smaller Points commonly referred to as a Birdpoint are actually Atl Atl Dart Points.

That's interesting as I've never heard anybody put that forward. We were told the larger ones were actually atl-atl points. Could be. I know you could kill a buffalo with a 'bird point'. Interesting take I hadn't thought about. I suppose to test that you could put a smaller point on a dart and throw it and see how it performed, maybe.

 

[bravowhiskey]

pretty obvious a smaller point could kill larger game but the math dictates a larger blade (cutting edges on the point) causes much more damage to internals and greater blood loss to the beast.
Its a good guess they used what they had handy at the time the shot presented itself

 

[unclemac]

pretty obvious a smaller point could kill larger game but the math dictates a larger blade (cutting edges on the point) causes much more damage to internals and greater blood loss to the beast.
Its a good guess they used what they had handy at the time the shot presented itself

modern day bow hunters may disagree with that....