Found this quartz arrowhead while digging a target

[n3tuf]

I was hunting an 200 year old house today and my detector was picking up some metal and while digging around 6-8" down I saw this white quartz arrowhead along with some square nails come out of the dirt. I wonder if the arrowhead was there before the house was built or used by Indians visiting the owners? It was found between their parking lot and the house.

 

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[n3tuf]

I have a friend who lives in Arden, DE who has one of the largest collections of Indian artifacts I've seen. He collected most of them in the Phoenixville,PA area and most of them are quartz. Here are some of my collection from the Brandywine river Valley of Northern DE area. Alot of them are quartz as well. Quartz is a very common mineral in this area and was used by the Lenape Indians.

 

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[Tnmountains]

Quartz is really fun to find and yes hard to work. You found a nice one. It is common over most of the United States and not that uncommon. I doubt it was a ceremonial piece or knapped and or used to hold dirt and bacteria to cause infection in wounds. Quartz in not considered a high grade material though. Most arrowheads are actually knifes and tools. The very very small points are actually arrow points.
I like finding them and yours was nice to see.
HH
TnMtns

 

[kuger]

Quartz is really fun to find and yes hard to work. You found a nice one. It is common over most of the United States and not that uncommon. I doubt it was a ceremonial piece or knapped and or used to hold dirt and bacteria to cause infection in wounds. Quartz in not considered a high grade material though. Most arrowheads are actually knifes and tools. The very very small points are actually arrow points.
I like finding them and yours was nice to see.
HH
TnMtns

I am done beating the horse.They are rare out here,we have lots of quartz,and they are generally ceremonial,out here.........

 

[Eddie Lomax]

I have found 300-400 quartz points over the years, mostly in South Carolina but a few in Georgia. They are V-E-R-Y common in South Carolina.

 

[Charlene]

Nice Quartz, what a bonus in the nail find. Thanks for sharing

 

[Gaijun1]

Too Bad It Wasent Gold Too

 

[phifly04]

sweet find from a fellow Delco(Darby) man
Dave

 

[baspinall]

Way to go Woody! I found one in a hole once up towards French Creek State Park.

Brian

 

[Tnmountains]

Quartz is really fun to find and yes hard to work. You found a nice one. It is common over most of the United States and not that uncommon. I doubt it was a ceremonial piece or knapped and or used to hold dirt and bacteria to cause infection in wounds. Quartz in not considered a high grade material though. Most arrowheads are actually knifes and tools. The very very small points are actually arrow points.
I like finding them and yours was nice to see.
HH
TnMtns
[/quot

I am done beating the horse.They are rare out here,we have lots of quartz,and they are generally ceremonial,out here.........

No offense but would really be interested in seeing what is considered a ceremonial item in quartz from Cali,,

 

[kuger]

Not going to happen

 

[ianfkirby]

I have found 300-400 quartz points over the years, mostly in South Carolina but a few in Georgia. They are V-E-R-Y common in South Carolina.

I live in central SC, near Lake Murray and found this today.

 

[baspinall]

Am I correct in assuming you are in S.E. Pa? The Lenni Lenape(Delaware) indians used quartz as there is much of it here in this area..

Yep those would be the correct Indians. I grew up close to Woody's area and hunted points my whole life with my father. Most of the points we found growing up were flint. Woody that is pretty cool. I also found one in a hole while retrieving a target once. Here are a few of the one from the Lenni Lenape tribe that we found over the years.

 

[Ga.Hunter]

I have a lot of Quartz arrowheads, some you can see streight thru......I was told Creek Indians used white Quarts around here in GA.

 

[Gunrunner61]

I'm not sure about Ga. But over in Oconee County,S.C. They are the main type of material found. Of course we found a few chert and flint points, But quartz was and is the most common rocks around................HH

 

[jeff741972]

99% of the quarts ive seen dont look like anything ceremonial, now jasper on the other hand, Ive seen me some awesome jasper artifacts,dug some too. I do know the difference between quartzite, and quartz. I Have 1 quartz point I dug that would of been killer, a woodland levanna, but I wacked it 3 times with my hoe, that was quite a while ago when I first started digging, I gave it up a few years ago, sold off most of my finds. My biggest turn off was how there are so many fakes out there, member of the club I was in selling fakes at the shows using their reputations and the buddy system.. regardless, nice quarts point you found while digging, old homesteads where usually built near water, native americans camped their also, most likely anytime before the 200 years the house was there all the way back 10,000 years. Im not sure what type that is, but wouldnt surprise me if it where 1000 years or older. Contact period indians would use broken glass, pieces of copper tea pots, or just about anything to make a point, that is if they already hadnt traded furs for guns. Its all in your local history, explore it and make your own conclusion

 

[kuger]

WELL IT SEEMS out there they are common,not here.We have obsidian.I read a journal of a miner(John Doble) in the 1850's that spoke of a burial ceromy he watched(actually they burned the deceased....but at any rate he spoke specifically of the quartz tipped arrows and bow that was burned with the body,and noted that he had never seen quartz used in the capacity of an arrowhead

 

[oxbowbarefoot]

Quartz arrowhead are far and away the most common type in my area. I agree that they are also extremely common in the Carolinas and Virginia area. There just isn't a lot of good material around, and quartz is abundant. I haver found dozens of quartz points on only a few trips out in the Carolinas, compared to 2 flint points. In MA, I have only found 2 points myself, both were quartz. I have friends who have found points of many materials in MA, but still, the majority are quartz.

 

[jeff741972]

WELL IT SEEMS out there they are common,not here.We have obsidian.I read a journal of a miner(John Doble) in the 1850's that spoke of a burial ceromy he watched(actually they burned the deceased....but at any rate he spoke specifically of the quartz tipped arrows and bow that was burned with the body,and noted that he had never seen quartz used in the capacity of an arrowhead

That was probably exactly what he had seen, but to put it in perspective, all the cultures, spanning thousands of years.... Also I have found way more jasper than quartz, but I am in Pa, now the fellas in Va, Nc poop a brick when they find jasper, just depends on where they where, and what the particular tribe though was valuable. Myself for instance, have found a raw copper point in a rock shelter, something I would of never in a million years thought I would find here. There was always trading, you know that saying, one mans trash is anothers treasure. I have found onondaga chert around here also, which I am not aware of a source any where near here.

 

[olekyground]

Always a plus to find Indian relics! It sure is hard to run across a whole one. In my 6 years of detecting I havre only found one small whole arrowhead.

 

[inspectorgadget]

In 30+ years I've only found 1 quarts point & as a matter of fact it was the very first point I ever found as a kid, wasn't even sure it was an arrowhead when I first found it. There's not much special about it either tho it is one of my favorites of my collection. It's a really simple point design but most likely because the stone is so hard to work. It is however 2 1/4" long & 1" wide + it's not broken! In the 2nd pic the quarts point is just to the right of the penny that I threw in for size reference. Also I could see how one could think they are good for warfare as they do hold dirt very well because after 30 years mine still has dirt in some of the cracks. I grew up in the city on 1 acre across the street from a good sized typical Indianapolis creek on top of a hill that was easily above the flood plane, found almost 1/3 of my collection (not quite all are pictured) on & near that property & Congrats that's a nice quarts point you found there!