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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[gwdigger]

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[ANTIQUARIAN]

Wow! That's a real beauty!
Aren't quartz arrowheads pretty rare?
I would think that being made of quartz they wouldn't be very durable?

Dave

 

[kuger]

Yes,they are rare,and usually affiliated with ceremonial purposes,burials etc.They are also a bear to knap!!!

 

[n3tuf]

I was told by a collector that quartz arrowheads were used for warfare because they would retain dirt in them and the enemy would die from infection.

 

[Eric Willoughby]

I was told by a collector that quartz arrowheads were used for warfare because they would retain dirt in them and the enemy would die from infection.

Nonsense, some people just make up thier own "facts".

Quartz, is used because it is easy to knap and it's plentiful. Quartz arrowheads are very common.

 

[steelheadwill]

Nice Find
Still looking for my first Point
No pix of the nails?

 

[Dave44]

Quartz is predominate in the southeast because it is abundant. I grew up in the west and flint is predominate, you will have a hard time finding one or the other out of the area they are in. So the Indians used what was available. Some had an artistic flair though as I have found arrowheads made of moss agate and obsidian, they appreciated the beauty of the stone.
I have found,, in my own opinion, that the very things that old homesteaders looked for were what ancient Indians looked for, and If a site is old I may find old coins and old arrowheads. SSOO cool, nice finds

 

[kuger]

I was told by a collector that quartz arrowheads were used for warfare because they would retain dirt in them and the enemy would die from infection.

Nonsense, some people just make up thier own "facts".

Quartz, is used because it is easy to knap and it's plentiful. Quartz arrowheads are very common.

I wholeheartedly disagree with both of you.I have been collecting arrowheads for over 35 years,have been knapping them for over 20,and live on the Mother lode so Quartz is plentiful here,and will tell you from experience it is one of the hardest stones there is to chip,and at least out here they are extremely RARE,show me a bunch if they are so common!!

 

[traverdog]

There must be more points in that area.

 

[EagleDown]

Thank you Kuger!! I didn't want to say it.

I've found many points in California, flint, obsidian, even jasper and opal, but with the abundence of quartz here, I've never seen a quartz arrowhead. Quartz is #9 on the mohs scale. I've tried shaping it, but due to its inconsistant grain, I've found it impossible for me to do. Of course, there are knappers who are much better than I am. So, I'm not saying it can't be done, it's just not likely it has been done on a large scale.

Eagle

 

[kuger]

You bet Eagle,fact is fact.....and as seen above some DO make up there own fantasies and try and pass them for truth.I have been around a while

Also out of the several THOUSAND arrowheads I have(many generations of "pickers",I do have a handful,and have worked with tribes on archi digs on burial grounds and that is the only place they regularly show.One such dig produced a 9 inch quartz spear blade that was pointed on both ends,one of the most magnificent pieces I have ever seen,and it was reburied with the rest of the items rightfully so.

I also have read miners journal accounts of the Indians tossing quartz arrowheads(the only ones they had ever seen!!) into the fires(the Indians here often burned there deceased)

 

[freddy williams]

awsome double score It would have made my day HH

 

[Dave44]

I do not knapp, I am happy to see that some still do, quartz may be rare in Cali, not on the east coast.
So how many is a bunch?, By my estimations I have a bunch, they are everywhere, finding them here has more to do with not being able to see the ground. And, I am sure you will agree, training yourself to see them.

 

[kuger]

I do not knapp, I am happy to see that some still do, quartz may be rare in Cali, not on the east coast.
So how many is a bunch?, By my estimations I have a bunch, they are everywhere, finding them here has more to do with not being able to see the ground. And, I am sure you will agree, training yourself to see them.

I dont think I was clear,therefore you didnt understand,quartz is not rare here.I live on the Mother Lode Vein Gold country California,I do not know of any other parts of the U.S. that has quartz like we do here.Show me ten!then go get a piece of quartz and a deer antler and try to chip it into even the shape of an arrowhead....tell me how EASY it is!

 

[EagleDown]

I do not knapp, I am happy to see that some still do, quartz may be rare in Cali, not on the east coast.
So how many is a bunch?, By my estimations I have a bunch, they are everywhere, finding them here has more to do with not being able to see the ground. And, I am sure you will agree, training yourself to see them.

I dont think I was clear,therefore you didnt understand,quartz is not rare here.I live on the Mother Lode Vein Gold country California,I do not know of any other parts of the U.S. that has quartz like we do here.Show me ten!then go get a piece of quartz and a deer antler and try to chip it into even the shape of an arrowhead....tell me how EASY it is!

 

[Dave44]

Well fellas, I do not think I was clear, it is not rare here either, here is your 10 broken ones, plus a couple. Another thread here has many of them. And believe me, I know this must be abear to work, it is so brittle.

 

[kuger]

Very nice!!I am impressed....alll of those arent quartz though

I will re word then to what states I have hunted and speak of......they are rare west of the Missis.

 

[Bum Luck]

In the old times, arrowheads were commonly licked up as curiosities, but had no value so they ended up getting thrown out.

This could explain the find.

 

[Dave44]

You are right kuger, not all are. It is fun to find them though,, durn I would love to find a flint, agate, or obsidian out here!!!! I miss them so.