RAINY RIVER ARROWHEADS

[JASON HIBBING MN]

last summer i found 3 arrowheads on the rainy river, all three are broken as if they were shot at something. one is just the tip, but the other 2 are nearly whole. one is the classic arrowhead shape, almost resembling a heart shape. the other is more slender and less symetrical. they are of different types of stone and seem to me to have either been crafted by different tribes and/or different time periods. i found them about 1.5 mi down stream from FORT FRANCIS, as far as i know the fort dates to late 1700's. which is more plausible, are they are from a conflict between tribes, a group effort against the white settlers of the fort, or is it most likely just random arrowheads that have accumulated on the river banks over years of hunting the deer that came to the river for water? any opinions or comments would be appreciated!

 

[Billco]

The arrowheads could have (and probably were) lost or disgarded way before the 1700's - maybe thousands of years ago. They could have broken for a myriad of reasons.

All or some of them might not have been projectiles. Could be knives or some other tool.

If you post pictures, somebody here could probably tell you more about them.

If you found three close together, I'd look for more.

 

[Adena_man]

Definitely post a pic of them when you get a chance. I'd like to see them!

Brian

 

[JASON HIBBING MN]

thanks! i'd love to post some pics but all i have is my cell phone and it doesn't have a fully featured browser, i will try to figure a way tho... as far as being anything but a projectile, they both clearly show a small notch at the top where it tied to the arrow shaft. sorry i left out a few details. both are 1.5 inches long the 3rd being the partial piece is roughly the size of a dime and is only the very tip, after looking at them again i would not doubt that the third and smallest could quite possibly be part of a knife, one side has apparent marks from the tooling process however the opposite side has a knife like edge from the tip all the way back and looks to me like it was 'filed' to produce a razor like blade. thanks for the input i would like to hear more if anyone has something to say

 

[Billco]

We really can't differentiate between ancient knives and projectiles based on the existence or lack of notches. Knives and scrapers were often hafted, depending on type and function. Its really not an easy thing to figure out the original purpose of a point. Lot of it is educated guesswork. I think that even if your larger ones were originally projectiles, it is unlikely that they fit on the end of an arrow. The dime sized one sounds more like an arrowhead.

 

[Ohio_Doug]

We need pics!!!