Projectile Point, Nettling Type

More than two thousand years after the last fluted point was made, this dart tip demonstrates further technological and stylistic evolution. Also manufactured from Onondaga Formation chert, the hafting of this point relied on corner notches to hold the binding to a small, stem-like base. The leaf-like outline is similar to its predecessors, but many points of this style also have small serrations along the edges. This hints at the possibility that many of these so-called projectile points—which many people mistakenly refer to as “arrowheads,” instead of spear or dart points—were actually knives. Most likely they were both. Or perhaps they started out as spear points but were later reworked to serve as knives. Points with asymmetrical blades are particularly suggestive of such a function. Keeping in mind that they were hafted to a short, wooden foreshaft, such implements would have been handy multipurpose tools for both killing and butchering game in the field. Detailed, microscopic, use-wear analysis of such tools can often yield clues as to their life history. The information about this artifact comes from the project Empathic Traditions; please see empathictraditions.ca for more information. Image by Mark Zelinski.