By Peter Waksman, an active amateur archeologist living in Concord and a hunter of prehistoric stone tools in our fields and forests. See his Concord Lithics homepage for more about prehistoric artifacts.
It turns out that, at some periods in the past, the Indians traveled to nearby sources for good arrowhead making materials. At other times they traded, and at other times they stayed home and were limited to the coarse materials that are found here. Fine materials from outside of Concord, called "exotic lithics" are easy to spot because of their color and shininess. Of all the exotic lithic materials, one favorite is blue Cambridge mudstone (argillite). The first arrowhead I found was made from it. Take a close look at these pictures, this is the Concord style.
The one below is probably a spearhead, and the one above is probably a knife; they are called "points". The local archeologist told me they are "Stark Points", over 7 thousand years old, from a period called the "Middle Archaic". To judge from other Web pages, these points only occur along the East coast of America, as far south as North Carolina. One Italian Webpage (see right) shows the same style points and calls them "Solutrean". The upper point is made of blue Cambridge
argillite which was a favorite material around here for this style of
point. After several years of looking, it is interesting to discover that, in Concord, Stark points are only made from materials that can be found between here and the seacoast. The "Stark" people, in Concord, didn't travel far for their materials.
The other exotic lithics that are common are black felsite with small white crystal inclusions from Westwood Mass, varieties of grey felsite from Cape Ann, a lovely green translucent rock from Sudbury called "mylinite", beige quartzite, green quartzite, and white quartz. One time I found a piece of chert from upstate New York, another time I found some standard flint (maybe from a musket), and one time I found a small piece of Minnesota pipestone. There are small flakes of many different types of rock; they are not too hard to find.
Sometimes on a damp morning the easiest way to spot exotic lithics is by their color, contrasted with the brown soil. As you walk you start ignoring all but -say- the shiny blue rocks, and this helps focus attention. You pick up and examine every flake you see. Your eyes try to cover every inch of visible surface. You have to be compulsive to put in 50 hours to find only one arrowhead, but you walk slowly with your head nodding from side to side, turning over every rock that suggests itself. You think about the Indians or about something from the week's work. It is best to let your mind wander and keep looking closely. One time, I paused and bent down to examine what turned out to be a goose turd, but while my eyes were six inches from the ground I spotted a perfect small black felsite arrowhead the size of a fingernail. Another time I was being very systematic and bent down to move a leaf out of the way, only to spot a small quartz arrowhead.
Sometimes I find something, leave it where it is, but decide to go back and find it later. It is always an adventure when you go back to find something that you have changed your mind about. Usually you can't find it again. I went back to find something once with a friend in a downpour. My friend went to stand under a tree out of the rain and I raced back and forth, with almost no visibility as the rain softened the soil, turned it to mud, and started burying what was lying the surface. I got lucky.
Arrowheads are almost never easy to see. One time I saw a small speck of white, stuck my finger into a hole and pulled out an arrowhead. One time in a field much too large to cover I decided where the best place would be to look (along a ridge in the field), went there, looked down and found the only arrowhead that this field ever yielded up.
In the end there are very few arrowheads to be found. Earlier in the century, arrowhead collecting was a popular hobby, and every boy growing up in Concord had arrowheads. The farmers and the old men still tell how they found arrowheads when they were kids. Either the arrowheads are gone or they are paved over. Most likely the loss of agricultural land means that most surfaces are unplowed, covered with leaves and hiding their treasures below.
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More "Stark" Links
"Stark Points" is a scientific term (also called "Merrimack" or "Neville
Points") which refers to the name given to the first site where these
points were officially "typed", i.e. described and dated. Some sites with other "Stark" points:
The Boston "Big Dig" |
Credits:
Text and photos: ©1998 and 1997 respectively by Peter Waksman.
Other art: by the Concord Magazine (background based on photo by Mr. Waksman).
