seen from China
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from Singapore
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Belgium
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Russia
seen from Australia
seen from Greece
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Germany
Many historic places have a gift shop selling replica projectile points as fun souvenirs, but they should not be mistaken for real artifacts. MVAC Senior Research Associate Dr. Connie Arzigian explains some of the differences that archaeologists use to distinguish these gift shop finds from real artifacts.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Ready to do some flint knapping? It's knap time! • Millions of unique designs by independent artists. Find your thing.
Fun t-shirt with “Knap time!”
I've been drawing a lot (a LOT) of lithics lately. I've been hesitant to post these, because they are in no way technically accurate and as a former archaeology student I feel like any time I'm drawing artefacts I should be as precise and accurate as possible. It's hard to turn off the switch that demands constant scientific accuracy. But, drawing lithics for fun is incredibly relaxing and meditative, and rewarding in a different way than technical lithic illustration tends to be. So, have some entirely made-up, not remotely accurate, but fun-to-draw projectile points (plus a few scrapers and drills to round things out).
This Clovis era projectile point is one of the oldest human-made items in our collection. The Clovis period occurred roughly 13,300 to 12,800 calendar years ago. It was made by chipping at black, fluted flint-stone. Flint is a type of sedimentary rock.
iowaarchaeology's Shop
We’ve also launched some print-to-order archaeology swag! Whether you’re an Iowa or do archaeology across the world, there’s something for everyone! Support the Iowa Archeological Society with some IAS gear, show off some love for the Office of the State Archaeologist, display your love of projectile points, let people know you believe that Heritage Matters, and show your sense of humor with our "Archaeology Fun" collection. With a print-to-order shop, you can get exactly the color, style, and material you like, with an amazing return policy if you're not happy with your purchase. Much of the gear is Iowa-focused, but there is plenty for non-Iowans too! You get some cool gear and the sales support IAS and OSA outreach activities -- win win! We'll be making some of our classic posters available as wall art soon: Iowa's Archaeological Timeline, Ice Age Iowa, Projectile Points of Iowa, and more, perfect for displays at home or in schools, libraries, and museums. Stay tuned!
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Projectile Points – Largest, Smallest
Projectile points (includes arrow and spear tips) help us to date sites since both the sizes and shapes changed through time. Points come in a variety of sizes and the two illustrated here are extremes! The larger point is 15 cm (6 inches) long, and the smaller one is only about 1 cm (just under 1/2 inch). The larger point is an Early Woodland Adena point from a site along the Mississippi River in Houston County, Minnesota. It’s made of a whitish chert that looks like Burlington but has too much patina (a weathered exterior surface) to be sure. The tiny corner-notched point came from an Archaic and Middle/Late Woodland site in the Perrot State Park area near Trempealeau. It’s made of grey chert similar to Grand Meadow chert from southeastern Minnesota.
A cartoon of a Folsom point showing off their "flute size" to a Clovis projectile point. • Millions of unique designs by independent artists. Find your thing.
These lithic artifacts were recovered during Phase II archaeological testing at a site in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, in the 1990s.
Left - This broken bifacial tool exhibits a high degree of polish towards the tip, suggesting use as a digging implement. It is snapped, with a large fracture reflecting breakage during use. The tool is made of a brown-white Burlington chert with many inclusions of fossilized crinoid stems.
Right - This complete bifacial knife has extensive edge resharpening. It is made of a gray-white Burlington chert with numerous small, tan-colored fossiliferous inclusions.
Bottom - These two complete Madison Triangular projectile points are of local chert and fall within the range of variation for local projectile points associated with the late precontact Oneota tradition.
