Code: 2560
Description: A triangular mottled grey flint stemmed point with two small barbs, a chip to one barb and to one corner of the stem, otherwise condition good.
Size: 54 mm/2.1 ins. in length
Culture: American Indian
Date: Probably Archaic, c. 8000-4500 years B.P.
Provenance: From the collection of De Barri Crawshay (1857-1924).
Background: De Barri Crawshay, of Sevenoaks, Kent, was the son of a successful welsh ironmaster, and a notable collector who built up an important collection of flint implements and stone tools through collection in the field and through purchase. Today, he is best remembered for his collection of eoliths, now regarded as products of natural erosion, and for his work on palaeolithic material from the North Downs of Kent. He also cultivated orchids. His collection of flint implements was sold at auction by Stevens’s Auction Rooms Ltd, 38 King Street, Covent Garden, London, on 17 April 1929, although this particular piece remained with the family.
Points like this would have been used to tip spears and darts thrown using atlatls (spear throwers). In North America, the best evidence suggests that bows and arrows were not introduced until about 1400 years B.P.
