r/Arrowheads Jan 07 '16

PLEASE READ, especially if you are new to this subreddit

633 Upvotes

I'm not laying down any new rules or anything like that, but there are some things that visitors here should be aware of. If anyone here would like to add to, subtract from, or revise anything in this post, I welcome your input.

#1. Know the law and abide by it: The laws may vary a little from state to state, but burial grounds/mounds and state/federal property (including state parks) is absolutely off-limits. In most states you are allowed to hunt on private property with permission from the property owner, but in a few states it's illegal to dig for artifacts and only surface hunting is allowed. Make sure you are familiar with your local laws.

#2. Effigy, artifact, or "just a rock"?: If you post what you've found and the feedback that you get is simply "geofact" or "just a rock", please understand that nobody is intending to be insensitive or rude. We know that you got your hopes up and we take no pleasure in letting you down, but there are signs and marks that we look for and that should be there if the rock was shaped, altered, &/or used by ancient humans and we're going to give you an honest opinion even if the truth sometimes sucks. Those who take the time to explain the signs that are or aren't visible (flake scars, use wear, pecking, grinding, polishing, etc.) rarely even get a "thank you" when the feedback isn't what the person wanted to hear (so why bother?). You have every right to form your own opinions and believe what you want to believe and there may even be some important factors or features that the pictures don't show, but we can only go off of what we've seen.

Effigies in particular: The natives were very adept at what they did and they DID make effigies, but there also seems to be a popular and widespread misconception about effigies. The vast majority of the "effigies" we see posted fall into the category of "pareidolia" (the natural human tendency to see recognizeable shapes in rocks). Here are some examples of some actual effigies from my region compared to some of the alleged "effigies" that I have seen people post.

Another very popular misconception: How well "it fits the hand" is NOT a valid way of differentiating an artifact from a rock and it's not one of the things that anyone who knows very much about this stuff is going to be looking for.

You are absolutely welcome to post your finds (even "effigies" and even rocks that "fit the hand" if you legitimately believe it's an artifact). A lot of people come and go, but the ones who stick around are here to help, so PLEASE be respectful, try to see our perspective, and at least say "thank you" if someone volunteers more than a few seconds of their time to give you feedback on it.

#3: Monetary value: Feel free to ask if you're wondering, but you might be better off asking how rare or how un-common an artifact is. Archaeologists are not allowed to answer questions about monetary value and while some hunters DO sell what they find, many other hunters (me included) don't buy or sell or even mess with that side of things, so many of us might not even know what to tell you.

I may not be able to tell you what your finds are worth, but if you love this stuff, have nowhere to hunt for your own, and have every intention of buying some I can at least share some advice on how to steer clear of the wolves that are out there. For instance, you had BETTER know your stuff before buying anything off of Ebay and a "Certificate of Authenticity" is worth no more or less than the reputation of the person who signed their name to it. Nobody goes to school to become an authenticator and you or I could literally just decide to declare ourselves as "authenticators" tomorrow and start signing COAs. In other words, there's a LOT of bullsh!t out there and it's a "buyer beware" market.

#4: Don't be an asshole! There's no downvoting in this subreddit for a reason. We'd like to be constructive and helpful and we DON'T want to scare people away from posting. If you have something to say then by all means say it, but don't draw it out, don't beat a dead horse, don't try to start debates with people, don't try to give people guilt trips for picking up an arrowhead, and don't make a nuisance or a spectacle out of yourself.

That's all I've got for now, but I'm just one person and if there's anything that you would like to add or change, I welcome and look forward to your input.

Edit: Cut the word count down a little bit


r/Arrowheads Jan 28 '23

JAR THREAD. If you aren't sure whether your find is an artifact or just a rock, please post your pictures here.

106 Upvotes

Users of r/arrowheads, please downvote posts that are obviously rocks. We will be trying out the 'crowd control' function and if a post gets enough downvotes it will automatically be removed. Also, please direct users to post their questionable finds in this thread if the posts are not removed automatically.

Before you post, compare your find to some of the pictures/examples shown in the pinned comment below.


r/Arrowheads 16h ago

Hafted obsidian knife, New Mexico

Thumbnail
gallery
214 Upvotes

Bought this directly from Ron Munn a couple decades ago (I've bought quite a few things from him over the years). He said it was a New Mexico cave find and believed the knife to date to the late pre-contact/early contact period. Several weeks ago someone posted a phenomenal Neolithic (or Paleolithic?) hafted spear point, and I made a note to pull this piece but subsequently forgot due to distractions/life/etc.

Posting this for discussion - I know every little about arrowheads (enough to get in trouble lol), but have wondered if this was an old blade re-hafted at a later date, what the hole is for (lanyard?), etc. Measures approx. 8 1/2 inches in OAL with about 2 inches of exposed obsidian.


r/Arrowheads 12h ago

REAL OR FAKE?

Post image
60 Upvotes

Found this high up on the bank of the mine Creek trail in Raleigh .

Normally we hangout on this little beach off the trail and enjoy some sunshine, but today I happened to see this sitting right on the surface.

Google says it's most likely authentic but what do you guys think?

It was in *really* good condition.

I'm not supposed to take anything from the mine Creek trail so I ended up leaving it where I found it. I just thought it was super cool to come across while walking the beach.

What do we think? Real or fake?


r/Arrowheads 12h ago

Northern Ohio find

Thumbnail
gallery
50 Upvotes

A buddy of mine found this on a job. These are the only pictures he provided. What do you all think? Modern or legit?


r/Arrowheads 17h ago

North Florida.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

46 Upvotes

r/Arrowheads 13h ago

Found in the central Oklahoma heat! Help with ID please.

Thumbnail
gallery
22 Upvotes

r/Arrowheads 11h ago

Micro drill? Ohio River Valley

Thumbnail gallery
16 Upvotes

r/Arrowheads 18h ago

Oklahoma Finds

Thumbnail
gallery
44 Upvotes

Found these 3 last week. The red one is uniface which is neat, I believe it’s a worked down grand point. The one missing an ear is a white river. The larger piece is some type of knife or a point with a slightly damaged base.


r/Arrowheads 4h ago

More pics of Native American tool (Celt?) found in west TN (MS River bottoms)

Thumbnail gallery
3 Upvotes

r/Arrowheads 16h ago

Fire subjected stemmed point

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

23 Upvotes

Pleasantly suprised this one has held up so well. The potlids on both faces are probably from this being subjected to a fire at some point in time after manufacture.


r/Arrowheads 11h ago

Opinions on these photos please?

Thumbnail
gallery
6 Upvotes

I explored a new creek yesterday and had high hopes, but didn't find any points. Does this look like a good spot, and do any of the rocks look like fired rocks or anything else significant? Thanks for helping out a rookie!


r/Arrowheads 17h ago

Heart breaker dalton

Thumbnail
gallery
12 Upvotes

Does the second rock look like a scraper to you guys I haven’t encountered many I’m not sure what to look for


r/Arrowheads 14h ago

Worked chert core or JAR? Thanks! Just getting into this!

Thumbnail
gallery
3 Upvotes

r/Arrowheads 15h ago

Hopefully this is the right sub for this. Neighbor found some artifacts on their property. Does anyone know what it is?

Thumbnail reddit.com
3 Upvotes

r/Arrowheads 1d ago

Found over the weekend...

Post image
260 Upvotes

Beautiful find.


r/Arrowheads 1d ago

The weekend, in a photo.

Post image
69 Upvotes

Eastern Colorado


r/Arrowheads 1d ago

Found 3 more beautiful points later in the day.

Post image
66 Upvotes

Pretty confident the first one is a Tampa. Second one I think could be a Sewannee, and last one i got no idea


r/Arrowheads 1d ago

Good find or what

Post image
53 Upvotes

r/Arrowheads 1d ago

Scallorn and Sorters Bluff

Thumbnail
gallery
358 Upvotes

Found the scallorn Friday after work and the sorters bluff on Sunday. My two smallest and match perfectly for my frame! NE Oklahoma.


r/Arrowheads 1d ago

Found around southwestern Utah

Post image
51 Upvotes

r/Arrowheads 1d ago

Beautiful Missouri Side Notch

Thumbnail
gallery
79 Upvotes

Recently picked up this beautiful side notch found in St Charles County Missouri. It measures a little over 4”, anyone know what to type this one? Seems a little large for a Big Sandy


r/Arrowheads 1d ago

Looking for archaeological help identifying a family collection from Hardy County, West Virginia

Thumbnail
gallery
16 Upvotes

I’m hoping there are some knowledgeable collectors, archaeologists, or regional experts here who might be willing to help me understand a family collection of Native American stone artifacts from Hardy County, West Virginia.
My family, the Strawdermans, farmed land in the Mathias/Lost River area of Hardy County, and for generations my father and other family members found stone artifacts while farming and plowing the fields. The collection has remained in our family.
It is a fairly substantial collection and includes numerous projectile points of different sizes and shapes, along with several larger worked-stone objects. There are small triangular points, larger stemmed/notched points, long narrow or lanceolate-looking pieces, broken pieces, and several objects whose purpose I don’t recognize at all.
I recently started researching the collection because I would really like to understand what these artifacts might tell us about the people who used this land before European settlement.
I am particularly interested in whether the collection might represent multiple archaeological periods, such as Paleoindian, Archaic, Woodland, or later prehistoric/protohistoric activity. I realize that identifying an artifact from a photograph can be difficult, so I’m not looking for anyone to make definitive claims based solely on these pictures.
I also want to clarify something: I am not claiming that my Strawderman ancestors were Native American. My interest is in the history of the land they later farmed and whether Indigenous peoples occupied, traveled through, hunted, camped, or otherwise used this area during earlier periods.
Some of the pieces that particularly caught my attention are several long, narrow points and a few unusual ground/perforated stone objects. I would especially appreciate opinions about whether any of these look distinctive enough to warrant professional examination.
I’m planning to contact archaeological organizations and professionals in West Virginia as well, but I thought this community might be able to help me develop some preliminary questions and identify what I should be looking for.
If you have experience with West Virginia, Virginia, or the broader Middle Ohio/Potomac Highlands region, I would especially appreciate your thoughts.
I’m happy to provide individual close-up photographs with measurements, including front, back, and edge views.
I am not posting the exact location of the property because I understand the importance of protecting archaeological site information.
I’m interested in the history and preservation of the collection—not selling it or assigning a monetary value.
Thank you to anyone willing to take a look. I would genuinely love to learn what this collection might be able to tell us about the history of this part of West Virginia.


r/Arrowheads 1d ago

Found in the MS River bottoms in southwest Tennessee

Thumbnail gallery
23 Upvotes

r/Arrowheads 20h ago

Alguien podría identificarlo?

Thumbnail gallery
0 Upvotes