What is a fluted arrowhead?
Fluting is a specific technique that involves the extraction of an elongated flake along the length of a projectile point, leaving a distinctive groove or depression at the base of the spearhead or arrowhead.
Are Clovis arrowheads valuable?
Clovis arrowhead is by far the rarest arrowhead worldwide, with only about 10,000 of them ever found. These rare arrowheads are worth a fortune, ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars!
What is a Clovis arrowhead look like?
Clovis arrowheads have concave base and convex sides. The broadest areas for Clovis arrowheads are situated either in the near midsection or toward the base of the point. Clovis arrowheads are usually crafted out of stone or chert. Clovis arrowheads have typical slender blades and have parallel curved edges.
How do I check my Clovis points?
Clovis points are wholly distinctive. Chipped from jasper, chert, obsidian and other fine, brittle stone, they have a lance-shaped tip and (sometimes) wickedly sharp edges. Extending from the base toward the tips are shallow, concave grooves called “flutes” that may have helped the points be inserted into spear shafts.
Why are some arrowheads fluted?
This fluted point turned out to be an invention that allowed these colonizers to travel great distances with some confidence that their weaponry would hold up at least long enough until they could find the next rock quarry to make new points.
What is the fluted point tradition?
Fluted projectile points represent the earliest North American stone tool technology, although they comprise a small portion of the overall stone technology observed in the New World. These easily recognized spear points represent one form of technology used by the earliest human inhabitants of North and South America.
What is the rarest arrowhead?
The most expensive arrowhead ever sold went for $276,000. It was both prehistoric and made of green obsidian, a rare stone.
How do I know if my arrowheads are valuable?
Here are ways of how to identify arrowheads:
- Materials used: Identifying the material where the arrowhead is made from is one way on how to identify its type.
- Shape: Shape is another pointer for Indian antiques.
- Configuration: This is additionally a critical pointer.
What does a Clovis point look like?
The typical Clovis point is leaf-shaped, with parallel or slightly convex sides and a concave base. The edges of the basal portions are ground somewhat, probably to prevent the edge from severing the hafting cord.
Why are arrowheads fluted?
Where are Clovis arrowheads found?
New Mexico
For many years, scientists have thought that the first Americans came here from Asia 13,000 years ago, during the last ice age, probably by way of the Bering Strait. They were known as the Clovis people, after the town in New Mexico where their finely wrought spear points were first discovered in 1929.
How do I identify an arrowhead?
Authentic arrowheads feature flake scars where pieces of the rock were hit away. These scars are normally curved; however, if the arrowhead is very old, these scars may be smoothed over. If this is the case, examine the surface of the arrowhead with a magnifying glass.
How to identify Clovis arrowheads?
Clovis arrowheads are usually crafted out of stone or chert. Clovis arrowheads have typical slender blades and have parallel curved edges. With the above mentioned identifying characteristics, I hope you can now effortlessly distinguish Clovis arrowheads from other types of arrowheads.
What is a Clovis point flute?
Both faces of a Clovis point were often fluted in the final stages of manufacture. In technological terms, this is a percussion biface thinning flake struck from the base. These flute flakes usually extend about one-third of the length of the point. The point bases were thinned for hafting.
What is the difference between Clovis and Folsom and Dalton arrowheads?
Clovis arrowheads are fluted (leaf like furrows in the central part of the base). Folsom and Dalton also contains flutes but with Clovis, the flutes are extended from the base up to about one third to halfway of the entire point. Folsom’s flutes are wide and extended from the tip to the base while Dalton’s are shallow and have shorter flutes.
How are Clovis archaeological sites found?
Clovis archaeological sites are rare. Points are found at single-episode kill sites, multiple-episode kill sites, campsites, in caches, and as isolated artifact finds. Campsites and caches are extremely rare finds. Our best information on how Clovis points were made comes from caches.