Wider Worldc. 2500–1000 BC · Barrier island off Virginia's Eastern Shore, Virginia, United States
Shark-tooth hunter finds Native American spear point up to 4,500 years old in Virginia
A biology student spotted the 15 cm stone point on a barrier island off the Eastern Shore as the incoming tide was about to bury it.
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- A Mary Baldwin University student found a stone spear point on a barrier island off Virginia's Eastern Shore.
- State archaeologists identified it as a Lehigh/Koens-Crispin point, a type Native Americans made 3,000 to 4,500 years ago.
- The age is an estimate. The point is now with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources for further study.
A biology student looking for shark teeth on a barrier island off Virginia's Eastern Shore has found a stone spear point made by Native Americans. It is estimated to be 3,000 to 4,500 years old. Brooklyn Rolph, an undergraduate at Mary Baldwin University, spotted it on 21 September at the edge of an inlet.
The point is about 6 inches (15 cm) long. State archaeologists identified it as a Lehigh/Koens-Crispin point. Indigenous people made this type across the East Coast of the United States from around 4,500 to 3,000 years ago, in the Late Archaic period.
These points are sometimes called broadspears. Live Science reports that hunter-gatherers may also have used them as knives. According to Rolph, the archaeologist who examined her find said he had never seen one in such good condition.
Found in a few minutes ashore
Rolph made the find on the last full day of a four-day field trip for her ecology course, BIOL 245. The class was based at the University of Virginia's Anheuser-Busch Coastal Research Center. Four Mary Baldwin biology staff led the trip: Paul Callo, Adam Seroka, Rebecca Haberman and Kadrin Anderson.
The university had a state permit to visit the barrier islands. These lie off the Eastern Shore, the southern part of the Delmarva Peninsula. Until the wind settled, the class was not sure it could take the boats out at all.
After a morning in wetsuits, wading through a seagrass bed and collecting specimens, the group reached a nearby barrier island. The tides and currents allowed only 35 to 40 minutes there. Students had a few minutes after lunch to explore.
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Rolph had found small shark teeth on a beach trip years earlier. The shells covering the island looked promising, so she went searching.
“I already have the field of view that I'm looking for something pointy.”
Brooklyn Rolph, biology student, Mary Baldwin University
She spotted the point in the water. "And then I pick it up, and I literally sprint to Dr. Seroka, because I'm like, wow, this is so crazy," she said.
Timing mattered. "The tide was coming in, so the spear point was soon to be buried," said Callo, a biology professor who co-led the trip.
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“It is certainly awe-inspiring to see and touch something that was made by human hands thousands of years ago.”
Paul Callo, biology professor, Mary Baldwin University
The point now belongs to the state
The island is part of a natural area preserve owned by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. That makes the point the property of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Rolph showed it to the research centre's site director, who made a phone call and confirmed that the state owned it.
Some classmates were surprised by how easily she gave it up. Rolph was not paid for the find. Some friends joked that she should have kept quiet and kept the point. "I'm like, no," she said, "because that's how you get cursed!"
Later that day, the state archaeologist asked for the point. Staff from the Department of Conservation and Recreation collected it from the research centre's bunkhouse. They took it to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources for further study.
Sources (2)
Official announcementfrom Mary Baldwin University, Virginia Department of Historic Resources and Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
- 'This is so crazy!' Virginia college student looking for shark teeth finds rare Native American spearpoint (Live Science: archaeology)
- Biology Student Finds Ancient Spear Point on Eastern Shore Field Trip (Mary Baldwin University)
Edited by Guiseppe Weijermars
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