Arrowheads

Have you ever had the thrill of finding an arrowhead? Years ago it was a common thing to walk through plowed fields of Bedford County and pick up at least a dozen or more in a short time. Early farmers were so accustomed to seeing arrowheads, spearpoints, scrapers, celts and tomahawks that they did not stop to pick them up. Over the years these fields have been tramped over hundreds of times by individuals looking for these artifacts. Today most farmers have posted their fields against all trespassers.

We are not able to identify the many textures of the materials from which arrowheads have been made, but here in Bedford County, not too many 'finds' are of flint because good quality of flint is not found here. Years ago we found a most unusual point in shape and texture. It was multi-color. Later we had this examined by an expert who told us that this type of flint is quite common in Georgia. Many arrowheads made of a white flint texture apparently came from Flint Ridge, Ohio. Of all the thousands of artifacts we have picked up over the past fifty years, we found only one made of obsidian, which is volcanic glass. This is common in Mexico and far western states. What a wonderful story it would make if we could know how these pieces were brought here.

Recently an author of one of the best books on the eastern tribes studied a number of ~cimens found here in the county. He was amazed to find, in his opinion, most of the local face finds were from an older period than those of the eastern areas he has observed. is leads us to suspect that there were Indian settlers hundreds, even thousands of years, bre the White man came here. Usually where excavations are carried out it is often necessary to go to depths of many 1. It is certain the greater the depth the older are the traces of civilization of the !historic man.

About fifty years ago we tried a little experiment by making trades with collectors from ch of the forty-eight states:- We were disappointed to find that there was little difference the shape of those points than these found here in the county. However, the quality of the :ture of the heads was far superior. Since then we have picked up a few artifacts in aska and Mexico, and, several arrowheads found in England.

One of the unsolved mysteries is how, through the centuries, did the natives in prac-:ally all over the world learn to chip or flake stones to make points for their weapons. We ve seen beautiful obsidian weapons in Museums that were more than a foot long and ints, sometimes called'bird points' that were less than an inch in size. Arrowheads are usually classified as side-notched, corner-notched, straight and ex-.nding stemmed as well as triangular. These seem to be the most popular styles that ~re made. There are many theories on how the Indians made them. From what we can irn the secret involved a patch of deer hide to protect the hand from being cut by the iips, a small stone used as a hammer and small tines from deer antlers or bone agments for the finer notches and sharp edges of the head.

Antique dealers are always ready to purchase collections of these ancient points. Per-ins desiring to purchase the points should be very careful in what they buy. Arrowheads -e being faked by the thousands and passed on to the uninformed public. We have seen .any specimens offered for sale that we were reasonably certain were recently made. We -e told there is a big difference between a modern Indian made arrowhead and an ancient idian arrowhead. We have noticed that the supposedly modern arrowheads, in general, -e most crudely chipped. It is possible that many dealers have also been taken in by the [ke market without realizing it. Technically, what we call all points as arrowheads, are actually 'projectile points'.

Many years ago, we copied a poem, written by Enos B, Comstock. We believe the author (pressed his feelings and thoughts as he roamed the field seeking these treasures of the past or the fields of new turned sod, commuting with my God, I tramped alone. And in the furrow bed, I found an arrowhead chiseled from stone. Then fancy fled on wings, back to primeval things, seeking the light What warrior drew his bow, sighted and let it go on its last flight? How oft this flinten head, on deadly errand sped, I may not know Nor will this silent flint reveal the slightest hint- how long ago? Were its grim story told, what tales it would unfold Tales that would chill. I know but this one thing beyond all questioning T'was made to kill. Ages have worn way, warriors gone their way, their bones are dust. Proof of a craftsman's skill, survives the ages still Left in my trust.