Bare Island projectile point

Last updated March 13, 2019

The Bare Island projectile point is a stone projectile point of prehistoric indigenous peoples of North America. It was named by Fred Kinsey in 1959 for examples recovered at the Kent-Halley site on Bare Island in Pennsylvania.

Projectile point object that was hafted to a projectile

In archaeological terms, a projectile point is an object that was hafted to weapon that was capable of being thrown or projected, such as a spear, dart, or arrow, or perhaps used as a knife. They are thus different from weapons presumed to have been kept in the hand, such as axes and maces, and the stone mace or axe-heads often attached to them.

Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state located in the northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The Appalachian Mountains run through its middle. The Commonwealth is bordered by Delaware to the southeast, Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, Lake Erie and the Canadian province of Ontario to the northwest, New York to the north, and New Jersey to the east.

Distribution

Area of distribution covers most of the upper Eastern Seaboard. The type was used during the late Archaic through Woodland periods. Area of distribution covers most of the upper Eastern Seaboard. These points are generally found in the Lower Susquehanna River Valley in Maryland, but are also found to the north in New Jersey, and to the northwest in southern and eastern New York and western Pennsylvania.^[1]

In the classification of Archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 BCE to European contact in the eastern part of North America, with some archaeologists distinguishing the Mississippian period, from 1000 CE to European contact as a separate period. The term "Woodland Period" was introduced in the 1930s as a generic term for prehistoric sites falling between the Archaic hunter-gatherers and the agriculturalist Mississippian cultures. The Eastern Woodlands cultural region covers what is now eastern Canada south of the Subarctic region, the Eastern United States, along to the Gulf of Mexico.

The Susquehanna River is a major river located in the northeastern and mid-Atlantic United States. At 464 miles (747 km) long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the United States that drains into the Atlantic Ocean. With its watershed, it is the 16th-largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the early 21st-century continental United States without commercial boat traffic.

Maryland is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east. The state's largest city is Baltimore, and its capital is Annapolis. Among its occasional nicknames are Old Line State, the Free State, and the Chesapeake Bay State. It is named after the English queen Henrietta Maria, known in England as Queen Mary.

Age and cultural affiliations

The type was used during the late Archaic through Woodland period. They have mostly been dated to the late Archaic period in North America, 3000-1000 BCE.^[1]

Description

The point is a medium to large sized, narrow, thick stemmed projectile or knife with tapered shoulders. One shoulder is higher than the other and the blade is convex to straight. The stem is parallel to expanding. It is similar to the Little Bear Creek point in the southeast.

Bare Island points sizes range from 1.2 in length to 3.8 inches with an average of somewhat over 2 inches in length. They have straight stems and straight bases, and are generally 2 to 3 times longer than they are wide.^[1]

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References

1 2 3 Ritchie, William A. (1989). A Typology and Nomenclature for New York Projectile Points (New York State Museum Bulletin Number 384). Albany, New York: The University of the State of New York, The State Education Department.

External links

Virginia Department of Historic Resources: Bare Island projectile point

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[Ritchie1-1] 1 2 3 Ritchie, William A. (1989). A Typology and Nomenclature for New York Projectile Points (New York State Museum Bulletin Number 384). Albany, New York: The University of the State of New York, The State Education Department.