🔎 UNIDENTIFIED Could this be a native metal point?

[claire]

Found this yesterday in the woods in Oysterbay LI? I’m generally not a relic hunter but I did find some neat old stuff including this piece

 

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[Eastender]

Found this yesterday in the woods in Oysterbay LI? I’m generally not a relic hunter but I did find some neat old stuff including this piece

Yes, definitely. I have found five of them in East Hampton. Only 6 are known to have found on eastern Long Island. They were recently featured in a new book about the arrowhead typology of Eastern Long Island. They date from around 1650.

 

[Older The Better]

Looks good to me too

 

[claire]

Yes, definitely. I have found five of them in East Hampton. Only 6 are known to have found on eastern Long Island. They were recently featured in a new book about the arrowhead typology of Eastern Long Island. They date from around 1650.

Wow! That is awesome! Initially I thought it was a piece of sheet metal and almost tossed it! Thank you! My oldest find!

 

[Trezurehunter]

I agree with the others, looks like the real thing from here ! Great find.

 

[Eastender]

Wow! That is awesome! Initially I thought it was a piece of sheet metal and almost tossed it! Thank you! My oldest find!

Here are three of my detector finds. They are now in the Southold Indian Museum on the North Fork I used to live in Lloyd Harbor before moving out east 30 years ago. You have some good detecting turf up there! I am also an archaeologist who completed excavations around Lloyd Harbor.

 

[Limitool]

Great find sir.... well done..!

 

[claire]

Here are three of my detector finds. They are now in the Southold Indian Museum on the North Fork I used to live in Lloyd Harbor before moving out east 30 years ago. You have some good detecting turf up there! I am also an archaeologist who completed excavations around Lloyd Harbor.

Wow! Anarchaeologist! I will look into that museum. I think maybe there is one in Oysterbay. Maybe they would be interested. Is it really that rare?

 

[Eastender]

My Long Island copper points are featured with an explanation in this book released last year. First book of its kind for eastern Long Island. It's available at Amazon for $40 which helps support the museum. It's pricey but has a lot of photos and illustrations.

 

[claire]

My Long Island copper points are featured with an explanation in this book released last year. First book of its kind for eastern Long Island. It's available at Amazon for $40 which helps support the museum. It's pricey but has a lot of photos and illustrations.

I’m going to order now!

 

[Eastender]

Wow! Anarchaeologist! I will look into that museum. I think maybe there is one in Oysterbay. Maybe they would be interested. Is it really that rare?

There is the Native American Museum at Garvies Point in Glen Cove. I have not seen their collections in many years.

You have to remember that Long Island's Native population was probably 3/4s decimated by 1720. Sadly for many reasons, but mostly from smallpox epidemics. During the early contact period, the Native Americans would fashion arrowheads from copper kettles. Then Europeans started to make and trade the basic triangular points like you found. The hole was not only used to haft the point to the shift, it was also handy to string many together for transport. It probably wasn't long before they were able to trade for black powder firearms, making bows and arrows obsolete. They are rare in the sense that they had a limited period of usage. More examples are turning up from metal detectorists. They are turning up at dig sites in upper NYS.

 

[smokeythecat]

Good job. I'm glad you didn't toss it. I know of folks who have in the past.

 

[Gare]

How did they make Metal points ?

 

[claire]

There is the Native American Museum at Garvies Point in Glen Cove. I have not seen their collections in many years.

You have to remember that Long Island's Native population was probably 3/4s decimated by 1720. Sadly for many reasons, but mostly from smallpox epidemics. During the early contact period, the Native Americans would fashion arrowheads from copper kettles. Then Europeans started to make and trade the basic triangular points like you found. The hole was not only used to haft the point to the shift, it was also handy to string many together for transport. It probably wasn't long before they were able to trade for black powder firearms, making bows and arrows obsolete. They are rare in the sense that they had a limited period of usage. More examples are turning up from metal detectorists. They are turning up at dig sites in upper NYS.

Thank you for all of the info! Truly an historical treasure

 

[claire]

How did they make Metal points ?

 

[claire]

Copper kettles. Read Eastenders explanation. He seems very knowledgeable

 

[Eastender]

How did they make Metal points ?

If they weren't manufactured in Europe, the basic triangles could have been made from strips or sheets of copper. If you smack the back of an ax head with a mall, hammer, or another back of an ax, you could cut them out. Steel vs copper. Thin pointed steel awls were popular trade tools which could have been used to punch the hole. The copper kettle material could have been from discarded kettles. After frequent use boiling water, the copper can be become brittle and crack. The arrowhead could be shaped through stone abrasion or rubbing. The basic triangle found in this thread is less complex than the shaped ones I have found to the east of this find. The copper kettle points seem to have started in New England, where Natives traded for kettles from the French, Dutch, and English. Since the local Natives on Eastern Long Island were under the influence of the more powerful Narragansett of RI who were known for strong colonial trade networks, the copper could have originated from the CT or MA colonies. The local natives on Eastern LI produced wampum, so we can expect to find trade items from the region ending up here. The area where this point was found around Oyster Bay was first settled in 1653. My area was first settled in 1648.

 

[Eastender]

Looking at this first example which is most likely a copper kettle point, you can see differences in thickness and beveling. The second example shows a more basic cookie cutter approach. Connecting Eastern Long Island Natives to the Narragansett of Rhode Island, I managed to find online a nearly identical point found in RI by a metal detectorist. There were several skirmishes on Eastern LI by the Narragansett in the mid to late 1600's that were documented by colonial officials. One of those skirmished occurred in the area where I found it. The basic triangle copper was also from that same area.

These points aren't overly sharp, but you have to consider the increased velocity and range from a lighter head. Another possibility to consider, one thing I learned while studying in East Africa, tribes often used plant toxin extracts on arrowheads so a fatal impact wasn't always necessary.