Found an arrowhead

Xraywolf

Silver Member
Feb 28, 2005
3,576
4,362
MI USA
Detector(s) used
Ace 400, AT Pro, equinox 800, Simplex,Vanquish 540
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Found this by, or actually in, the River Rouge in Detroit suburbs, which of course was a main drag back in the day before European settlers arrived.
Was actually scouting for detecting spots but soon was attracted to a nice selection of rocks in the clear shallow water. Saw the shape and sure enough, gotta be the real deal.
Looks like the tip has been blunted over time, over all in pretty good shape.

Guess I should go scouting a bit more and see what else I might find.
 

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Actually my 2nd find, 1st one as an adult.

Found the other one as a kid 30+ years ago, had a large pile of fill dirt delivered to our backyard, quickly found this while I was playing around in it before it was spread out.
Still have it all these years later - If the other one is considered large then this one must be huge, perhaps more of a spear than an arrow.

Yes, thats giant and very well made. Looks like its could be a knife to me.
 

The workmanship is amazing, edges are still sharp and even serrated - Someone obviously put some time into crafting this.

Not very noticeable but I dropped it around 15 years ago and it broke right in half, I crazy glued it back together. Hairline crack is visible running diagonally. Can see the shine of the glue, wish I would have taken a bit more care repairing it.
 

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Your last one looks like an ''Alberta knife''. Super nice find! :icon_thumright:
 

Very nice looking point. Good thing you were out scouting for places to look around.
 

Found in the Detroit suburbs:)

Actually have found flint chippings, and could see downtown Cleveland..........
 

Very nice. If you are like me,would have to hang the metal detector up for awhile.
 

Very nice point! What the tip reminds me of, is what we call a "chisel tip." I don't really know the reason behind it....maybe Josh Ream can explain it.
 

Very nice. If you are like me,would have to hang the metal detector up for awhile.

Well, its getting hung up soon anyhow with approaching freezing weather.
I'm doubting if there are enough artifact hunting grounds in my area to make a dent on my detecting, which itself is lacking a bit.
 

Nice rock. Awesome flaking.
 

Very nice point! What the tip reminds me of, is what we call a "chisel tip." I don't really know the reason behind it....maybe Josh Ream can explain it.

A chisel tip will fracture bone better than a fine point. ( think ribs , or a whoops hit on a shoulder blade). Also ups odds of not breaking it on a miss or pass through.
Metal tip designs found points bending , or rolling when pointed vs chisel tipped with some type metals.

X-Ray...your post # 20 pic might show an atlatl darts head.
 

Well, its getting hung up soon anyhow with approaching freezing weather.
I'm doubting if there are enough artifact hunting grounds in my area to make a dent on my detecting, which itself is lacking a bit.

The recent heavy rains may have shuffled the deck on the gravel bars on your site.
Spring flooding should too.

I'm jealous. The bay area near you was a source of lithic materials a lonng time. Plus as you mentioned the traffic....
Outside of eroded areas over here nearer the west side ,stuff is buried deep. What little stuff there is.
 

Well, this stuff is not going to find itself.
I got very lucky, though I'll have to give myself credit for even going out of my way to look at rocks, something many folks wouldn't be inclined to do. Even as a kid I loved digging, rocks and finding things so if I put my mind to it and do some leg work I might make something of this.
I avoid areas like this like the plague because of biting insects, but now they aren't much of a factor so all that is lacking is motivation. There is a fork in the river I have been pouring over on google maps, close to where I found the arrow. Am going to try to scrutinize this area before winter sets in.
 

Went to the fork in the river today, not far from where arrow in OP was found.

One thing I didn't consider, though there are no mosquitoes, the whole area is chocked with leaves, making eyeball finds near impossible.
Leaves are clogging the river banks as well, I went back to the area of rocks I found the arrow at and it was almost buried.
Lots of exposed banks, but treacherous to nearly impossible to get to, there are fallen trees all over the place and many look like they are ready to fall any minute. Found an interesting looking gulch, looks like its a dried up tributary only active with heavy rain ,,, But who knows what the lay of the land looked like 500 years ago.
In this area at least, probably not far off from when Indians were roaming around.

Will probably wait for spring to wash away the leafs before I go back, nice hike nonetheless.
 

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Yea I feel your pains with the leaves problem. We just had a good storm that got the water moving pretty good that cleared some out but the problem is having a warmer fall there is still a ton of leaves falling. After they finally do clear than it will be a fight against the ice. Even with all that stuff working against us it's still nice just to get out and if nothing else clear my head.
 

A chisel tip will fracture bone better than a fine point. ( think ribs , or a whoops hit on a shoulder blade). Also ups odds of not breaking it on a miss or pass through.
Metal tip designs found points bending , or rolling when pointed vs chisel tipped with some type metals.

X-Ray...your post # 20 pic might show an atlatl darts head.
That makes sense to me! You're never too old to learn something new.....:icon_thumleft:
 

Yea I feel your pains with the leaves problem. We just had a good storm that got the water moving pretty good that cleared some out but the problem is having a warmer fall there is still a ton of leaves falling. After they finally do clear than it will be a fight against the ice. Even with all that stuff working against us it's still nice just to get out and if nothing else clear my head.
I third the pain. Didn't really walk a creek all summer because of the leafs and stuff. Got that same rain you mentioned but it didn't help much here. Hopefully next year we will get a nice wet microburst to turn the creeks up some..
 

I third the pain. Didn't really walk a creek all summer because of the leafs and stuff. Got that same rain you mentioned but it didn't help much here. Hopefully next year we will get a nice wet microburst to turn the creeks up some..

3rd that on the leaves and also cotton in the fields
 

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