Artifact hunting, a lesson in culture

Submitted photo.

About seven years ago, I found my first Native American artifact purely by accident. It was a knife blade. Since then, I’ve found a number of pieces and will continue to look for them when opportunities arise.

Steven Bender

Last summer, I found only four completely-intact arrowheads and blades, but they were worth every hour spent looking for them.

Native American artifacts can be found most anywhere, but, unfortunately, many of the great sites in the country have become subdivisions, strip malls or other signs of “progress,” which was the case with the Martens Site in Chesterfield, Missouri, which was rich in Clovis culture. A Clovis point comes from the Paleo-Indian Era from around 11,500 years ago. The point was named for a specimen found in Clovis, New Mexico, in 1929. I’m pretty sure I have the base of one, but it hasn’t been authenticated.

If you’re interested in looking for artifacts, first learn about laws governing point collection, as collecting on public lands is illegal. If you gain permission from a landowner who has a disked field, the chances are good you can find something. It’s best to have three or four inches of rain or more on a field to wash away the dirt. And please, always respect the landowners and remember to thank them for their permission to search on their ground.

One arrowhead point I found last year was about 3/4” long and flaked on both sides. The notched point is slate gray and extremely thin. It is the smallest point I’ve ever found and is from the Mississippian Era.

Another point I picked up this summer was a four-inch long triangular-shaped blade. It would have been hafted to a deer antler or wooden peg for cutting or slicing.

Godar points vary in size and shape, but they all look relatively the same. I found a complete Godar point during the same hunts as when I found the above-mentioned artifacts, and it’s one of several Godars I’ve found. They come from the Archaic Era around 3,500 to 4,500 years ago and could have been used as an atlatl dart point.

The one other culturally-interesting point I found last year was a side-notched point made of what looks like Burlington chert. The arrowhead is called a “Cahokia” because it’s of the style developed by the Mississippian Era Indians. Think: Cahokia Mounds. This single-notched point (pictured) is fairly common in Southeast Missouri, but to find one in great condition is a blessing.

I did find a few other items, but they were broken or incomplete, like a blade I found and the bottom half of a Graham Cave drill.

Finding artifacts is always heartwarming because I can learn about the people who made them, what the potential uses were and so on. I’ve found hammerstones that fit perfectly in my hand, and I can even feel the wear from the user’s fingers. I just wish I’d find that ever-elusive Clovis.