The Yadkin Arrow Point
Joffre Coe, in his landmark Piedmont artifacts publication “The Formative Cultures of the Carolina Piedmont”, described an arrow point that has become one of the most sought after artifacts in the Carolinas and Virginia. The original points, excavated at the Doerschuck Site in Montgomery County, North Carolina, were named for the stream that borders the site – the Yadkin River.
This point is described as a symmetrical equilateral triangle with straight blade edges (sides) and a concave base with sharp basal ears. This description will cover the vast majority of Yadkin points but there are examples that are long and narrow and some that have straight (non-concave) bases. There is also a group that is called Eared Yadkins that are typical except for shallow side notches at the outside basal corners. The method of manufacture for all Yadkin points was pressure flaking which means that the point was made from a thin piece of the stone by pressing along the edge using a deer or elk antler tine. This flaking or knapping would have been continued around the rock until the desired shape, size and edge sharpness was obtained. This point type is found from Georgia to Maryland and a very similar point called a Levanna, is found into New England. The lithic material used in the Piedmont was mainly rhyolite (probably 90 per cent of the time) but examples have been found that were made from quartz, silicified slate, jasper and quartzite, though these are infrequent. The age of the Yadkin point is maybe as early as 500 BC going to as late as AD 1200. This would place these artifacts at the end of the spear thrower era and into the time of the true bow and arrow which is around 1500 years old in this part of the world. They are usually in the one to three inch long range but can, of course, be shorter or longer. Yadkin points are normally found in association with cord and fabric impressed ceramic pottery meaning a time period of AD 500 to AD 1200.
The Yadkin point is not as plentiful as one might think considering the native population in the Piedmont region may have numbered over a million people a thousand years ago. Why there are so few of these points found is a mystery. Most examples that have been found seem to be well made being both symmetrical and thin. There are still many unanswered questions about this beautiful point such as: Was it only an arrow point or was it also used as a dart (spear) point with a spear thrower? What is the exact age of the point? Were they used only as projectile points or also used as knives? And why was rhyolite the preferred material to make this point? We may, in fact, never answer these queries but that will in no way diminish the quality and beauty of the Yadkin Point.
REFERENCES:
Coe, Joffre L.
“The Formative Cultures of the Carolina Piedmont”,
TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
Maus, James E.
“The Yadkin Point”,
THE PIEDMONT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER,
Vol. 27, No. 4
2003
Painter, Floyd and Wm. Jack Hranicky
A GUIDE TO IDENTIFICATION OF VIRGINIA PROJECTILE POINTS
1994
Perino, Gregory
SELECTED PREFORMS, POINTS AND KNIVES OF THE
NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS, VOLUME 1
1985