Projectile Points of the North Carolina Piedmont

From: A Review of Archaeology in the North Carolina Piedmont: A Study of Change, by H. Trawick Ward. In The Prehistory of North Carolina: An Archaeological Symposium, edited by Mark A. Mathis and Jeffrey J. Crow. NC Division of Archives and History, Raleigh. 1983.

NOTE: This chart, appearing in Trawick Ward's chapter in the Prehistory of North Carolina: An Archaeological Symposium (1983), shows the major projectile point types found in the North Carolina Piedmont. Many of these types, however, are found throughout the state, from the mountains to the sea. Types not shown in the chart, but known to occur in varying quantities include the Paleo-Indian period Clovis and Early to Middle Archaic period bifurcates (Lecroy and St. Albans), to name but a few. A number of lesser known or poorly documented "types" also have been found. This chart identifies the most common and better documented projectile point types. An excellent source of information on the point types found in the mountain region is Gary Henry's "Key to Projectile Points of the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina", in Southern Indian Studies (Vol. 40, 1991), journal of the North Carolina Archaeological Society.

In addition to the caveat noted above, there is some debate regarding the cultural and temporal positioning of some of the point types. For instance, the Paleo-Indian and Archaic period "cut-off" is shown at around 8000 B.C., with the Palmer type tentatively placed in the latter part of the Paleo-Indian period. There are archaeologists familiar with the subject who argue for an Archaic period association, rather than Paleo-Indian. Without definitive dates, the argument may last a while longer.