CAST #M-8

BARBED ANTLER ARROW POINT
MISSISSIPPIAN PERIOD
ETOWAH MOUNDS SITE
BARTOW COUNTY, GEORGIA
GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES COLLECTION
COPYRIGHT NOVEMBER 30, 2004 PETER A. BOSTROM
Barbed antler arrow point (cast).
CAST #M-8
BARBED ANTLER ARROW POINT (CAST)
MISSISSIPPIAN PERIOD
ETOWAH MOUNDS SITE
BARTOW COUNTY, GEORGIA
GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES COLLECTION

    This socketed barbed antler arrow point was discovered on the Etowah Mounds site in Bartow County, Georgia. It was found during the excavation of mound C with burial #1. The most famous feature at Etowah Mounds is mound C where a high status burial mound was built in five distinct stages.
    Antler projectile points were used for thousands of years in North America, beginning sometime during the Late Archaic period. The earliest antler points were used as spear or dart points and were much larger than the arrow point illustrated here. There were two main styles. Some were made with a projecting barb, like this point and others were made with squared off bases, without barbs. The earlier antler spear points date from 5,500 years ago to 1,500 years ago. The more recent, Mississippian period, antler arrow points date from about 1,400 years ago to historic times, when they were replaced by conical metal points.
This point was made from the tip of an antler tine and measures 1 1/2 inches (3.8 cm) long

ETOWAH MOUNDS SITE

    The Etowah Mounds site is located in Bartow County, Georgia near the Etowah River. This Mississippian site is approximately 40 acres in size. It is surrounded on three sides by a large ditch and on the fourth by the Etowah River. The main feature of the site is a large platform mound, called mound C. Mound C has three terraces and one prominent ramp. This mound was a high status burial mound that was built in five distinct stages. The people who were buried there were priests or chiefs, along with their families. Etowah was a capital of a "state" that covered an area along the southeastern foothills of the Appalachians in western Georgia and the Carolinas. The Etowah Mounds site was in use during the Etowah and Wilbanks ceramic periods which is representative of the Southern Appalachian Tradition.
   Some of the artifacts found in the burial mounds at Etowah include marble statues, monolithic axes, large circular paint palettes and ceramics. Etowah is one of the three most important "Southern Cult" sites.

"REFERENCES"

1985, Perino, Gregory, Selected Preforms, Points & Knives of the North American Indians" "Antler Points"  p. 16 & 17.
Personal communication with Lawrence Conrad.

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