This Avonlea point is very well made and represents an ideal example for the type. This point exhibits fine pressure flaking and is fairly thin. The base is slightly concave, the side-notches are "u" shaped and close to the base and the blade edges are convex. This point measures 1 3/16 inches (3 cm) long.

H.P. Lewis sifted hundreds of Avonlea points from the ravine near Conrad, Montana. The 65 Avonlea points pictured in this article represent the best examples out of 140 that were once in a frame put together by Professor Lewis. An old tag applied to the back explains that he put together a large number of these frames for display at the school in Conrad, Montana.

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AVONLEA POINT
BISON KILL SITE NEAR CONRAD, MONTANA
EARLY LATE PREHISTORIC PERIOD
NORTHWESTERN PLAINS
ELMER A. GUERRI COLLECTION

This Avonlea point was extensively resharpened one or more times. If it had received any more damage it would have been discarded. This point measures 11/16 of an inch (1.7 cm) long.

Avonlea points are described as small side notched arrow points. They are triangular in outline with either straight or convex cutting edges. The notches are either u-shaped or v-shaped and placed close to the base. The base (hafting area) is usually concave but they can also be straight.

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AVONLEA POINT
BISON KILL SITE NEAR CONRAD, MONTANA
EARLY LATE PREHISTORIC PERIOD
NORTHWESTERN PLAINS
ELMER A. GUERRI COLLECTION

This Avonlea point fits within the descriptive parameters set for these small side-notched points. This one is triangular in outline, it has a wide concave base with "U" shaped side-notches that are close to the base and it was skillfully made with nicely done pressure flaking. It measures 1 5/16 inches (3.3 cm) long.

Like most projectile points, Avonlea points have some variation in style. There is a "classic" ideal example that is called Avonlea but there is also a range of variations within the type example that is still accepted as Avonlea. Some Avonlea points will have deeper concave bases than others and a few might even have straight base, etc., etc. These variations from the "classic" type example can happen for different reasons. Damaged Avonlea points were sometimes considerably altered by resharpening. They were also manufactured by many different individuals of different age and skill levels and by different small social groups.

AVONLEA POINT
BISON KILL SITE NEAR CONRAD, MONTANA
EARLY LATE PREHISTORIC PERIOD
NORTHWESTERN PLAINS
ELMER A. GUERRI COLLECTION

This is a typical example. It has a wide concave base, "u" shaped side-notches that are close to the base and pressure flaking that is fairly well done.

Thomas F. Kehoe describes four different sub-types of the Avonlea point. The "standard Avonlea point" has a straight to convex sided blade with "u" or "v" shaped side-notches close to the base plus a wide concave base. The "Gull Lake" variety has the classic Avonlea form but is thinner and lighter in weight. The "Carmichael Wide Eared" variety is shorter and narrower and heavier in cross-section. The "Timber Ridge Sharp-Eared" variety is widest at the base along with a fairly straight base and sharp basal corners.

AVONLEA POINT (Eccentric?)
BISON KILL SITE NEAR CONRAD, MONTANA
EARLY LATE PREHISTORIC PERIOD
NORTHWESTERN PLAINS
ELMER A. GUERRI COLLECTION

This serrated example was evidently excavated by Professor Lewis along with all the other points pictured in this article. It doesn't fit within accepted descriptions for Avonlea points but it could be an individuals variation on the point type. Another example of this could be drawn from the 11,000 year old Mill Iron bison kill site in Montana. All the points found there were Goshen points of various forms. But one example was very different in that it was very much thinner that the others, it was pressure flaked much better than the other examples and instead of a sharp point the tip was "rounded" with very fine pressure flaking that was deliberate. In-other-words it was an oddity that stood out but it's still considered a Goshen point.

Avonlea points are important early markers in the Northwestern High Plains, when they can be correctly identified. They were made by people who were communally hunting bison with bows and arrows and killing them at close range in natural corral-like land forms. The Avonlea point hunters were living off what at the time was some of the largest animals in all of North America. They were continuing an 11,000 year old tradition of big game hunting on the High Plains. A tradition that would last about one and a half thousand years into the future.

"REFERENCES"

1985, "Selected Preforms, Points and Knives of the North American Indians," Vol. I, by Gregory Perino, p.23.
1988, "Avonlea Yesterday and Today," A Plains Conference Symposium, by Leslie B. Davis, PhD., pp. 5-11.
1999, "Prehistoric American," No. 3, 1999, "Some Point Types From the Northern High Plains," by John Grenawalt, p. 9.

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