By: Natalie Ginez
Object Number: 268.2077
Culture: Late Archaic
Date Made: approx. from 1200 B.C. to 700 B.C.
Place: Elberon, Monmouth County, NJ
Credit Line: Gift of Arthur Sussman
The most striking and unique features of this brownish-green jasper stone is that it is asymmetrical and thick in the middle with a broad, curved bottom. These features allow us to identify it as a Susquehanna Broad Point (named for the Susquehanna Valley in Pennsylvania). The stone was shaped with a hammerstone to remove flakes in a process called flint knapping. This object was one of many tools used by Prehistoric Native Americans to hunt and gather food. We don’t know if it functioned as a spear, dart, or arrow. We do know that deer, elk, fish, and rabbit were hunted during this period. The Late Archaic peoples also used stone tools to fish and process nuts and other plant foods.
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