By Emily Rinaman, Technical Services Librarian
It’s almost a given in the state of Ohio, maybe even in the entire Midwest, that if you visit a local museum, you will come across at least one arrowhead on display. Many rural property owners throughout the county have arrowhead collections. I have a distinct childhood memory of my father showing me a couple of arrowheads he had found on strolls or while farming. I also recall holding those arrowheads hoping I would someday find my own. (Sadly, that goal hasn’t been reached yet, but I also haven’t actively pursued it, either).
Collecting arrowheads is a popular hobby for several residents in our neck of the woods, if one has patience and determination. Because finding one is such a treasure, coming across one is becoming a harder task as the years pass. Slowly but surely our modern era is wiping out the scant traces of Native American history that once prevailed in Seneca County and Ohio. In fact, the octogenarians and nonagenarians have contested that before mechanical tractors took over, you could still make out the edge of Indian villages along Honey Creek in Bloom Township.
Most of the arrowheads that Seneca County residents find came from the Woodland Indian tribes that once inhabited the Sandusky Bay area and along the Sandusky River. The “Sandusky” People and Whittlesey People tended to settle on flood plains and river beds where the soil was more fertile. They were semi-nomadic and lived in small villages of about 3-4 dozen people.
Archaeological terms used to describe the parts of an arrowhead. This illustration taken from the document “Early Archaic Points of Seneca County Ohio” on the Seneca County Digital Library.
One such settlement in Pleasant Township is discussed in detail in the “Sandusky Site near Old Fort” on the Seneca County Digital Library. This village dates from 1020-1190 A.D., which puts it in the time period when the bow and arrow was first used by Native Americans in our area. There, arrowheads made from Flint harvested in Erie and Coshocton Counties were found in the riverbed. The site is a classic example of a Woodland camp site. It was found on a bluff 30 feet above the Sandusky River. The bluffs gave these hunter-gatherers an advantageous “vantage point and observational area” to seek out food and dangers.
To the naked eye, arrowheads on display at a museum may look very similar, but to arrowhead enthusiasts, there are subtle clues that map big differences in the types of arrowheads, like the shape and sharpness of the tips, angles, and edges of the arrowhead, the brittleness and hardness of the rock, and of course, the color of the rock. Arrowheads vary in size depending on the game being sought, including fish, deer, or small game. The base of arrowheads can be classified as either bifurcated, concave, straight or convex. The stem of an arrowhead can be classified as either expanded, expanding, straight or contracting. The shoulder of arrowheads are either horizontal, barbed or upward angles.
The type of rock used for arrowhead was important and Native Americans travelled to other places to obtain the correct material for the job (just like we travel to our shops of choice if we prefer to sample what we intend to purchase …. or don’t have an Amazon Prime account). Arrowheads found in Seneca County have been made from rocks like jasper, agate and flint/chert, from not just Erie and Coshocton Counties but also Licking and Mercer Counties and even as far as Saginaw, Michigan. Different types of “flint” arrowheads that have been recorded in Seneca County include Pipe Creek, Delaware, Upper Mercer, Bayport, and Flint Ridge.
The most popular place where Native Americans residing in Seneca County went for arrowhead amterials was Flint Ridge in Licking County, which spans 2,000 acres. This was the “top knotch” flint, where its “customers” could choose between green, blue, yellow, pink or red shades (depending on the amounts of mineral deposits embedded in the rock). There was plenty to go around and “the quality of stone superseded that of any other in the state.”
Arrowheads are also named after the type of points present. All of the following have been found in Seneca County: Netling points, Kirk Corner Notched Points, Thebes Points, St. Charles Points, MacCorkle Points, Kirk Stemmed Points, St. Albans Points, and LeCroy Points (a chronological breakdown of these arrowheads and others is featured in the sidebar).
Before you go out hunting for arrowheads there are a few things you must keep in mind. First, it’s illegal to hunt for them on state and federally-owned land. Ask private property owners for permission before you peruse. The best time to search for arrowheads is right after a good rainfall when the soil is soft and may have pushed a buried arrowhead closer to the surface. Look near rivers or creeks. Once you find one, gently wash (don’t scrub) it with mild dish soap and an old toothbrush. Store it away from sun and heat.
Works cited:
Seneca County Digital Library. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27
Bloomville Sesquicentennial Committee. “Sketches of Bloomville and Bloom Township”. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/41807/rec/2
Bowen, J.E. “Prehistoric Peoples of the Greater Sandusky Valley.” https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/44685/rec/1
Bowen, J.E. “Sandusky Site Near Old Fort”. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/29762/rec/2
Brose, David S. “Prehistoric Inhabitants.” Case Western Reserve University. https://case.edu/ech/articles/p/prehistoric-inhabitants
Guide to the North Ridge Scenic Byway. “Prehistoric Archaeology: Native American Occupation.” Pages 36-51.
Hothem, Paul. “Native American Artifacts: Arrowheads.” Ohio State University Extension. http://www.ohioarch.org/pdfs/4H%20Arrowhead%20Artifacts.pdf
Ohio History Connection. “Virtual First Ohioans.” https://resources.ohiohistory.org/omeka/exhibits/show/firstohioans
Ohio History Connection. Ohio History Central. “Arrowheads.” https://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Arrowheads
Projectile Points of Ohio. 2008. http://www.projectilepoints.net/Search/Ohio_Search.html
Welch, Sara. “How to Hunt for Arrowheads in Ohio.” Published July 16, 2019. https://www.farmanddairy.com/top-stories/how-to-hunt-for-arrowheads-in-ohio/564152.html#:~:text=Looking%20for%20arrowheads%20in%20Ohio,for%20them%20on%20private%20property.
Weller, Donald Jr. “Early Archaic Points of Seneca County Ohio”. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/39803