image:LamokaProjPoint.jpg, 360px, Lamoka projectile points from central New York State. The point on the left is a "stemmed" lamoka point made of quartz. The middle one is a "stemmed" lamoka point made of flint and, the point on the right is a flint "side notched" lamoka point.
Lamoka projectile points are stone projectile points manufactured by Native Americans what is now the Northeastern United States, generally in the time interval of 3500-2500 B.C. They predate the invention of the bow and arrow, and are therefore not true "arrowheads", but rather
atlatl
A spear-thrower, spear-throwing lever, or ''atlatl'' (pronounced or ; Classical Nahuatl, Nahuatl ''ahtlatl'' ) is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in Dart (missile), dart or javelin-throwing, and includes a Plain bearing, b ...
dart points. They derive their name from the specimens found at the
Lamoka site in
Schuyler County, New York.
Description
Lamoka points sizes range in length from less than to with an average of about . They are narrow and thick, with straight or slightly notched stems. The base is thick and this is diagnostic for the Lamoka point. They are two to three times longer than they are wide. They are generally made from local
flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...
s,
jasper
Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. The common red color is due to ...
,
quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...
and
quartzite
Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock that was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tecton ...
. There are a number of varieties, the most common being the "stemmed" type with straight stems.
Age and cultural affiliations
They have mostly been dated to around 3500-2500 BC, but the type persists in small numbers up to about 1000 A.D. The archaic points are associated with the Lamoka culture.
Distribution
These points are generally found in the American northeast (
New York and
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
; a very similar "Dustin point" is found as far west as Michigan) and central Canada (
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
).
See also
*
Other projectile points
External links
Virginia Department of Historic Resources
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamoka Projectile Point
Projectile points
Indigenous weapons of the Americas
4th-millennium BC introductions