Once in a lifetime: Copper Culture Spear Point (Update)

[jack&jill]

Wow! Congrats! I'm in Wisconsin and can't imagine ever finding something like that - but I can always hope!

Thank you for your reply Grey. Witness to a dig put these on my radar and Hoped heavily in digging one. So they are out there.

Fantastic find Jack !! Congrats, your now rich in history. Got to tell ya, if I lived up there in Wisconsin, my total detecting focus would be on the ancient copper. Recently read an article in American Digger magazine (vol 17, issue 4) about the "Copper King" in Wisconsin, John Ruth. Good read on how he went from digging coins and rings to becoming the Copper King, along with pics of his many discoveries.

Appreciate your response Fred. I'd love to read that article, it really sounds interesting. I do dig in Wisconson but really the only common Copper the is easily dug has Lincoln's face on it.

Big congratulations Trapper and welcome to the club!
You can be sure that point is at least 3,000 years old.
There were many mines in Upper Michigan and the Native Americans travelled with the copper south into Wisconsin and further.

Wasn't much mining done back in those days Matt. For most part the Copper was found in the outcroppings of the glacier deposits. The natives would use even the smaller pieces as the would make them into fishhooks, awls, scraping tools as well as the heads and points. Its funny that the materiel content of these items matches that of the float copper that we find today. Trapper

 

[UT_Dave]

Wow! Wow, wow!

That is gorgeous.

I find stone tools and points and such all the time. But never anything remotely like this!

- Dave

 

[jack&jill]

Beautiful find congrats!

Thank you Trace for you reply, I can't disagree in the slightest as I also view this item as beautiful. Not to mention it has history and my best recovery ever.

Awesome find Trapper,Big Congrats!

Appreciate your response Ron, thank you. Awesome is a great and fitting description of this recovery.

Jack & Jill.
Congratulations for a truly find of a lifetime.

Looks like I'm going to have to up my game.......

Thank you Doug for your kind words. This Spear Point is truly my highlight of my detecting career and I don't think I'll ever top it. As far as upping your game with the history of your counties past I'm sure there are a lot more opportunities for some great and significant finds so I doubt you will need panic. Trapper

 

[PrussianBleu]

What can one say other than it's an utterly stupendous find! Huge congrats!

 

[sonoman06]

Absolutely amazing! I had no clue that Native Americans had metal tools period! You have blown my mind. Where, why, how, when...the questions we all ask ourselves when digging up history. Congrats man! That is truly an extremely rare find of many livetimes.
Peace.

 

[Jamflicker]

What a find buddy. Glad to see it land up with you and I'm sure you'll always cherish this piece. Congrats!

 

[jack&jill]

Truly an amazing find, steeped in history.. I wonder how many coin shooters walk over these because they don't give a big silver ID?

Pete Thank you for you comment as I truly treasure this find. As far as coin shooters overlooking a item like this well I don't think that happens very often at all. First these items are rare but more important the sounds and numbers are virtually the same as Silver.

What surprises me about the Copper Culture in north America is that it never transitioned to using bronze.

I was speaking to an archaeologist while on a dig here in the UK, and he confirms very few copper tools are found here and he suspects the discovery and use of bronze happened fairly quickly....

From the research I have done here industrial happenings in this part of the world only started about 10,000BC. And Copper came into use about 5000BC. It was a time when trade became evident among to the peoples here at that time. The development of pottery and crop raising also occurred in this time frame. The use of copper for tools was probably discovered by accident. A forest fire showed that heat made ore dropped by glaciers malleable. Most of the copper analyzed from these tools show that the metal is near 97 to 98% pure which also represent the float copper we still fined to date. Sure wish I had a lot more answers as the more I learn the more questions I seem to have.

Fantastic Dig Trapper! Just imagine the history of that weapon. It was probably quite a thing of beauty when it was freshly stone-hammered to perfection and (possibly)mounted on a spear shaft. It may have been a very successful hunting or even warring point for a long time too. Some say those long tailed points may have been used as an awl/knife, where the pointed tail end would stick out of the end of the handle, to be used as an awl tool. Another possibility is a harpoon point.
Makes me want to head north again. Congrats on your crazy cool treasure!

"Eye popping and mind blowing find" indeed! (that thing really could pop an eye out)

Thank you Blaise for the reply. History here has only gotten me to want to ask more questions as I learn more about the peoples of that time. The one thing that surprises me is that no large items are found made from copper and there is no evidence of any mining operations from that age or time. So the conclusion that most of the ore used was taken from surface glacier drops.

 

[Foragist]

The one thing that surprises me is that no large items are found made from copper and there is no evidence of any mining operations from that age or time. So the conclusion that most of the ore used was taken from surface glacier drops.

I have a book called "The Ancient Mines of Kitchi Gummi" that documents the discovery of thousands of pit mines in the upper Keweenaw and Isle Royale...dating back thousands of years. Apparently, they mined copper a LOT back then. The book also makes a compelling case that a lot of the copper was brought overseas long before this was considered possible.(perhaps supplying the Bronze Age?)
Interesting history up there! As for the lack of large items, I'm a bit surprised too. Maybe it was just too much of a valuable trade commodity to splurge on making big stuff?

 

[jack&jill]

Wow! Wow, wow!

That is gorgeous.

I find stone tools and points and such all the time. But never anything remotely like this!

- Dave

Appreciate you reply Dave, Thank you. Seems of late these copper items are being found more often. Still this will be a treasure for me as it is still my oldest historical recovery.

What can one say other than it's an utterly stupendous find! Huge congrats!

I hope one day you will put a coil over such a item Anthony. Your dedication and commitment inside this hobby deserves great rewards.

Absolutely amazing! I had no clue that Native Americans had metal tools period! You have blown my mind. Where, why, how, when...the questions we all ask ourselves when digging up history. Congrats man! That is truly an extremely rare find of many livetimes.
Peace.

There are a lot of question that I guess will never be answered I'm sure. Speculation of the hows or why's of history will always be just that. Maybe with time a lot more answers will come forth. Thank you for the response as it was greatly appreciated. Trapper

 

[KingTotsalot]

Copper was a very tradeable item among early native Americans, as evidenced by finds in dated burial mounds in northeast Arkansas. Based on trace element analysis, it was sourced out of the Keewenah region of Michigan. Well studied by North America archeologists.

We see similarly well established trading of novaculite from central Arkansas all the way south to the Gulf Coast and east across the Deep South of the USA, and west into Arizona-New Mexico. Starting with the Paleo Indians and extending to those groups who were present when DeSoto explored the region. There are extensive Paleo hard rock mines in the area around Hot Springs, Arkansas.

 

[Mountain Pirate]

What an outstanding find!

 

[AV 81]

That's absolutely incredible man!! It's in such good condition, is literally the find of a lifetime. Interesting to know if it's pure copper or some sort of alloy, amazing that it survived that well to present day.
Lot of incredible stuff we have don't know/aren't told about ancient America. My hat is off to you man!

 

[sal]

Very nice find what state did you find it in ?

I have been blessed with some great finds over the years. A lot of them by most standards but this one I can say is truly a mind blowing bucket lister for me. Spent a few days with Yooper 69 on some grueling adventures and without a whole lot of success. But it only takes one find that will change it all. That is just what happened, as I got my coil over a once in a lifetime find, a Copper Culture Spear Point that is in fantastic condition. I am not a authority on these types of finds so I'd appreciate any input as to type and age of this specimen. It is just under 6 inches in length with the stem or shaft complete. Even still has some of the side barb on the spear head. I can say being witness to Air Force Mike's digging of his a few years back was a thrilling experience but putting one into my own coffers is just a plain unbelievable feeling.

I done a little research on this historic piece. It comes from the late Archic Period (8000-1000 BC) around 2800 BC. Called a Rat Tail type. Pretty good shape for being about 5000 years old. Not sure our modern tools can last that long
Trapper

 

[jack&jill]

What a find buddy. Glad to see it land up with you and I'm sure you'll always cherish this piece. Congrats!

Appreciated and cherish your reply Jason, thank you. No doubt this piece will remain with me for a while as it is my best show piece from all these years of detecting. I have found lots of Silver and a good lot of Bling in this time and a few being pretty darn nice but nothing that measures to this.

Copper was a very tradeable item among early native Americans, as evidenced by finds in dated burial mounds in northeast Arkansas. Based on trace element analysis, it was sourced out of the Keewenah region of Michigan. Well studied by North America archeologists.

We see similarly well established trading of novaculite from central Arkansas all the way south to the Gulf Coast and east across the Deep South of the USA, and west into Arizona-New Mexico. Starting with the Paleo Indians and extending to those groups who were present when DeSoto explored the region. There are extensive Paleo hard rock mines in the area around Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Thank you Tot for the response. Your comment is very true as most of the Copper items found across this country can be traced to that area of the U.P.

What an outstanding find!

Your response is appreciated Pirate, thank you. I can't agree more as this is a outstanding piece of history.

 

[yooper69]

Next year when we get back out to the woods i have a new program i am going to put in your machine! All artifact numbers and barber half numbers will need to be blocked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!😂😂😂😂

 

[jack&jill]

What a find buddy. Glad to see it land up with you and I'm sure you'll always cherish this piece. Congrats!

No doubt Jason this will remain with me and with family after my time. It surprises me with the information I have gotten from the research on this item.The biggest problem is the there is conflict between some the Educated minds of museums and collages and those that claim knowledge on the subject. No matter I am very happy to have it.

I have a book called "The Ancient Mines of Kitchi Gummi" that documents the discovery of thousands of pit mines in the upper Keweenaw and Isle Royale...dating back thousands of years. Apparently, they mined copper a LOT back then. The book also makes a compelling case that a lot of the copper was brought overseas long before this was considered possible.(perhaps supplying the Bronze Age?)
Interesting history up there! As for the lack of large items, I'm a bit surprised too. Maybe it was just too much of a valuable trade commodity to splurge on making big stuff?

Blaise not sure all in that bible is factual. According to a History Professor at Northern Michigan University most of the sites of so called pit mines were cut from the landscape by the glaciers much like the Kettles were in in south central Wisconsin. This Theory is backed by a history specialist at the Milwaukee Museum. Whatever is fact I can not say but there is no doubt that the Copper of that region has been traded for thousands of years. Still it does make a lot of sense that most of the ore that was recovered was smaller. As all the articles found from that time were what man could put into useful items. Most of the copper in Europe was produced from the mines in Great Britain but most of those were shut done when the the mines of the U.P. began production.

Copper was a very tradeable item among early native Americans, as evidenced by finds in dated burial mounds in northeast Arkansas. Based on trace element analysis, it was sourced out of the Keewenah region of Michigan. Well studied by North America archeologists.

We see similarly well established trading of novaculite from central Arkansas all the way south to the Gulf Coast and east across the Deep South of the USA, and west into Arizona-New Mexico. Starting with the Paleo Indians and extending to those groups who were present when DeSoto explored the region. There are extensive Paleo hard rock mines in the area around Hot Springs, Arkansas.

For sure the Copper items have made it throughout most of the U.S. Recently another member on this forum recovered a Spear Point on the East Coast. Fish Hooks and Needle Points have been recovered in Kansas and Nebraska. I am not surprised that the items were made from the Peninsula region ore base as most that were trace element tested verified that. Anyway its great history for sure. Trapper

 

[Bleeohio]

That is an awesome find. I wonder how many copper pieces have been found and tossed by not knowing what they were? I know I'm gonna look things over a little better now.

 

[LawrencetheMDer]

Speechless!!!!
HISTORIC FIND.
It is a pleasure just to look at a picture of one - I've heard about but never seen.

 

[jack&jill]

What an outstanding find!

I can't agree more. I hope maybe I can be blessed again in the future.

That's absolutely incredible man!! It's in such good condition, is literally the find of a lifetime. Interesting to know if it's pure copper or some sort of alloy, amazing that it survived that well to present day.
Lot of incredible stuff we have don't know/aren't told about ancient America. My hat is off to you man!

Appreciate your questions along with the reply, thank you. The condition is fantastic at least from the two experts that inspected it. The Copper content was almost 99%, as is most of the raw ore from the region. I agree we actually know very little of the history but it has been a lot of fun as I learn more.

Very nice find what state did you find it in ?

Thank you Sal for your comment. It was dug in the Y.P. of Michigan. Trapper

 

[Brewser]

One word

SUPERB !!