Something Extraordinary

Steven R. Cooper

Central States Archaeological Journal , Vol. 67, No. 1 (January 2020), pp. 28-29

Extraordinary is defined as “very unusual or remarkable.” The points shown here certainly live up to this description.

In July 2017, I reported the discovery of the largest MacCorkle point ever found in Massac County, Illinois, in the Central States Archaeological Journal . This remarkable find was also included in the 15th edition of the Overstreet Indian Arrowheads Guide (page 428) and featured in Prehistoric American . The MacCorkle point was first identified at the St. Albans site in West Virginia by Betty Broyles in 1966 and is notable as the first point type with a bifurcated base. These points are widely distributed across the upper Midwest. While typically categorized as medium to large, the initial specimen found by Mr. Peebles was longer than most known examples.

Imagine my surprise at the 2019 Kentucky Dam show when I was shown additional specimens recently unearthed by the same finder. These new points were of similar impressive length, with one measuring an extraordinary 6 7/16 inches , surpassing the original 2015 find of 5 5/16 inches . Interestingly, several smaller, more typical MacCorkle points were found in association with the two new finds.

This raises several intriguing questions:

1. Why were these few examples made so large?
2. Why were they found close to one another?
3. Were they created by a single prehistoric individual?
4. Were they left on the surface for ritual activity, buried as offerings to the gods, or placed with a deceased individual for their journey into the afterlife, the remains now long gone?

Sadly, we cannot answer these questions, as we cannot return nearly 10,000 years to the time these points were created and abandoned. Perhaps more artifacts remain to be uncovered. These finds demonstrate that where one artifact is discovered, others may be nearby.

If you have experienced a spectacular find, consider revisiting the location regularly. Who knows what might still be hidden? For this collector, repeated visits certainly paid off.

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