An ecology field trip to Virginia’s Eastern Shore brought an unexpected archaeological discovery for Brooklyn Rolph, a biology undergraduate at Mary Baldwin University. While searching for shark teeth on September 21, the excursion’s final day, she spotted a stone spearpoint estimated to be around 4,500 years old.
Rolph had set out after lunch to investigate a mound of shells on an island when she noticed the artifact at the edge of an inlet. She immediately alerted the professors accompanying the students. According to biology professor and trip co-leader Paul Callo, the timing was fortunate: the incoming tide would soon have buried the point.
Measuring approximately 6 inches, or 15 centimeters, the artifact was identified by local archaeologists as a Lehigh/Koens-Crispin point. Indigenous communities across the US East Coast produced this type of tool between about 4,500 and 3,000 years ago. Sometimes described as a broadspear, it may also have functioned as a knife for hunter-gatherers during the Late Archaic period.
The excursion formed part of an ecology course focused on coastal plants and animals. University faculty had obtained a state permit to explore the barrier islands off the Eastern Shore, which occupies the southern portion of the Delmarva Peninsula.
The discovery site lies within a natural area owned by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, making the artifact state property. Archaeologists collected the spearpoint from the university group and transferred it to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources for further study. Rolph was comfortable with not keeping the discovery.
