Is this authentic arrowheads? How do you tell

[Mykkhul97]

I am not sure if this is authentic but I picked it up with a large lot of fossils. How do I find out?

[Dinoguy89]

Doesn't look like a genuine or typical arrowhead. The first indication is that the shape is a little off. There are also many fakes out there. Genuine arrowheads will usually be created from rocks that include flint, quartzite, obsidian etc. They are created by removing excess rock through striking, the top right rock in your picture could be a potential arrowhead but again with most of these things they can be replicated. One way to tell if they are the real deal is by touching the surface of the rock. Most of the time if they're real you will get flake scars from where other pieces of the rock hit it. If you don't see any strike scars try using a magnifying glass to help you see better. Hope this helps. Good luck

[JohnJ]

Any idea of where they were found?  The shapes are very like Texas point types.

 

Based on the one photo, they actually look like genuine artifacts.  Maybe four broken dart points, a couple of preforms and a cortex flake.  These might be typical finds in a plowed field or streamside site.

[DPS Ammonite]

They look real to me and are made of chert/chalcedony two of the most common mineral types. No one would try to fake broken pieces.

[Dinoguy89]

9 minutes ago, DPS Ammonite said:

They look real to me and are made of chert/chalcedony two of the most common mineral types. No one would try to fake broken pieces.

Broken pieces are actually faked to make other piece look authentic. Recently Jim Bennett wrote an interesting article on how these fakes have been around for a long time. There's many out there. There's were found in a box along with the following note.

 

 

[JohnJ]

While there are many modern knapped points, these have the characteristics of genuine average quality point types.

[Dinoguy89]

1 minute ago, JohnJ said:

While there are many modern knapped points, these have the characteristics of genuine average quality point types.

Agreed

[Mykkhul97]

48 minutes ago, JohnJ said:

Any idea of where they were found?  The shapes are very like Texas point types.

 

Based on the one photo, they actually look like genuine artifacts.  Maybe four broken dart points, a couple of preforms and a cortex flake.  These might be typical finds in a plowed field or streamside site.

This is the flip side of the pieces that I bought. There are 3 boxes of fossils I acquired that are from the southwest. Fossils from Arizona and the surrounding areas. Shells, bones, ammonites, fossilized fish and much more. I know that there is so many fakes out there. I am hoping that I can get authenticity so I can return the arrowheads to it's rightful place. 

[JohnJ]

Not sure what you are referring to by "rightful place"...?  These point types are likely a few thousand years old at a minimum.

[Mykkhul97]

I'm sorry. I meant a Museum in the region/area that would take them. Not trying to be laughed at.

[JohnJ]

Understood.   It's going to be difficult to ascertain their origin, so it may be unlikely a local museum would take them.  A local teacher might make better use of them.

[DPS Ammonite]

@Mykkhul97 Show us your fossils from Arizona. Would should be able to help you with IDs.

 

Also, consider giving the artifacts to local kids after you teach them about Native Americans and how they created the artifacts.

[Mykkhul97]

I live in northern Minnesota. There are 3 reservations around us. Most are pretty well versed in flint pieces and history. I have Obsidian pieces that I show them from the southwest and they were blown away since there isn't Obsidian up here. I was curious of the pieces that I got. There is lots of pics. But they only allow 3.95mb per pic. I will try to post as many as I can. You may also PM me for more pics to help. Thanks

[Mykkhul97]

[Rayminazzi]

8 hours ago, Mykkhul97 said:

I'm sorry. I meant a Museum in the region/area that would take them. Not trying to be laughed at.

I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to make you feel laughed at, I see my previous post has been deleted which is fine with me as it has no informational value or otherwise. I guess I'm just hurt about people around here saying that if you find a fossil or artifact to just leave it in the ground "where it belongs". Again nothing against you wanting to give them to a museum or the like

Feel free to delete this as well if you wish as again it has no information or context.

[Mykkhul97]

I didn't delete it. I agree with you not to leave "where it belongs." I will bring to the University to have them examined.

[ynot]

Because there is no documented provenance on the pieces, professional archaeologist will have little or no interest in them. This will also make it impossible to repreate to the original site.

They do appear to be ancient native artifacts, but could have been knapped much more recently as many people like to revisit ancient art forms.

 

No way to know for sure.

[Mykkhul97]

Thank you very much.