Types
Projectile points fall into two general types: dart/spear points, and arrow points. Larger points were used to tip spears and atlatl darts. Arrow points are smaller and lighter than dart points, and were used to tip arrows. The question of how to distinguish an arrow point from a point used on a larger projectile is non-trivial. According to some investigators, the best indication is the width of the hafting area, which is thought to correlate to the width of the shaft. An alternative approach is to distinguish arrow points by their necessarily smaller size (weight, length, thickness).
Projectile points come in an amazing variety of shapes and styles, which vary according to chronological periods, cultural identities, and intended functions.
Typological studies of projectile points have become more elaborate through the years. For instance, Gregory Perino began his categorical study of projectile point typology in the late 1950s. Collaborating with Robert Bell, he published a set of four volumes defining the known point types of that time. Perino followed this several years later with a three-volume study of "Selected Preforms, Points and Knives of the North American Indians". Another recent set of typological studies of North American projectile points has been produced by Noel Justice.
Read more about this topic: Projectile Point
Famous quotes containing the word types:
“The American man is a very simple and cheap mechanism. The American woman I find a complicated and expensive one. Contrasts of feminine types are possible. I am not absolutely sure that there is more than one American man.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)
“He types his laboured column—weary drudge!
Senile fudge and solemn:
Spare, editor, to condemn
These dry leaves of his autumn.”
—Robertson Davies (b. 1913)
“If there is nothing new on the earth, still the traveler always has a resource in the skies. They are constantly turning a new page to view. The wind sets the types on this blue ground, and the inquiring may always read a new truth there.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)