Browse Items (71 total)

For a long time, archaeologists believed that people first arrived in the Americas about 13,000 years ago, forming the widespread Clovis culture. But after the discovery of these pre-Clovis stone blades and other artifacts from a site in Sussex…

These stone points are reproductions of those found at an important Paleoindian site in Sussex County (south-central Virginia). This site gave archaeologists evidence that people had been living in Virginia much earlier than had previously been…

This quartz projectile point was collected in Sussex County and is characteristic of the widespread Clovis culture that flourished around 13,000 years ago. Clovis points are found across the Americas. Thanks to another site in Sussex County…

Because archaeologists have been able to organize stone projectile point types into the order in which each type was used, they can often use the points found at a site as information to date that site. This is called relative dating, and is used…

Because archaeologists have been able to organize stone projectile point types into the order in which each type was used, they can often use stone points to date sites at which they were found. This is called relative dating, and is used when an…

These grooved axes were collected from York county on the Coastal Plain. They are examples of chipped and ground stone technology, the latter of which first appeared during the Late Archaic period. This method of tool production involved pecking and…

These grooved stone axes come from a site in King George county on the northern Coastal Plain. The smooth axes are examples of ground stone technology, which first appeared during the Late Archaic period. This method of tool production involved…

Stone was fashioned to serve many functions that one may not expect. These artifacts, based on the way they were ground and chipped into shape, are thought to have served as net sinkers for catching fish. Though these examples come from a Middle to…

Slate is a sedimentary rock that forms when extra-fine particles of clay are compressed, forming beautiful linear bands. It was used by Virginia Indians for ornamental pieces like this green slate birdstone, found at an Early Woodland site in…

This photo shows a replica of a deer antler tool found at a site in Orange County in the northern Piedmont. The tool was used to create or repair stone tools by pressure flaking, a method in which a pointed object was used to detach small flakes…