Introduction To Identification of Ritchie County, WV, Prehistoric Projectile Points and Artifacts

All identifications which appear on the following pages were made from photographs made by the author either in the field (at the home of the artifact collector) or at the Ritchie County Public Library. Identification from photographs is possible because archeologists have determined the ages of artifacts of the several types named in this pamphlet by scientific techniques, including stratification and carbon-14 dating. It is inferred that artifacts sharing the same design characteristics will be of the same approximate age, having been made by related culture groups during the same cultural period.

It should be noted that projectile points of the same design are often called by different names in different regions of the United States. Local researchers often operate in relative isolation from others doing the same work, and thus different names for the same artifact type arise. With a few exceptions, projectile points in this pamphlet are given names established for West Virginia points. It should be understood, though, that some of the projectile point types shown here may be found over most of the eastern U.S.

It was noted that several of the projectile point types included in this pamphlet have counterparts in other regions, especially in Illinois, Michigan and the Great Lakes Region, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Texas.

Many different types of flint and other materials were used in the production of projectile points found in Ritchie County. Some projectile points were undoubtedly made of flint from Flint Ridge, Ohio, and others appear to have been made from Black Kanawha flint, from the Kanawha Valley in WV. But it is important for the scientific community to recognize that the majority of flint chips found at the several prehistoric sites in the county came from local sources, i.e., the Hughes River Flint, and another outcrop on Goose Creek, near Combs Run. At least half of the projectile points illustrated in this pamphlet are of this easily identifiable local flint. Yet nowhere in the archaeological literature of this state is the Hughes River flint mentioned as a source of flint for tools of primitive man in West Virginia. This seems odd, especially since a 1956 publication of the West Virginia Geological Survey mentioned the Hughes River flint as the only notable deposit of flint in the Ohio River Valley in West Virginia (Cross & Schemel, et, al, Geological and Economic Resources of the Ohio Valley in West Virginia.

The author believes that the sheer number of artifacts illustrated here should cause Ritchie County, long ignored by archeologists, to take its place among other regions of this state which have been noted in state publications as sites of primitive ancestors of the American Indians. The Kanawha Valley in the southern portion of the State, the Monongahela Valley to the east, and the Northern Panhandle region have all been noted as primary sites of occupation by primitive man. Recent investigation has begun to identify the Parkersburg area, specifically Blennerhasset Island, as a primary archaeological site in West Virginia. But it is important to consider that these areas are economically more developed than Ritchie County, and thus archaeological work by professionals is more readily solicited and financed. Such research does not establish that these sites were occupied on a larger scale, or for longer periods of time than Ritchie County, only that professional archaeological investigations have been possible there due to favorable economic conditions. If this many artifacts (those illustrated here) can be found in Ritchie County on the surface, then how much more could professional archeologists discover by planned and systematic excavations?

It has not been possible to identify all projectile points illustrated here. Of the more than 550 points and stone tools illustrated, 220 have been tentatively identified and fixed within a certain time period. Many of these identifications were made at the author's request by the Archeology Section Team of the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey under the supervision of Dr. Thomas Hemmings. Those identified by the Archeology Section are so indicated.

Many of the projectile points not identified show distinct characteristics like established forms, but not enough 1ike'established forms to place them in any certain category. Other types are illustrated which are totally unlike other projectile points known in this or other regions. Such unique points reflect the possible isolation of some prehistoric Indian groups in Ritchie County, perhaps purposely out Of touch with neighboring regions, developing projectile point types as well as other cultural manifestations in relative freedom from outside influence.

Ritchie County can be considered an attractive "micro-environment" for primitive man--an area within ten miles of the Ohio River at its northwestern boundary. This nearness to the Ohio explains the early interest of Archaic Cultures in the region of Ritchie County. The Ohio River is a well established migration and cultural diffusion route for primitive man. And Ritchie County is connected to the Ohio River by the Little Kanawha and Hughes Rivers. The Little Kanawha was once marked by a prehistoric travel route, a branch of the Seneca or Shawnee Trail--a major North-South trail for Indians in prehistoric as well as historic times. Another major travel route for both historic and prehistoric Indians, the Scioto-Monongahela Trail, had a branch which bisected Ritchie County, following the course of the present B & 0 Railroad. These routes (one east-west, the other north-south) establish Ritchie County as a well traveled area by both prehistoric and historic Indians. Ritchie County was off the beaten path for Paleo-Indians and the first Archaic Indians to follow them to the Ohio Valley, but the assemblage of Early Archaic artifacts in this pamphlet indicates that it was not long after the arrival of man in the Ohio Valley before he found his way to Ritchie County. The total assemblage of artifacts from prehistoric Indian cultures indicates that the ancestors of the Indians were in Ritchie for more than 10,000 years, occupying hilltop and riverine sites along major waterways--the same sites first selected by the county's first White settlers.

All attempts such as this one to identify artifacts which have not been found associated with an undisturbed site are hampered by the lack of pure scientific investigation of the relationship of the artifact to the site. Specifically, artifacts found on the surface, such as those shown here, cannot be dated according to their association with organic or geologic matter for which a precise age can be determined. Thus, although precise dates cannot be assigned for the artifacts illustrated here, a comparison of these artifacts with others of the same type which have been precisely dated will indicate an approximate age.

As will be noted in plates identified as from the author's collection, the author has investigated several sites where artifacts were found by collectors, and has found a number of artifacts himself at those sites. Such finds, together with the known character of collectors mentioned in this pamphlet, have influenced the author to rely upon the truthfulness of collectors in assuming that artifacts were indeed found at the locations where they have stated they were found. This statement is made to discourage the assertion by skeptics that "those artifacts could have come from anywhere," a criticism which is anticipated. All such skeptics are encouraged to come to Ritchie County and "see for yourself.

William A. Cox, Jr.
Harrisville, WV, 1979

Recognized Archeological Sites in Ritchie

by William A. Cox, Jr., Staff Historian
Ritchie County Public Library -- 1979-1980

[From The Ritchie Gazette, c.1979]

Seven prehistoric sites have been identified and recorded within Ritchie County by the Archeology Section of the West Virginia Geological Survey, in Morgantown. Yet these recorded sites reflect only a fraction of the legacy left here by primitive man. Artifact collections have been turned by the plow in every corner of Ritchie County, and dates ranging from 10,000 to 300 years ago have been assigned to them by the Archeology Section team.

It is a policy of the Archeology Section not to make public the exact locations of established archeological sites until they have been excavated. Such a policy aims at protecting the sites from possible vandalism by private persons who may want to add to their artifact collections. Since none of the sites in Ritchie County have been excavated, their precise locations cannot be given here, but they will be located generally.

Old quarry along the Hughes River where Indians got flint for spear and arrow points and other uses--photo by the author

The information derived from undisturbed sites is invaluable to archeologists as they search for an understanding of primitive man in West Virginia, yet public curiosity does not necessarily await the progress of science, especially when the unintending plow so often turns up boxfulls of ancient relics in Ritchie County. I have witnessed this myself. On the invitation of a local farm owner to search a freshly plowed field at the junction of the Cairo-Cisco Road and Route 47, my son, David, and I found three projectile points and a stone scraper within ten minutes. So there need be no intention to disturb an ancient Indian site in Ritchie County--we simply have work to do, and fields to plow. And in response to the violent gesture of the plow, the earth yields up its aged treasures willingly, as if to remind the plowman that she welcomed the Indian to this very spot many thousands of years before, that she has kept and preserved his works.

"Site 46-rt-1" in Ritchie County identifies the only notable deposit of flint, or chert, in the entire Ohio Valley region. This flint outcrop, commonly called the Hughes River Flint, is "twelve to fifteen feet thick, where best developed. . . The color varies from light, almost milky white, to buff, to grayish black." This flint quarry alone establishes Ritchie County as a probable location of heightened activity for primitive man.

The Indians traveled great distances to find usable flint for their stone projectile points and tools. No doubt the Indians who travelled the northwestern area of West Virginia, southeastern Ohio, and southwestern Pennsylvania were familiar with this deposit. Many of the arrowpoints and other flint tools found in this large area will probably be traced to the Hughes River flint.

Site 46-rt-2 is an Indian mound near Cisco. This mound was constructed by the Adena or Hopewell cultures, between 3000 and 1500 years ago. The mound was almost totally destroyed in the late 1920's, and the artifacts were removed together with the skeleton of an Indian priest which had rested there for at least 1500 years. The original mound was about fifteen feet high. Today, nothing remains of the structure above ground level, but the Archeology Section team believes that excavations of the site may uncover sub-surface tombs, and they have recorded that private collections of artifacts from this mound are located in Mace and Elizabeth, in Wirt County. Among the known artifacts in these collectinos are a four-inch slate pendant, and a stemmed arrowpoint of Adena and Hopewell culture origin.

Site 46-rt-3, the Ayers' site in Murphy District of Ritchie County, not far from Smithville, is another Indian mound. The Archeology Section team estimates that the mound is sxty feet in diameter. This mound is capped with rocks.

Site 46-rt-4 is located on a meander of Spruce Creek, near Hazelgreen. Found at the site were several projectile points, a bone awl, and a grit-tempered fragment of pottery. The site is a probable location of a prehistoric Indian campsite.

Sites 45-rt-5, 46-rt-6, and 46-rt-7 are also identified as probable prehistoric Indian campsites. These sites are located near the South Fork of Hughes River on Little Bear Run, on Indan Run, and near Harrisville.

The photo, from an article by the author, appeared in Wonderful West Virginia magazine in September, 1978.