The earliest migrations into the Americas have been
estimated at about 10,000 years ago.
That hypothesis, however, is being revised further and further back as
researchers gather data about the first people who trekked across the land from
Asia to populate the New World. Perhaps
even more intriguing is evidence that bone points used in spears preceded stone
points. I have wondered if bone points
were, in fact, always more commonly used than stone points regardless of the time-frame. Bone points are easier to
make and not as prone towards breakage.
From a practical perspective—especially when considering the logistics
surrounding the first settler’s lives—it seems that fashioning points from bone
would be less energy consuming and thus preferred. Of course, bone points (like wooden spears,
atlatls, bows and arrows) are subject to decay over time. As has been suggested by others the availability
of stone points presents a skewed picture of what types of piercing implements
were most popular. In fact, one critic
suggested that a thousand years from now archaeologists will find more evidence
of life between ten and five thousand years past than they will of the current
age—thus is the physical persistence of stones.
Below are two articles that you might find
interesting regarding research into settlement dates and the use of bone
points.
