Authentic Arrowhead
How do you check the authenticity of an arrowhead?
I'm curious how people can tell if an arrowhead is authentic or if it was made recently. Would it be possible for a someone who is not a professional authenticator to learn how to tell if an arrowhead was real of fake relatively easily?
As an archaeologist, I feel professionally obligated to say that you should bear in mind that removing artifacts from public property without a permit is a crime (in most countries, but I assume you are in the US). However, there are plenty of circumstances where it's legal to collect arrowheads, so I'll assume that this is not something you picked up at a national park but an antique shop or some such.
Arrowheads and other stone tools are usually made from fine-grained rocks, such as chert, quartzite, or obsidian. They are made by removing flakes of rock from a piece of the parent material, either by striking (called percussion, usually with another less brittle piece of rock) or by pressure using an implement like an antler tine. You can usually see the curved "flake scars" where the flakes of rock were struck off. If it is authentic, it depends on the material and how old it is. Really old tools have often weathered so much that the scars are hard to see, and some materials will flake but don't leave much trace because it is relatively coarse.
If it's a recent replica, it depends on how good the knapper (the person who made it) is. Many of the fake ones I have seen for sale have been made using metal tools, often very crudely; the fracture lines in the stone will be square instead of curved, will have obvious chisel marks, or won't exist at all. However, flint knapping is a very well-established hobby, and many people are very skilled at making replicas, which are sometimes very hard to distinguish from originals except that they are not weathered or damaged from being buried in the ground.
You could learn to tell, but in order to have any confidence in doubtful cases you should take a course-contact your local archaeology society and see if they offer any classes for amateurs.
For some examples of well-made replicas and more information, have a look at some links like this:
http://www.uiowa.edu/~osa/learn/ancient/flint.htm (this one does a better job than I did of explaining the process)
These both have lots of examples of modern points; just search for "flint knapping" and you will find many other pages.
http://www.msu.edu/~doneycar/flint.html
http://www.geocities.com/tlmayeux/
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