Colleagues,
First, there are references to Euroamerican manufacture of metal points for trade to Natives. I point you first to Russell's "Firearms, Traps, and Tools of the Mountain Men," although his observations are not well referenced. Simmons and Turley's "Southwestern Colonial Ironwork: The Spanish Blacksmithing Tradition" also provides references for thin metal points. Their spatial-temporal contexts, however, are not well conceived. There is documentary evidence that metal points were made in bulk in the East for trade to Indians in the West. Bell, Jenks, and Newcomb's "A Pilot Study of Wichita Indian Archaeology and Ethnohistory" is also important in this regard because it addresses points made by Euroamerican traders, particularly French, for trade to South Plains tribes. There were also, apparently, traveling French smiths among the South Plains tribes.
Indeed, metal points have been the subject of some study for sometime. A. J. Taylor is the first person you should contact. A. J. is now in Albuquerque, can be reached at [log in to unmask] I have a paper on contexts for metal points in northern New Mexico in the most recent Archaeological Society of New Mexico annual volume honoring Carol Condie. I'm supposed to have a pdf copy around here somewhere but can't find it immediately. If I find it, I'll post it to histarch. In New Mexico, most metal points were made by Native Americans for their own use and, as is becoming increasingly clear, for trade to Euroamericans, although the vast majority are found in Native contexts. At this point, most thin metal points, made from wheel rims, barrel hoops, and flat metal tools like hoes, saws, and shovels, are from contexts dating between about 1821 and 1880, the former being the opening of the Santa Fe Trail that brought LOTS of goods of MANY types into New Mexico and the Southwest, the latter being the opening of the railroad across NM and the Southwest that brought LOTS of firearms to the region. My personal suspicion is that most metal points in the region date between 1846, the year that NM became a US territory, resulting in US troops and LOTS of US immigrants to NM. Archaeologically, we see increasing amounts and variety of goods from the US between 1821 and 1846, followed by a truly remarkable expansion of kinds of goods as the territory is open to major US immigration. That said, though, we cannot be sure that most points are indeed from that much shorter time period, but 1821 to the 1880s is a safe bet.


Jeff

Jeffrey L. Boyer, RPA
Supervisory Archaeologist/Project Director
Office of Archaeological Studies, Museum of New Mexico

  *   407 Galisteo Street, Suite B-100
  *   Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
  *   tel: 505.827.6387   fax: 505.827.3904
  *   e-mail: [log in to unmask]

The biggest problem with the past is that it reads better in reverse. Life is far messier in real time.

________________________________________
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Robert Mallouf [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2012 12:31 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Historic Native American Metal Points

Mark--Metal arrow points of European manufacture are found on occasion in
Texas sites, but I am unaware of any specific publication that provides an
overview of their manufacture and/or trade. We had an example (brass) come
to light in 2004 here in the Texas Big Bend and I included it in a short
newsletter article on metal points for the Center for Big Bend Studies at
Sul Ross State University (Alpine, Tx). I am having a copy of this
newsletter forwarded to you.

I might also suggest that you get hold of A.J. Taylor, an archaeologist now
living in Pampa, Tx (I think) who has done extensive research on metal
points in Texas. Unfortunately I do not have her current address or email.
I will see if I can locate it and email it to you.

Best wishes--Robert Mallouf

Robert J. Mallouf
Senior Research Archaeologist
Center for Big Bend Studies
Box C-71
Sul Ross State University
Alpine, Texas 79832
432.837.7059
[log in to unmask]


On Wed, Jun 20, 2012 at 10:38 AM, Branstner, Mark C
<[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> Good Morning Folks,
>
> The presence of brass, copper, and iron arrowheads on historic period
> Native American sites is nearly ubiquitous … and there are usually a few
> examples in most appropriately dated contexts.
>
> I have two questions:
>
> (1) Is there any evidence for the European manufacture and/or marketing of
> metal points to the Native American community? It would seem logical that
> such a trade existed, but any citations or recommendations would be
> appreciated. I am guessing that given 300 years of contact and different
> markets, there may be multiple answers.
>
> (2) Are there any 'standard' or superior references to this topic that I
> should know about?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Mark
>
>
> ___________________________________
>
>
> Mark C. Branstner, RPA
>
> Historical Archaeologist
>
>
> Illinois State Archaeological Survey
>
> Prairie Research Institute
>
> University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
>
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>
>
> "As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their
>
> faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving
>
> only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their
>
> cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste
>
> of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to
>
> make plans." - E. Hemingway
>