Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 3 hrs ago
Student Finds 3,000-to-4,500-Year-Old Spear Point in Virginia
During a university ecology field trip on a barrier island off Virginia’s Eastern Shore, biology student Brooklyn Rolph found a stone spear point while looking for shark teeth.
State archaeologists identified it as a Lehigh/Koens-Crispin point, and the university estimates it is 3,000 to 4,500 years old.
The point is about six inches long and was described by an archaeologist who examined it as unusually well preserved.
Because the island is state-owned, the point belongs to Virginia and state conservation staff collected it for the Department of Historic Resources.
The discovery came during an annual trip that helps ecology students study coastal plants, animals and their surroundings in the field.
State archaeologists are studying the find, but no further steps are specified.
A biology student found a stone spear point while looking for shark teeth on a Virginia field trip.
State archaeologists identified it as a Lehigh/Koens-Crispin point and estimated it is 3,000 to 4,500 years old.
The point was found on a barrier island off Virginia’s Eastern Shore in September.
Because the island is state-owned, the spear point belongs to Virginia and is being studied by archaeologists.
State conservation staff collected it for the Department of Historic Resources on the day it was found.
- Who
- Brooklyn Rolph, a biology student at Mary Baldwin University, found the point.
- What
- She found a stone spear point identified as a Lehigh/Koens-Crispin point, estimated to be 3,000 to 4,500 years old.
- When
- September. The exact date is not stated.
- Where
- On a barrier island off Virginia’s Eastern Shore, at the edge of an inlet.
- Why
- Rolph was looking for shark teeth during a state-permitted ecology field trip. The point was made thousands of years ago; its original purpose is not stated.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Rolph and her classmates spent four days in the field with their professors.
Rolph found the spear point while looking along an inlet during the ecology field trip.
State conservation staff collected the point for the Department of Historic Resources.
- Finder
- Brooklyn Rolph
- University
- Mary Baldwin University
- Estimated age
- 3,000 to 4,500 years
- Point type
- Lehigh/Koens-Crispin
- Length
- About 6 inches
- Location
- Barrier island off Virginia’s Eastern Shore
What people are saying
They were ecstatic
I already have the field of view that I’m looking for something pointy
It is certainly awe-inspiring to see and touch something that was made by human hands thousands of years ago
Brooklyn was probably the first person to see it and touch it in all of that time