1 & 3/4\" OBSIDIAN ELKO CORNER NOTCHED ARROWHEAD AUTHENTIC ARTIFACT OREGON *129 For Sale

Up for sale is an authentic prehistoric obsidian Elko Corner-Notched point — an expanding-stem, corner-notched arrowhead/dart point with serrated edges, 1 3/4\" long, 11/16\" wide, 11/16\" across the base, and 1/8\" thick, found in the early 1900s in Warner Valley, Lake County, Oregon. One basal ear (barb) is broken off.

A triangular blade with corner notches that produce downward-sloping barbs and an expanding stem — the defining shape of the Elko Corner-Notched type. The edges are finely serrated, the stone is obsidian, and the size sits squarely in the Elko range. One of the two basal ears/barbs has snapped off; the stem and the opposite barb are intact.

Age. Elko Corner-Notched points were made roughly 4,000–1,500 years ago (the Elko series broadly spans about 3,500–1,400 B.P. in many regional sequences) — the Middle-to-Late Archaic of the northern Great Basin. So unlike a plain scraper, this piece can be bracketed in time, because its notched, stemmed shape is a dated, named type.

Age- human occupation of the northern Great Basin — anywhere across the Archaic through the late prehistoric period.

Region and Culture- Warner Valley is a chain of shallow lakes and marshes in the high desert of south-central Oregon (Lake County), holding one of the richer early archaeological records in the northern Great Basin. In the late Pleistocene and early Holocene it cradled a large pluvial lake (Lake Warner), and its shorelines drew people from the Paleoindian Western Stemmed Tradition onward through the Archaic. The Elko series is among the most common point types found across this region, made predominantly on obsidian.

Function. A point this size (~44 mm) was most likely the tip of an atlatl dart (a spear-thrower dart) rather than a true bow-and-arrow point — Elko points are generally dart-sized and were used to hunt game such as deer, pronghorn, and smaller mammals and waterfowl around the lake-and-marsh country. (\"Arrowhead\" is the common collector/search term and is fine to use, but technically this is more likely a dart point.)

Trade and toolstone. This is obsidian country: south-central and eastern Oregon hold dozens of obsidian flows. Obsidian is the one toolstone that can be chemically \"fingerprinted\" (sourced) to a specific volcanic flow, and even relatively dated by its hydration rind. Sourcing studies repeatedly show obsidian moving tens to hundreds of miles from its origin, tracing the wide-ranging movement and exchange of these early peoples.

Material

Obsidian (volcanic glass), confirmed. Held to a light, the thin edges glow translucent — the giveaway for obsidian — and the piece reads as a dark, semi-translucent glass carrying a matte weathering sheen, with glossier black where the flake scars are crisper. (Obsidian doesn\'t patinate like flint, but it develops a dull weathering surface and soil sheen over long burial or exposure.) Obsidian is the dominant toolstone in this region, so the stone fits the call — consistent with the volcanic geology of Oregon.

Possible candidates, in ranking order

1. Elko Corner-Notched (lead). Triangular blade, corner notches forming barbs and an expanding stem, finely serrated, obsidian — a strong, textbook fit on every feature.
2. Elko Eared. A close cousin within the same series; if the base read as distinctly \"eared\" with a concave bottom rather than simple corner notching, this would be the label. With one ear broken, the two are hard to separate, but the corner-notched form is the better read.
3. Rosegate (Rose Spring / Eastgate) — lower. A later, smaller expanding-stem arrow point. Possible in form, but at ~44 mm this piece is larger than typical Rosegate arrow points, so it ranks below Elko.

Condition

Solid, attractive display condition — a nicely formed, serrated expanding-stem obsidian point with the weathering sheen of age. The one condition issue is a broken basal ear (barb); the stem and the opposite barb are intact, and no other major damage is noted.

Specifications:

• Length: 1 3/4 in
• Width: 11/16 in (widest point)
• Width at base: 11/16 in
• Thickness: 1/8 in
• Material: Semi-translucent obsidian
• Form: Expanding stemmed arrowhead with serrated edges and a missing/broken off ear.
• Found: Warner Valley, Lake County, Oregon, early 1900s

BEING SOLD IN \"AS IS\"/USED CONDITION WITH NO ALTERATIONS.