Point Type: ADENA
Also See: Adena - Dickson, Adena - Narrow Stem, Adena - Notched Base, Adena - Robbins, Adena - Waubesa, Adena - Wells, Boggy Branch Type-1, Cypress Stemmed, Lagoon, Little Bear Creek, Mason Contracting Stemmed, New Market

Location: Eastern to Southeastern United States

Associated Dates: 3000 - 1100 B.P. - Late Archaic - Woodland
Morphology: Stemmed

General Description: The Adena projectile point and blade is a medium to large sized, thin, narrow, triangular/ovate blade that is sometimes serrated and terminates with a medium to long, narrow to broad, rounded, "beaver tail" stem. It has long been recognized as a characteristic type found associated with the Adena culture which originated in and around the Ohio Valley. Most classic Adena specimens display excellent woodland flaking knapping skills. Bases can be ground. The blade edges are usually excurvate in outline. The blades when first made were wide and had excurvate edges but as use an reworking were performed, the blade edges tended to become more straight. The shoulders vary from tapered to narrow and weak to horizontal and even sometimes are weakly barbed (although this is rare). The cross-section is biconvex with wide proportions.

It is thought that the classic Adena type developed from the earlier Cresap point type and that the Adena-Robbins emerged as a later version of the classic Adena. Many of the medium to larger Adena blades are considered as historically being utilized as blade or knife forms.

The distribution range of the classic Adena point type is quite wide in range. It is found in virtually every state of eastern North America. The majority of the points are found in the central Ohio Valley and along major tributaries of rivers in Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama, Tennessee and parts of Pennsylvania.

The typical classic Adena point measures between 34 and 150 mm long with the average being 70 mm in length. The width ranges from 17 mm to 43 mm with the average being 28 mm. The thickness ranges from 7 mm to 17 mm with the average specimen being 10 mm thick. The point was first described and named by William C. Mills in his1902 book "Excavation of the Adena Mound" for points he found at the large mound on the Adena Estate of Governor Worthington in Ross County, Ohio. This site was the place that the Adena culture was first defined and studied.

About the Point Above (Left): The small Adena point pictured at the top left of this page, was found in 1972 in a cornfield along the banks of Fourmile Creek near the town of Oxford, Butler Co., Ohio. The point is made from a satin black flint. The blade is quite thick for its size. This specimen exemplifies a typical exhausted Adena point, near end of life, with straight blade edges and a thickness that is characteristic of a much larger blade. Overall, the point measures 46 mm in length, is 26 mm wide across the shoulders, and is only 8 mm thick in mid blade. The stem is 17 mm long and is 19 mm wide. Catalog Number 47-5-B

About the Point Above (Right): The small Adena point pictured at the top right of this page, was found in 1977 on the surface of a washout at the Baldwin Station site, along the Housatonic River, Milford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. The point is made from milky quartz which is very fine grained. Overall, the artifact is very thin for the material used. The stem is tapered and not as bulbous as the specimen on the left. Overall, the point measures 38.5 mm in length, is 25 mm wide across the shoulders, and is only 7 mm thick in mid blade. The stem is 15 mm long and measures 13 mm wide. Catalog Number 46-5-B

References: Baker, Bell (1), Cambron & Hulse, Dragoo (f), Fogleman, Hranicky, Justice, Overstreet, Perino (1), Waldorf

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