Nearly 8,000 years ago, a Native American was hunting in the woods and fields along the Connecticut river in what is now Suffield. At just the right time, an atlatl dart was launched at a potential target. The stone dart tip, often referred to broadly as an “arrowhead”, received damage to its left shoulder in the process. 8,000 years later, I located this artifact sticking out of the mud on a spring day in April of 2023 – one of a half-dozen that I would find that year.
While we may never know the exact story of how the point was lost or broken, it reinforces the certainty that humans were thriving in Suffield at that time. To put that in perspective, they were living and hunting here in Suffield thousands of years before the Great Pyramids were constructed in Egypt.
The indigenous people were very skilled and purposeful in their creation of stone tools, often making specific tools in the same manner and for the same purpose across a large geographic range. Archeologists have carbon dated charcoal found at the same soil layer as these specific artifacts to determine the approximate age of this artifact type.
Most artifacts are buried deep underground. However, through natural erosion, or unnatural erosion such as field plowing and home building, these are occasionally brought to the surface. The oldest I have seen found by Suffield residents are nearly 9,000 years old, but I am almost certain there are older artifacts to be found. Fluted spearpoints have been found in Agawam, Northampton, and Deerfield, and I figure it is only a matter of time before a similar one is located within our boundaries.
The Suffield Historical Society collection of Native American artifacts has grown significantly thanks to donations from local families. This collection of knives, atlatl darts, arrowheads and other artifacts are now on display with several other exhibits at Academy Hall. Stop by for a visit and expand upon your understanding of Suffield’s earliest inhabitants.