How to Find Arrowheads in Kentucky

Spear Points consist of a blade and stem.

Merriam Webster defines arrowheads as "a wedge-shaped piercing tip usually affixed to an arrow." According to the Kentucky Heritage Council, though, most arrowheads found in Kentucky are really spear points. Spear points differ from arrowheads in that they are composed of two parts: the blade and the stem. Arrowheads, on the other hand, are all blade and usually smaller and thinner.
Here's how to hunt and collect arrowheads from Kentucky.

Instructions

1. Research the area you are interested in hunting. Gain valuable information from farmers, ranchers and landowners. Also contact a local or regional archaeological club, such as the Green River Archaeological Society of Kentucky, to help you locate or identify artifacts.

2. Wait for a good rainfall and search farms or construction sites where the land has been recently plowed or exposed. Not only will the rain wash away some of the topsoil, but it will also be easier to distinguish wet soil from your archaeological finds.

3. Search near water sources such as Lake Cumberland or the Rockcastle River. Water is needed for survival and is known to attract large game; thus, it was an ideal area for Indians to hunt.

4. Visit areas, such s Elkhorn Creek in Franklin County, where Indians are known to have lived and hunted. Many artifacts such as spear points, broken pottery, tomahawks and even skeletal remains have been found in this area.

Tips & Warnings

• Only collect spear points found on the ground's surface and then only from private land. According to the Archaeological Resource Protection act of 1979 (16 U.S.C. 470), it is illegal to or attempt to "excavate, remove, damage or otherwise alter or deface any archaeological resource located on public lands or Indian lands" unless you acquire a special permit.

References

• The Kentucky Heritage Council
• The Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979

Resources

• Merriam Webster Dictionary