JWA V1N1 - Arrowheads and Spear Points of the Prehistoric Southeast review by Holland

Arrowheads and Spear Points of the Prehistoric Southeast: A Guide to Understanding Cultural Artifacts

Linda Crawford Culberson, illustrated by Jim Culberson

University Press of Mississippi, Jackson, MS. 1991. 117 pp., illustrations, table of contents, glossary, 3 appendices, bibliography, index (paper). $29.50 Cloth; $12.95 Paper.

Reviewed by John D. Holland

Anthropology Division, Buffalo Museum of Science

Writing expressly for the surface collector of prehistoric Indian artifacts, Linda Culberson has produced an understandable, enlightening book. Most laudable is her persuasive plea in the preface to amateur collectors to catalog their finds. In a later passage, she explains how and why recording is done, and in so doing discourages archaeological excavating by all but experts.

Following the first immigrants into the Americas, the reader learns of the Paleo-Indian period, and the Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian, which are referred to as stages. Each of these are represented by drawings of respective period artifacts such as projectile points, chipped stone and ground stone tools, ceremonials, adornments, and ceramic vessels.

With the aid of the glossary, the reader should experience little difficulty digesting the information. Index A is devoted to illustrations of additional projectile points, Index B to the names and addresses of the state archaeologists of the Southeast, and Index C to the names and places of museums with Southeastern collections which are available to the public.

The prospective reader may be misled by the title, Arrowheads and Spear Points of the Southeast, since only about eighteen pages deal specifically with the subject of projectile points. More a matter of concern is the quality of the drawings which does not compare favorably with the excellently written text. While the text flows smoothly through the passing of time, the illustrations are crude, stark representations of points lacking definitive flake scars, basic at best. However, this does not impinge upon the quality of the contents, and the prehistoric knowledge of the amateur will be enhanced by using this book as a guide in the study of Southeast archaeology.