Beachgoer Discovers 10000-Year-Old Spearhead That May Hold Clues to

Earlier, a beachgoer discovered something that could hold clues to prehistoric life in New Jersey and Americas. According to Stanick, the piece of rock caught her attention because her sister, who collects shark teeth, had warned her to be on the lookout for black, shiny things within the sands.

Stanick recalled that a boy had found a similar object a year ago and soon got in touch with the New Jersey State Museum, where she found out she now possessed an ancient artifact. It turns out the family’s assumptions about the object were right and Dennis Stanford, an NMNH researcher who is an expert on archaeology of the Paleo-Indians and stone tools, told them that the object was an arrowhead that was estimated to be between 13,500 and 14,000 years old. He was vacationing from Virginia when finding his treasure in Beach Haven, New Jersey. After he donated his projectile point to the Smithsonian Institute, the Asbury Park Press wrote the boy’s story, which led to a frenzy of young paleontologists scouring New Jersey beaches, like Seaside Heights. It has been described as an “especially fine example” of Paleoindian artifact.

It wasn’t long before Victoria Doroshenko, then 11, found another point in Long Branch. While Stanick initially believed it might be an arrowhead, Lattanzi revealed it preceded the invention of bows and arrows by centuries.

The projectile point also likely originated from people living in what is now the Atlantic Ocean. He said that the artifact acts as evidence from prehistoric habitation sites from land and will also help analyze the distance between these sites and the oceans.

‘[It] will give us a better idea of just how far these sites may be located out in the ocean’.

‘It’s a pretty rare find, ‘ he told ABC News. According to Stanick, they were searching for sea glass on the beach.

Whatever the case, Ms. Stanick has decided that the museum will have more than enough projectile points to study, and she plans to keep hers for the time being. The Seaside Heights discovery brings to mind a similar discovery made by a 10-year-old boy previous year. Speaking with ABC News reporters, Lattanzi had the following to say about the Seaside Heights artifact.

The artifact, however, was not the first of its kind found along the New Jersey shoreline.