Archaeologists dig in the dirt to unearth artifacts, objects made by people in the past. Artifacts tell us a lot about the people who once made them.
Projectile points are important artifacts.
The size and shape of these tools often tells an archaeologist what group of people made it and when. Arrowheads were not made in North America until about 1,000 years ago. They are triangular-shaped and much smaller than the spear points. Fashioned from flint or other types of rock, arrowheads are designed to be attached to a small wooden shaft and shot from a bow. An area where many artifacts have been found may be a village or camp where humans lived and hunted thousands of years ago.