Arrow Point from 14DN308
Date: 2000 BCE-500 CE
This arrow point fragment was recovered from an archeological site in a creek meander in Dickinson County. The point is made of Permian chert that has been heat-treated prior to finishing to improve its knapping qualities. The point has an expanding stem. The site was occupied during the late Archaic to Early Ceramic period.

Artifact Collection from 14JW304
Date: Unknown
These five artifacts show the variety of the collection from an archeological site in Jewell County. On the top row, from left to right, is a scraper and modified flake made of Florence chert and a biface made of Smoky Hill silicified chalk. On the bottom row, left to right, is a beveled knife, a projectile point preform, and an expanding stemmed dart point fragment, all made of Smoky Hill silicified chalk. Florence chert outcrops in the Flint Hills of Kansas and Oklahoma. Smoky Hill silicified chalk is a good quality knapping material that is exposed in linear beds in northwestern Kansas and western Nebraska.

Artifact Collection from 14MY395
Date: 1-1900 CE
These three artifacts were collected from an archeological site in Montgomery County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1975. The site was listed as an Early Ceramic period site, but with the inclusion of the Historic pipe it shows that people were at the site long after that time period. Shown are a small scraper made on Permian chert, a corner notched dart point made on heat treated Permian chert, and a fragment of a molded ceramic pipe bowl.

Basalt Expanding Stem Dart Point from the Ade Site, 14MP311
Date: 1000-1800 CE
Though this dart point was collected from a multicomponent site in McPherson County with occupations in the Middle and Late Ceramic periods, this artifact may have come from an earlier time period. The point was donated in 2004 and is made of basalt, a dark-colored fine-grained igneous rock. Dart points would be mounted to the dart foreshaft, which would in turn be connected to the dart shaft. The assembled dart would then be thrown with an atlatl (spearthrower).

Dart and Arrow Points from 14WY319
Date: 1000-1800 CE
These four projectile points were collected from a multicomponent (multiple occupations) archeological site in Wyandotte County and donated in 2002 to the Kansas Historical Society. The site had seen occupations from the Middle Ceramic to Historic periods. All of the points have expanding stems. Dart points would be mounted to the dart foreshaft, which would in turn be connected to the dart shaft. The assembled dart would then be thrown with an atlatl (spearthrower). Arrow points, like the smallest point shown here, were attached to an arrow shaft and fired with a bow.

Dart Point from 14CS1319
Date: 1000 BCE-500 CE
This dart point was recovered from the surface of an Archaic site in Chase County. The site was surveyed by Kansas Historical Society archeologists. This dart point has an expanding stemmed base. Dart points would be mounted to the dart foreshaft, which would in turn be connected to the dart shaft. The assembled dart would then be thrown with an atlatl (spearthrower).

Dart Point from Archeological Site 14CS356
Date: 6000-1 BCE
This expanding stemmed dart point was recovered from an Archaic period archeological site in Chase County by a Kansas Historical Society archeologist in 1973. Darts consist of three parts, the point, which would be mounted to the dart foreshaft, which would in turn be connected to the dart shaft. The assembled dart would then be thrown with an atlatl (spearthrower). This example is made of local Flint Hills chert.

Dart Point from Archeological Site 14CS399
Date: 8000 BCE-1 CE
This expanding stemmed dart point was recovered from an Archaic period archeological site in Chase County by a Kansas Historical Society archeologist in 1982. The archeologists thought that the slight projection above the stem (shown on the left of the first view) may be evidence of resharpening of the point. Darts consist of three parts, the point, which would be mounted to the dart foreshaft, which would in turn be connected to the dart shaft. The assembled dart would then be thrown with an atlatl (spearthrower).

Dart Point from Jotham Meeker's Farmstead, 14FR308
Date: 4000 BCE-1 CE
This dart point was excavated in 1985 by Kansas Historical Society Archeologists from the historic Jotham Meeker Farmstead site in Franklin County. Archeologists often identify projectile points based on their stem types. This dart point has an expanding stem with a fractured base. Dart points would be mounted to the dart foreshaft, which would in turn be connected to the dart shaft. The assembled dart would then be thrown with an atlatl (spearthrower). This dart point was recovered near a cluster of prehistoric pottery, north of the cellar and helps to document a prehistoric presence at a historic site.

Dart Point from the Kansas River Valley
Date: 6000 BCE-1000 CE
This dart point was collected in the Kansas River valley and donated in 1925 to the Kansas Historical Society. This expanding stemmed point is difficult to assign to a specific time period but probably was made and used between 6000 BCE and 1000 CE.

Dart Points from 14AT405
Date: 1-1000 CE
These six dart points were collected from an Early Ceramic period archeological site in Atchison County and donated in 1979 to the Kansas Historical Society. Two of the darts were heat treated to improve the chert's knapping qualities. Three of the darts are corner-notched, one has an expanding stem, and two are stemmed. All are made of Permian chert. After knapping, the dart point was mounted to the dart fore shaft, and then thrown with an atlatl.

Dart Points from 14AT419
Date: Unknown
These four dart points were collected from a gravel bar in Atchison County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1979. Three have expanding stems, while the fourth has a contracting stem and may have been a knife instead of a dart point. After knapping, the dart points were mounted to the dart fore shaft, and then thrown with an atlatl.

Dart Points from 14FR415
Date: Unknown
These two dart points were recovered from a work shop site in Franklin County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1984. Archeologists often identify projectile points based on their stem type. Both dart points have expanding stems. Dart points would be mounted to the dart foreshaft, which would in turn be connected to the dart shaft. The assembled dart would then be thrown with an atlatl (spearthrower).

Dart Points from 14WC408
Date: 1000-1500 CE
These three fragmented dart points were collected from an archeological site near the Smoky Hill River in Wallace County and donated in 2018 to the Kansas Historical Society. Two of the darts have expanding stems, the third has a parallel stem. Dart points would be mounted to the dart foreshaft, which would in turn be connected to the dart shaft. The assembled dart would then be thrown with an atlatl (spear thrower).

Dart Points from Anderson County
Date: Unknown
These two dart points were collected from Anderson County and donated in the 1930s to the Kansas Historical Society. One dart point has an expanding stem and was heat treated prior to completion to improve the chert's knapping qualities. The other dart point has a contracting stem.

Dart Points from Greenwood County
Date: 1000 BCE-500 CE
These six dart points were collected from Greenwood County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1984. They show some of the different styles of projectile points that were present during the late Archaic to Early Ceramic Periods. Archeologists often identify these points based on the stem type: contracting stemmed, parallel stemmed, expanding stem, corner-notched and side-notched. Dart points would be mounted to the dart foreshaft, which would in turn be connected to the dart shaft. The assembled dart would then be thrown with an atlatl (spearthrower).

Dart Points from Kearny County
Date: 1500 BCE - 1000 CE
The three different styles of dart points shown here are part of the Hedge Collection, donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2016. They show an expanding stemmed/corner-notched dart point, a parallel stemmed dart point, and a contracting stemmed dart point. Dart points would be mounted to the dart foreshaft, which would in turn be connected to the dart shaft. The assembled dart would then be thrown with an atlatl (spearthrower).

Dart Points from the Iowa Point Site, 14DP1302
Date: Unknown
These two dart points were collected from a multicomponent (multiple occupations) archeological site in Doniphan County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1925. The dart points were made of Permian chert and show expanding stems. Dart points would be mounted to the dart foreshaft, which would in turn be connected to the dart shaft. The assembled dart would then be thrown with an atlatl (spearthrower).

Dart Points from the Wullschleger Site, 14MH301
Date: 1-1000 CE
Shown here are two of the many dart points recovered from the Wullschleger site in Marshall County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 1961. The site was occupied periodically throughout the Early, Middle and Late Ceramic periods. These dart points were used to hunt game during the earlier occupations. The corner-notched dart point gets its pinkish color as a result of the material being carefully heated before manufacturing to improve the chert's knapping qualities. The longer dart point has an expanding stem.

Expanding Stemmed Dart Point from the Grouse Creek Site, 14CO120
Date: 4800-3800 BCE
These expanding stem dart points were among the many that were collected from an Archaic site in Cowley County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2013. The dart points are made of local chert from the Flint Hills region and get their pinkish color as a result of the material being carefully heated before manufacturing to improve the chert's knapping qualities. The site was associated with both Calf Creek (a distinctive dart point style that is generally found in eastern Kansas and states to the east and south during the late Paleoindian Period) and Munkers Creek (a stone tool technology restricted primarily to the Flint Hills from 4000 to 3800 BCE). These darts are associated with the Munkers Creek occupation.

Expanding Stemmed Dart Points from 14MY349
Date: 2500 BCE-500 CE
These four expanding stemmed dart points were all made of Permian chert that had been heat treated to improve its knapping qualities. They were collected from a multicomponent site in Montgomery County with occupations from the late Archaic, Early Ceramic and Historic periods.

Projectile Points from 14DN404
Date: 7000-1 BCE
These three projectile points were collected from an Archaic period kill site in Dickinson County and donated to the Kansas Historical Society in 2016. All three projectile points are made of Florence chert that outcrops in the Flint Hills of Kansas and Oklahoma. Two of the points have expanding stems and the third has a contracting stem. Dart points would be mounted to the dart foreshaft, which would in turn be connected to the dart shaft. The assembled dart would then be thrown with an atlatl (spearthrower).

Projectile Points from 14DN414
Date: 7000 BCE-500 CE
These four projectile points were collected from an archeological site in Dickinson County and donated in 2010 to the Kansas Historical Society. The site had multiple occupations as is shown by the different style of projectile points. The top row has two expanding stem arrow points from the Early Ceramic period and the bottom row has two dart points from the Archaic period. One dart point is a complete corner-notched point, while the other is a contracting stem fragment. All four projectile points are made of Permian chert.

Projectile Points from 14LY414
Date: 1500 BCE-500 CE
These four dart points were collected from a multicomponent (multiple occupations) site in Lyon County and donated in 1958 to the Kansas Historical Society. These four were likely made in the Late Archaic to Early Ceramic periods. The two on the top row have expanding stems. The bottom left dart point also has an expanding stem, while the bottom right dart point has a contracting stem.

Projectile Points from 14MY316
Date: 700-1500 CE
These 11 dart points were recovered from an archeological site along the Elk River in Montgomery County. All are made of Permian chert and seven were heat treated, a method to improve the knapping qualities of a chert which results in a pinkish color. Nine of the dart points are corner-notched, one has a contracting stem and another an expanding stem. The site had house remains and is considered to be part of the Pomona focus of the Early and Middle Ceramic period. Pomona focus sites are located in eastern Kansas and western Missouri.