Eva Barbed Projectile Point: Identification, Age & Range

How to identify a Eva Barbed point

The diagnostic feature is where the notches sit. On an Eva, both notches enter through the base itself, not the corners or sides. That basal notching creates prominent barbs at the shoulders and isolates a stem — straight or slightly tapering — that can extend below the barb tips. The stem's bottom edge runs straight or a touch convex and sometimes shows grinding or thinning. Keep in mind that resharpening shortens the barbs over a point's use life, so a heavily reworked Eva can look less barbed than a fresh one.

The blade is broad and triangular with edges that are usually convex, though some curve inward toward the tip. Cross sections are flat to thinly lens-shaped. Complete examples run 48 to 96 mm long, averaging about 61 mm, with blade widths of 25 to 39 mm and thickness of 8 to 10 mm. Workmanship is good: broad percussion flaking finished with finer percussion in a random pattern, with occasional pressure retouch along the edges. Two variants are recognized — the earlier Type I, generally larger with a short contracting stem, and the later Type II, with longer barbs and a straight to rounded stem.

Age and where it's found

Eva Barbed points date to roughly 7,500 to 6,000 B.P., in the Early Archaic. The type is related to the Cypress Creek points defined from the Morrisroe site in Kentucky and to the Morrow Mountain type that follows in regional sequences.

Distribution centers tightly on the western half of Tennessee within the Tennessee River valley, thinning through the rest of the valley. Finds only rarely reach the middle and upper Ohio drainage or western Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia — so location is itself a typing clue.

Similar and related types

• Morrow Mountain Projectile Point — A related but simpler form with a contracting stem and no basal notches or barbs.
• Kirk Corner Notched — Its notches enter at the corners of the base rather than through the base itself, so the barbs flare outward instead of hanging straight down.
• Lost Lake Corner Notch — Deeply corner-notched with pronounced beveled resharpening, unlike the Eva's unbeveled blade and true basal notches.
• Benton Stemmed — Defined from the same Eva site but younger, with a broad beveled stem and weak shoulders instead of strong barbs.