Montell Split Stem Projectile Point: Identification, Age & Range

How to identify a Montell Split Stem point

Montell points are medium to large darts, 40 to 100 mm long with most examples falling between 60 and 70 mm, so a typical piece is a bit shorter than a credit card is long. Width at the shoulders runs 30 to 50 mm. The cross section is flattened, workmanship is usually good, and the flaking pattern is random. These were dart or spear tips thrown with an atlatl, not arrow points, so anything this size and heft rules out the small arrow types of later centuries.

Start with the base. The defining trait is a deep central notch that is long and narrow, more of a slot than a curve, leaving two squarish basal ears on either side. The stem around that notch runs from straight to slightly expanding, typically 10 to 20 mm long. Shoulders are usually barbed but can be straight across, and the blade is typically convex-edged, sometimes serrated, and occasionally beveled on one face only. Points that were resharpened repeatedly can show straight or S-curved blade edges instead of the original convex outline.

If the notch in the base is wide and shallow rather than a narrow slot, or the ears look rounded rather than squared, consider the other split-base Texas types listed below before settling on Montell.

Age and where it's found

Montell points date from about 3,000 to 1,000 B.P., spanning the Late to Transitional Archaic. Archaeologists place them within the Uvalde and Edwards Plateau foci of central Texas; the type has not been established in complexes outside that area.

Geographically the type centers on the Edwards Plateau and extends into the Big Bend country, the middle Rio Grande valley, and northern Coahuila in Mexico.

Similar and related types

• Pedernales Projectile Point — Pedernales also has a bifurcated base, but its basal indent is a wider notch rather than a narrow central slot between squared ears, and its stem is longer.
• Uvalde — Uvalde points pair a notched base with a clearly expanding stem and more rounded basal lobes.
• La Jita — A fellow Edwards Plateau dart point that lacks the deep, slot-like central basal notch.
• LeCroy Bifurcated — A much smaller Early Archaic bifurcate from the eastern United States, far outside Montell's size, age, and geography.