Scallorn Corner Notch Projectile Point: Identification, Age & Range

How to identify a Scallorn Corner Notch point

Think small and thin. Scallorn points measure 25 to 45 mm long and 13 to 21 mm across, so many are barely longer than a quarter, and they are only 2 to 5 mm thick with a flat cross section. Any well-made corner-notched point in that size class from Texas or the surrounding states deserves a look as a possible Scallorn.

The corner notches are what to check next. Notching in from the corners of a small triangular blank left an expanding stem and a pair of barbed shoulders; those barbs are one of the type's defining traits, though a few examples show squared shoulders instead. Bases run anywhere from flat to gently rounded. Blade edges are usually straight, sometimes gently convex, and serration is common; on points with flaring shoulder tips the edge can even read as slightly concave. Some blades are broad, others slender, and the flaking shows no organized pattern.

The unnotched Crisp Ovate point is thought to be the preform from which Scallorn points, among others, were finished, so an ovate blank of the right size found nearby is not out of place.

Age and where it's found

Scallorn points date to about 1,300 to 500 B.P., contemporary with the Late Woodland through Mississippian periods farther east. They are most common in central Texas and throughout the Red River drainage of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas, and they become progressively scarcer south of the border in Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas.

The Sequoyah and Washington points are close relatives. Sequoyah examples were originally lumped in with Scallorn; work at Missouri's Williams Shelter showed the two forms were distinct, and James Brown formally named Sequoyah as its own type in 1968.

Similar and related types

• Perdiz Projectile Point — Perdiz has a long contracting stem that ends in a point, while Scallorn's corner notches leave an expanding stem.
• Washita Projectile Point — Washita points are side-notched rather than corner-notched and lack Scallorn's barbed shoulders.
• Sequoyah — Typically more deeply serrated, with a longer, narrower blade and a narrower hafting area set off by wider notches.
• Alba — An East Texas arrow point with a squared to bulbous stem instead of a barbed, corner-notched haft.