Thebes Projectile Point: Identification, Age & Range

How to identify a Thebes point

Start with the notches. Thebes points were notched in from the corners of the base, and the notches are deep and often unusual in form. Researchers recognize several variations: a diagonal notch that angles from the base toward the tip (most common in Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri), a curved "dogleg" notch seen most often in Ohio, a wide square notch, and the famous E notch, which is treated as a type of its own (Thebes E Notch). Below the notches the stem expands, the shoulders are barbed, and the base runs from slightly concave to convex with heavy grinding along its edge.

The blade tells the rest of the story. Most examples measure between 40 and 117 mm long (averaging near 57 mm) and 24 to 56 mm across the barbs, with a stout 7–12 mm thickness — noticeably chunkier than most corner-notched types. Fresh blades have straight to gently convex edges, but these tools were resharpened repeatedly while still in the haft, so many finds show a bevel (typically on the left side of each edge), serrations, or a recurved outline. Broad percussion flake scars usually remain visible on both faces, tidied up with fine pressure flaking around the margins.

Makers favored regional cherts such as Burlington, Avon, Bayport, Flint Ridge, and Upper Mercer, so color and texture follow whatever stone was available locally.

Age and where it's found

Thebes anchors the Thebes Cluster, an Early Archaic family that also includes Lost Lake, St. Charles, and Calf Creek points. The type dates to the early to middle Holocene, about 10,000–8,000 years before present.

The core range covers Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and eastern Iowa. Finds thin out northward into Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota and up the Ohio River valley, and the type is only rarely reported from Ontario, mostly on old terraces and beach ridges.

Similar and related types

• St. Charles Corner Notch — St. Charles shares deep diagonal notches but always has a convex, dovetail-like base, where a Thebes base can be flat or slightly concave.
• Lost Lake Corner Notch — Lost Lake points are thinner and more finely made, beveled on one edge of each face, with distinctively rounded barbs.
• Kirk Corner Notched — Kirk points are lighter and thinner in cross section, without the massive ground stem and deep sculpted notches of a Thebes.
• Pine Tree Corner Notched — Pine Tree points are smaller, with strongly serrated recurved blades rather than the thick beveled blade of a Thebes.