In the hopes that this will help you, as an artifact collector, be able to seperate modern made artifacts from authentic ancient artifacts, and to let you know that no matter what name is on a Certificate of Authenticity, (C.O.A.), an artifact is either ancient, or modern, regaurdless of what they say it is. I have been collecting for about 21 years now, and I have had points run through my hands that I would have sworn to be 100% authentic, and when I send them to be evaluated, the come back with only kill papers. On the other hand, I have had the complete opposite happen also, I have seen points that looked like they were made yesterday, be sent off and come back with a C.O.A..  One of my personal favorites is when I was field hunting for arrowheads, and found a semi-nice little dovetail, wishing to get papers on it for sales purposes, I sent it to be evaluated by one of the "top experts" in the U.S., and to my surprise, it got shot down, I was told, "The flaking looks to new".   Knowing that the point was indeed authentic, it made me realize that even though these evaluaters do know a considerable amount more about what to look for in spotting new, from the old, even they, can make mistakes.  I ended up having to sell the point as modern made and got a mear fraction of what it was worth.

    Maybe, after reading this, the info given will help each of you collectors draw your own opinion on the authenticity of an artifact. If you are in the business of buying large collections, or like to display some of those, "high dollar", points that you have purchased, it would most likely pay for you to do some investing in some equipment that will help you out in the long run. One, is a microscope, 40x. This will enable you to magnify the surface of the artifact beyond normal visual specs. Now, what to look for.....1. MINERALIZATION: One common deposit is iron ore, when looking through the scope, you may notice iron deposites on the stone. On authentic points, the iron will look as if it is melted to the stone, and have a smooth texture,where it has naturally attached itself, you may also notice a "halo" around the base of the attachment. This is caused by the breaking down of the mineral, and the stone absorbing, or bleaching, it as it does so. Fake iron deposites under the scope will appear to be lying on the surface, with no halo, and will not be under any step fractures. They will not be deep into the stone, but instead will appear to be a thin layer. This is typically done by rubbing a rusty nail over the high points of the stone.  2. ORGANIC DEPOSITS:  Natural occuring organic deposits, resemble spot of tar that is stuck to the rock. This is caused by the decompisition of organic materials. This can be found on nearly any area of a good artifact, and is not only common on points found in fields. Creek finds, and sandy area finds are subject to organic deposits as well. Fake organic deposits are usually a mixture of patroleum based tar products that has been applied in a random fashion on the stone, then rolled or dipped into sand or dirt. This will give the stone the visuals of natural deposits. One way to check to see if it is natural, is to dip a cotton ball into Aceton, (found in Fingernail Polish remover), and simpley clean the stone. If it comes off, it was put there recently. Also, purchase a black light, place light into a box, along with the point, if any areas of the point glow, this is due to another method of falso mineralization, using glue, or other chemicals. 3. HINGE AND STEP FRACTURES: These are flakes that have not been completely removed from the flint or chert body of the artifact. Normally, these fall off after repeated freezing and thawing of the stone. Throughout the years of freezing and thawing, raises the end of the flake, or hinge, allowing minerals such as clay, and other minerals to embed under the fracture, (which looks like a thumbnail). This alot of times causes the hinge to look "blue". As for step fractures, they will look to be a stair step of hinges, caused by the repeated attempts to get rid of a piece of flint that just would not thin. To the naked eye, the edges of the steps, look to be sharp, but when put under a scope, the appear to have a rounded edge, and will show wear on the surface from repeated use. Modern will have sharp edges with uneven wear. Many modern points will also light up under black light, due to a commonley used, furniture polish that helps hide the hinges, and helps add an aged look to the stone. Other methods are rock tumblers and even using liquid nitrogen to freeze off the hinges. 4. WEAR ON SURFACE:  There are 3 areas of different wear on an authentic artifact,one is the face, the higher ridges on the face would have become more polished after prolonged use of the artifact, especially in the center of the point, which was less likely to be effected by resharpening. The ridges of natural polishing will be rounded and less defined, as for applied polishing, will show striation marks from a tumbler or grinder. Another wear spot is the edge, which is the cutting edge and became dull through use.  Under the scope, they will not appear to be sharp, but rounded or smooth, they will many times by smooth to the touch, by running your finger over the edge. This will also allow you to spot any rechipping of an authentic point. Modern techniques are most often some type of flap grinder with a fine grit papers, this will show striation markings, plus it will apply the same polish over the entire stone. Last is the base. Here you may find basal grinding and or lateral edge grinding. The Clovis, Hardin, and Dovetail arrowheads are some example of points that used both styles of grinding. An authentic point that has basal or lateral grinding, it will appear to be rounded, but modern grinding will appear flat and oposing. This will also show under the scope, showing the flap marks, from sand paper or a grinder, which will leave striation markings. 5. SOIL STAINING:  Soil staining occurs after many years of being exposed to the elements. Some types of stone do not stain due to their near, "gem quality" surface. Some of these stones are, Flint Ridge Flint, alot of Agates, and Cahlcedony. If you set your scope to about 20x, you will notice hazing, giving appearance of a layer of skin, this will change the color of the surface of the stone. Many fakes will be baked, soaked, or chemically alter to give the look of soil staining. Many use syrup, or oil then bake, this will appear as staining, some will soak in manuer or apply furniture polish. One thing to look for, is if the staining is darker near or in any hinge or step fractures, and is not evenly coated. Also, use your Black light, for chemicals, and don't be afraid to bust out the Aceton, this will not hurt your points. 6. UP AND DOWNSIDES OF ARTIFACT:  There is an upside, and a downside to all artifacts. This is simpley, the side that is facing up, and the side that is facing down to the ground. As a rule, the upside, being exposed longer, will generally have a heavier pantination, as for many fakes, the pantina will be very uniform, and will be mostly evenly applied on bothsides.

    The purpose of this is to help you make up your own mind as to weather or not what you just purchased is indeed and authentic ancient artifact. I would suggest compairing artifacts that you know to be real, maybe because they are personal finds of your, to artifacts that you know for sure are modern, made to look old. Self comparison is the best teacher. Also, learn the typology of the artifact that you are evaluating, such as, flaking techniques used on each type of point, and the types of stones that was used in certain areas of the U.S. and the era, (paleo, trans. paleo, archaic, mississippian, and woodland), this is important.  For instance, if you notice, the flaking and overall tool making of the Paleo era, is much nicer than that of the Archaic, this has alot to due with the fact that the Archaic era people were focusing more on other interests and parts of their lives, such as farming, and gathering, which did not make hunting their primary food source. Also, if someone is trying to sell you an artifact that is made of Obsidian, but claims it to be from Kentucky, this is a big "RED FLAG"! Why? Because the stone type is wrong, obsidian is not a native stone in that area, and was found much to far away for them to jump on a horse an go get some. Many say that the Paleo people did not use "heat treated" stones. But a recent unearthing of a paleo site in Tennessee, revealed many paleo tools, such as the Clovis point, that were made of heat treated chert, which turns alot of the time, glossy, when heated. Although many evaluaters still stick to their guns, and say, they did not use heated material, archaeologist now say otherwise, this will be left up to you to decide.

  I hope this has helped you, and I appologize for it's lengthyness, but it could not be avoided. And remember, just because an artifact is followed by a C.O.A. does not mean it is authentic, no matter how good the Authenticator is that made the certificate, he, along with all of us, can be, and most likely, has been, fooled. You are not buying a guarantee, you are doing nothing more than buying another man, or woman's, opinion. Thanks, and good luck in your collecting.