Native peoples along Ten Mile Creek
Long before Marianna existed, Native peoples lived, traveled, and hunted along Ten Mile Creek. Creeks provided fresh water, attracted game, offered fish and other food sources, and served as natural travel routes through the landscape. Camps were established along these waterways, sometimes seasonally, sometimes revisited over many generations.
Over time, stone tools were lost, broken, or discarded along the creek. Flooding and erosion buried many of these objects, only to reveal them again centuries—or even millennia—later. This is why stone points are sometimes found along creek banks, gravel bars, or freshly disturbed ground near the water.
A Note on “Arrowheads”
In everyday language, most people use the word arrowhead to describe any chipped stone point. Archaeologically speaking, only the smaller triangular points—such as Levanna and Madison—were used with bows and arrows.
Many of the larger or notched points shown here are older projectile points, made for spears or for use with spear-throwers (often called atlatls by archaeologists), and date back long before bows and arrows were used in this region.
All of the point types shown here have been found in Southwestern Pennsylvania and reflect the region’s long and layered human history.
Note: The image and text in this post were created with the assistance of AI to illustrate and explain local prehistoric stone points. While care has been taken for accuracy, readers are encouraged to verify details independently.
