Point Type: FERRY
Also See: Big Creek , Grand, Hardin, Kay, Kirk Corner Notched, Matanzas, Stilwell, Williams
 
Location: Missouri, Iowa and west-central Illinois

Associated Dates: 5200 - 4400 B.P. - Middle Archaic to Late Archaic
Morphology: Corner Notched

General Description: The Ferry point is a medium to large point with a wide blade.  The blade can have convex sides, barbed shoulders and a needle-like tip.  The stem is expanded, having sharp to rounded basal corners.  Fowler indicates two varities:  The Ferry point which has the rounded or bulbous stem and the Barbeau point which has the sharp basal corners.

The Ferry point can be found in Missouri, Iowa and west-central Illinois at such sites as the Madoc Rock Shelter and the Koster site.  The point type is rather rare, and is found with Godar and Hemphill point in a mortuary association.

The Williams point of Texas and the Big Creek point of Arkansas are similar in form, even to the odd needle-like tips, but they have a much later date.  The Ferry was referred to as the Helton Point at the Koster site in a recent publication.  The name Helton should be abandoned as a point type.

The Ferry point type was named by Melvin Fowler in 1959 for the Ferry Site, Hardin County, Illinois.  It is described in Summary Report of the Modoc Rock Shelter , Report of Investigations No. 8, Illinois State Museum, Springfield.

About The Point Above: The Ferry point pictured at the top of this page was found in Jackson County, Illinois. The point is 69 mm long, 36 mm wide at the barbs, neck width at the notches is 18 mm and basal width is 19.2 mm. The stem length is 11.3 mm. Thickness is 11.6 mm at the neck of the stem. The point is made from a light tan chert material with dark brown inculsions and dark tan veins. The point is somewhat patinated. There is basal grinding on the stem which is the rounded or bulbous type.  From the basal thickness at the notches, I suspect this point was once much larger.  Both barbs are broken and of course the needle-like tip is long gone due to use wear.   Catalog Number 314-21-D

References: Hranicky, Overstreet, Perino (1)

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