Returning arrowheads

April 30, 2023 11:22 PM

I need videos (and articles) about people successfully returning arrowhead collections and how that has been meaningful emotionally and/or financially.
posted by anonymous to Grab Bag (2 answers total)

Mod note: Please note: I realize the post is short on details, but for the purposes of answering the question, we will assume the collections either included information of provenance, or the owners had them professionally evaluated to determine this, and were able to return them to the indigenous groups from whence they originated.
posted by taz (staff) at 11:22 PM on April 30, 2023

Arrowheads are a lot like old coins.... There is quite a lot of them, over thousands of years, with dozens of various civilizations and groups. And most of them, despite being stunning works of art and history, they just aren't worth much in a purely financial sense. The average arrowhead is not going to break a three digit value. The most valuable points are Clovis, from aprox 13,000 years ago. And like having an Assyrian coin, or a Spartan one, these cultures just don't... really exist any more. So that limits the financial avenue of returning arrowheads, both in expected dollar amount, and how do you pick who to return the items to? The people who most recently lived in the area the points were found?


And frankly, arrowheads were largely tools. This is not my culture, and I can't and shouldn't attempt to speak for them, but... at a certain point, how many arrowheads do you need? That may or may not have been from your ancestors a thousand years ago or way longer? With all these factors, I'm guessing there just isn't much material about returning arrowheads. As much as possible should absolutely be returned to native and indigenous peoples, but I think arrowheads are very low on the list of priorities behind things like remains and ceremonial objects.
posted by Jacen at 8:13 PM on May 1, 2023