Point Type: STILWELL
Also See: Big Sandy, Kirk Corner Notched , Lost Lake, Pine Tree, Pine Tree Corner Notched

Location: Midwestern United States

Associated Dates: 9000 - 8000 B.P. - Early Archaic
Morphology: Corner Notched

General Description: The Stilwell is a medium to large sized corner notched type that has an expanded stem and a slightly to deeply concave basal edge. The blade edges are straight to excurvate to recurvate and are sometimes serrated. The shoulders are sharply barbed with the notches entering diagonally from the side beginning near the basal corner. The stem edges are sometimes lightly ground and the basal ears can be rounded. The Stilwell blade tends to be elongated, narrow and parallel-sided. Basal thinning scars often terminate at the shoulder area above the stem neck. The point is lenticular in cross-section. The distal tip is usually acute.

The Stilwell is found in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, northwestern Mississippi, western Kentucky, western Tennessee and northeastern Arkansas. The Stilwell type is similar to the Kirk Corner Notched.

The Stilwell ranges in length between 73 mm and 119 mm. The width ranges from 32 mm to 44 mm across the barbs. Thickness ranges from 7.5 mm to 9 mm. The basal width ranges from 30 mm to 32 mm wide across the basal edge. The concavity of the base ranges from 1.5 mm to 5 mm in depth. The Stilwell point was named by Gregory Perino in 1970 for examples which were recovered from the Stilwell II site in Pike County, Illinois.

About the Point Above: The large Stilwell blade pictured at the top of this page, was found near the town of Mozier, Calhoun County, Illinois. The point is made from white Burlington chert. It has undergone edge resharpening and has pronounced serrations which are well worn, especially from the tip back to just above the shoulders. The blade is rather asymmetric in outline and has obviously been resharpened. Overall, the point measures 112 mm in length, is 32 mm wide across the barbs, and is only 8 mm thick in mid blade above the barbs. The stem is 13 mm long and the ears of the stem are 25 mm wide. The base is ground as are the ears and side notches. One of the ears is rounded and was probably historically retouched which reduced the basal width. The concavity of the base is 1.5 mm deep. The stem thickness is 5 mm. Catalog Number 138-175-D

References: Edler, Justice, Overstreet, Perino (1, 4), Waldorf

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