Projectile point · Late Archaic

Castroville

1000–200 BCE

The Castroville point is a large Late Archaic corner-notched point of Central and South Texas, about 1,000 to 200 BCE, named after a town near San Antonio. It is a large, well-made dart point often in fine Edwards chert. Montell and Marcos are its contemporaries.

ObjectProjectile point
Dates1000–200 BCE
PeriodLate Archaic
RegionsNorth America — Great Plains

Diagnostic traits

Large, wide, corner-notched point with strong barbs and a wide expanding stem; base straight.

Identification

Castroville has strong barbs and a wide expanding stem with a straight base, and is larger and broader than Marshall; Montell has a notched base and Marcos has a narrower stem. Notches are corner rather than basal. Blade is wide and thin.

Reproductions and fakes

Occasionally reproduced in Edwards chert; look for patina, edge wear and restored barbs. Fakes tend to be too thin and regular.

Cite this article

Stratum Strata. "Castroville" (Artifact type). Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/strata/types/castroville. Accessed 2026-09-21.

@misc{stratum-castroville,
  title        = {Castroville},
  author       = {{Stratum Strata}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/strata/types/castroville}},
  year         = {2026},
  note         = {Artifact type article, Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
}

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Sources for this article: Stratum editorial (Stratum editorial). As of 2026-09-21; Strata pack 2026.09. Data reproduced under the licences shown; text in Stratum's own words unless a section names its source.

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