Projectile point · Early Woodland
Robbins
500 BCE–100 CE, Adena
Robbins is the large late Adena blade of Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia and Indiana, named for the Robbins Mounds in Boone County, Kentucky, excavated by Webb in the 1940s. Many come from burial mounds as cache blades and grave goods, often in Flint Ridge, Wyandotte or other high-quality flints, and can exceed 150 mm. They are among the most desirable Adena artifacts.
| Object | Projectile point |
|---|---|
| Dates | 500 BCE–100 CE |
| Period | Early Woodland |
| Cultures | Adena |
| Regions | North America — Eastern Woodlands |
Diagnostic traits
Large, broad, thin point or blade with a triangular to leaf-shaped blade, squared or slightly barbed shoulders and a wide straight stem with a straight or slightly convex base.
Identification
Robbins is broader and thinner than Adena Stemmed and has a wide straight stem rather than a rounded one; Cresap has a contracting stem. Large Kramer points are narrower with a longer, narrower stem, and Late Archaic Genesee is thicker with cruder flaking.
Reproductions and fakes
Robbins blades are faked in Flint Ridge and Wyandotte, often oversized; genuine mound-cache blades show a thin, even patina and no fresh flake scars, and provenance to a named mound should be documented, since mound material may raise NAGPRA concerns.
Cite this article
Stratum Strata. "Robbins" (Artifact type). Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/strata/types/robbins. Accessed 2026-09-21.
@misc{stratum-robbins,
title = {Robbins},
author = {{Stratum Strata}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/strata/types/robbins}},
year = {2026},
note = {Artifact type article, Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum, commons. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
} Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.