Projectile point · Late Archaic
Ellis
1500 BCE–500 CE, Plains Archaic, Archaic (Eastern)
Ellis is a Late Archaic dart point of east and central Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas, named by Suhm and Krieger for Ellis County, Texas, and dated to about 1500 BCE–500 CE. It is one of the most common points of the Texas Late Archaic and was made from local gravel cherts and Edwards chert. It occurs on Poverty Point and later sites in Louisiana as well.
| Object | Projectile point |
|---|---|
| Dates | 1500 BCE–500 CE |
| Period | Late Archaic |
| Cultures | Plains Archaic, Archaic (Eastern) |
| Regions | North America — Great Plains, North America — Southeast |
Diagnostic traits
Small to medium, thick dart point with a triangular blade, shallow corner notches, weak barbs and a short expanding stem with a straight to slightly convex base.
Identification
Ellis is smaller, thicker and cruder than Marcos and Motley and has shallower notches and weaker barbs; Edgewood is similar but with a more concave base and Ensor has a straighter, narrower stem. Small Ellis points can resemble oversized Scallorn arrow points but are much thicker.
Reproductions and fakes
Seldom faked owing to low value.
Cite this article
Stratum Study. "Ellis" (Artifact type). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/study/types/ellis. Accessed 2026-09-21.
@misc{stratum-ellis,
title = {Ellis},
author = {{Stratum Study}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/types/ellis}},
year = {2026},
note = {Artifact type article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum. 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.