Projectile point · Late Prehistoric

Fresno

1200–1700 CE, Plains Village

The Fresno point is the plain triangular arrowpoint of the Southern and Central Plains, about 1,200 to 1,700 CE, found on Plains Village and Toyah sites. It is the Plains equivalent of Madison. It is abundant and inexpensive.

ObjectProjectile point
Dates1200–1700 CE
PeriodLate Prehistoric
CulturesPlains Village
RegionsNorth America — Great Plains

Diagnostic traits

Small unnotched triangular arrow point with a straight or slightly concave base.

Identification

Fresno is a small unnotched triangle with a straight or slightly concave base, unlike Plains Side-notched and Washita, which are notched, and Harrell, which has a notched base. Size is under 3 cm. Edges are straight.

Reproductions and fakes

Fresno points are not faked because of their abundance and low value. They are often confused with Madison, from which they are separated only by region.

Cite this article

Stratum Study. "Fresno" (Artifact type). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/study/types/fresno. Accessed 2026-09-21.

@misc{stratum-fresno,
  title        = {Fresno},
  author       = {{Stratum Study}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/types/fresno}},
  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.

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

Found an error? Write to drew@tyr.ac with the article id artifactType:fresno.

Stratum is the inventory, provenance and certificate system for fossil, mineral and shell collections. Study is its open reference: every fact cites its source, and the credits page lists each one with its licence.