Projectile point · Late Archaic
Perkiomen
1800–1200 BCE, Archaic (Eastern)
Perkiomen is a Transitional Archaic broadspear of eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and southern New York, named by Witthoft for Perkiomen Creek in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It was made largely in Pennsylvania jasper and Onondaga chert and is thought to have functioned mainly as a knife, which explains the lopsided blades. It is scarcer than Susquehanna Broad and the largest examples are highly regarded.
| Object | Projectile point |
|---|---|
| Dates | 1800–1200 BCE |
| Period | Late Archaic |
| Cultures | Archaic (Eastern) |
| Regions | North America — Eastern Woodlands |
Diagnostic traits
Very broad, thin, often asymmetric blade with one edge more convex than the other, sharp angular shoulders and a small narrow expanding stem with a straight or convex base.
Identification
Perkiomen's extreme width relative to its tiny stem, and the asymmetric blade, distinguish it from Susquehanna Broad, which has a proportionally larger stem and symmetric blade. Lehigh Broad is more symmetric with a straight stem. Small resharpened Perkiomens can look like Orient Fishtail but keep the angular shoulders.
Reproductions and fakes
Reproductions in jasper are crisp and glossy; genuine jasper Perkiomens show a red-brown to yellow patina and rounded shoulders.
Elsewhere
- Wikidata: Q138718015
Cite this article
Stratum Study. "Perkiomen" (Artifact type). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/study/types/perkiomen. Accessed 2026-09-21.
@misc{stratum-perkiomen,
title = {Perkiomen},
author = {{Stratum Study}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/types/perkiomen}},
year = {2026},
note = {Artifact type article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum, wikidata. 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.