Projectile point · Late Archaic
Pickwick
2500–1000 BCE, Archaic (Eastern)
Pickwick is a Late Archaic dart point and knife of the middle Tennessee Valley, named for Pickwick Basin in northwest Alabama and defined from the Tennessee Valley Authority reservoir work of the 1940s. It is most common in Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky, usually in Fort Payne and other local cherts, and belongs to the same broad-blade tradition as Ledbetter and Savannah River. Collectors prize the large recurved examples, which can exceed 100 mm and often show one reworked edge from use as a knife.
| Object | Projectile point |
|---|---|
| Dates | 2500–1000 BCE |
| Period | Late Archaic |
| Cultures | Archaic (Eastern) |
| Regions | North America — Southeast, North America — Eastern Woodlands |
Diagnostic traits
Large, broad, recurved blade with the widest point near the shoulders, weak to sharp barbs, and a short straight to slightly expanding stem with a straight or lightly convex base.
Identification
The recurved (double-curved) blade edge and modest stem separate Pickwick from Ledbetter, which is usually straighter-edged and more asymmetric, and from Savannah River, which has a plainer triangular blade and a broader squared stem. Elk River has a similar outline but is thicker, cruder and often serrated. Worn Pickwick knives can resemble Mulberry Creek, which is generally narrower.
Reproductions and fakes
Modern rechips add fresh barbs to worn blades and leave bright, unpatinated flake scars with sharp arrises; genuine pieces in Fort Payne chert show a soft matte patina and rounded edges from ploughsoil.
Cite this article
Stratum Study. "Pickwick" (Artifact type). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/study/types/pickwick. Accessed 2026-09-21.
@misc{stratum-pickwick,
title = {Pickwick},
author = {{Stratum Study}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/types/pickwick}},
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.