Flint projectile point. Paleoindian period, c. 13,000–10,000 years ago. Lodi Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan. Great Lakes Archaeology, Walter Koelz Collection. UMMAA 1439.

This stone point is an example of some of the earliest archaeological remains in Michigan. Ancient hunters of the Paleoindian period made points of this kind between 13,000 and 10,000 years ago. As the glaciers retreated at the end of the Pleistocene, some of these hunters moved into Michigan, following plant and animal resources into an unoccupied landscape. Similar points, identifiable by the large flakes, or “flutes,” removed from the base, are found across North America. There are unanswered questions about the scale and nature of population movement and social interactions among Paleoindian communities. In Michigan, distinctive stone tools and associated production debris constitute the primary evidence for understanding Paleoindian lifeways. Local collectors found this point in Lodi Township (Washtenaw County, Michigan) in the 1920s.

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In honor of the University of Michigan’s 2017 bicentennial, we are celebrating the remarkable archaeological and ethnographic collections and rich legacy of research and teaching at the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology by posting one entry a day for 200 days. The entries will highlight objects from the collections, museum personalities, and UMMAA expeditions. The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology is also posting each day for 200 days on Twitter and Facebook (follow along at #KMA200). After the last post, an exhibition on two centuries of archaeology at U-M opens at the Kelsey. Visit the exhibit—a joint project of the UMMAA and the Kelsey—from October 18, 2017 to May 27, 2018.