Spear point donated to SRAC Today

Clint Berry holds the spear point alongside SRAC Collections lead, Don Hunt

Clint Berry had been digging a hole to plant a tree in his yard in Ithaca in 1964 when he found a large flint spear point under the sod. For many years since, Clint admits that it was stuck in a drawer and it hardly ever saw the light of day.

Last Sunday, Clint was in Waverly and stopped in SRAC ( We were actually closed but we were working in the gift shop anyway and I let him and his friend in...) While he was here he talked with me about the spear point and his interest in donating it to the Center for people to be able to enjoy. Today, he returned with the spear pointshown here, that will be on display starting today! The point will forever be in SRAC's Berry Collection, which is the 19 collection to be added to SRAC's ever growing exhibit.

I can't thank Clint enough for coming to SRAC with his artifact and adding it to our great exhibit of Native American artifacts found in our region where people can enjoy and learn from them. This particular point is thought to be from around 1,500 BC, and probably made by the Native Americans in our region during a cultural period referred to as the 'Late Archaic" period, sometimes called Specialization period; characterized by specialized, intensive targeting of local environments for resources, early cultivation of native plants, and the introduction of pottery making.