Pictured are two different types of Plano projectile points. The one on the left is known as a Daulton point whereas the other is a Stemmed Lanceolate. Both were found on the same site by the writer on a high terrace overlooking the Ohio River in Green Township. They are approximately 8,500 years old and exhibit excellent flint knapping craftsmanship.
(By Stephen Kelley from the People’s Defender 1983)
The Paleo-Indians known as the Fluted Point Complex, were so named by archaeologists as a result of their manufacture of the distinctive “fluted” projectile points.
The Fluted Point Complex first entered Ohio about eleven thousand years ago and continued to live in the area for approximately fifteen hundred years. As we reported in that earlier column, a significant number of fluted points have been recovered in Adams County primarily along the Ohio River and Ohio Brush Creek. According to Martha Otto, Curator of Archaeology for the Ohio Historical Society, a new group of Paleo-Indians migrated into the Ohio area around 7,500 B.C. This was about the same time the Fluted Point Complex was beginning to disappear and the new group, known to scientists as the Plano Complex, became dominant. Quoting from Mrs. Otto, “This does not necessarily mean that the earlier people themselves ceased to exist, but that the styles of projectile points were changing and the fluted point was not so popular as before.
The Plano’s brought with them a much greater variety of tools and weapons than the Fluted Point people possessed. Several of the Plano projectile points were markedly different and improved from the old style fluted points and are prized among relic collectors today.
From what meager archaeological evidence is available, the Plano Complex was very similar to the Fluted Point Complex in lifestyle. Both groups were apparently nomadic, following the migrating herds of game animals. They were hunter/gatherers, bult no permeant structures and in all probability, did not bury their dead. Again, quoting from Otto, “This nomadic way of life kept the early hunters from accumulating large quantities of non-utilitarian tools and implements. They could carry with them only a limited number of objects, so they could not afford the luxury of making artifacts that were not useful in a practical way.” In other words, unlike later prehistoric groups, the Paleos manufactured few ornamentals or socio-religious artifacts such as beads, pendants, bracelets, earrings, etc.
Plano Complex artifacts have been found throughout Adams County and can be seen in most “cigar box” collections.
