Arrowheads and Pottery Shards in Aiken County
Buried in layers of soil, archeological remnants of daily life can be found all over South Carolina. Sometimes these items may be familiar to us, buttons or pins from the 1800s that don’t look far from what we use today. But others, such as arrowheads and broken pieces of pottery, can be evidence of indigenous communities from thousands of years ago. Because such communities predate the written word, these artifacts can help paint a picture of civilizations’ histories in Hitchcock Woods, the city of Aiken, and other areas of South Carolina.
Sean Taylor, Senior Archaeologist at the SCDNR Heritage Trust Program, says an arrowhead’s shape helps archeologists identify when a community lived in a given area. For example, clovis point arrowheads — which do not have a stem — were used about 12,000 years ago, while stemmed arrowheads were used about 5,000 years ago. “Native Americans have been in the Aiken area for at least 12,000 years and maybe longer,” Sean says.
There is still much to be learned through analysis of artifacts found in the state, which can offer fascinating insights into humanity’s past. For more on the work Sean and his team of archeologists do, go to the South Carolina Heritage Trust website.
