Rockmart youth makes artifact find at Etowah mounds
A local youth with a keen eye on a trip with her daycare recently found herself something that is quite an old discovery at the Etowah Mounds in Cartersville.
Eight-year-old Cheyenne Smith was on a trip with Creative Kids Learner Center of Rockmart on June 20 to the Native American site in Bartow County when she discovered an arrowhead that officials shared with her mom could date back several centuries.
”At the end of the visit, she discovered a metal object poking out of the ground near a tree on the edge of the woods,” her mom wrote. “The explorer she is, she excavated it out of the ground.”
She ended up showing the strange artifact to her teacher, who then turned it over to the ranger on-duty.
Christina Smith shared the news and information from an official from the Etowah Indian Mounds State Historic Site that cited that in previous times, the point that Cheyenne found at the park was a common find. Not so much now, following years of artifact collecting when the site was in private hands before the 1950’s.
Part of the point that Cheyenne found is missing, which makes it difficult to precisely determine what it was used for. In an email to her mom, state officials did say they believe that was potentially used as a drill point and because of its shape was likely used by Creek inhabitants of the area.
”People have been using the area along the Etowah river since the Paleo-lithic era, or before, when mastadons still roamed the area,” the email read. “With the surface here once being plowed, it is difficult to associate it with other nearby artifacts.”
The point was turned over to the State Historic Preservation Office for further study. It will be left on site and likely used to help with educational programming.