Goshen point facts for kids

The Goshen point is a special type of stone tool. It was used by ancient people called Paleo-Indians a very long time ago. This tool is shaped like a spearhead or an arrow tip. It has a pointed end and a flat or slightly curved bottom. People used it for hunting animals.

What is the Goshen Point?

The Goshen point is a medium-sized stone tool. It is shaped like a leaf or a spear tip. It has a straight or slightly curved base. These points were made by skilled ancient people. They used a special way of chipping stone. This made the edges very fine and sharp.

This important tool was named in 1988. A scientist named George C. Frison named it. He found examples of these tools at a place called the Hell Gap complex site. This site is in southeastern Wyoming. The tool was named after the nearby Goshen County.

The Mill Iron Site

The Mill Iron Site is a very important place. It is located in Carter County, Montana. This site was found in 1979. It is part of what scientists call the Goshen Complex.

Scientists dug at the Mill Iron Site from 1984 to 1988. George C. Frison also led this digging project. They found 31 Goshen points there. Some were whole, and some were broken.

• 11 points were found where people camped.
• 12 points were found in a place where meat was prepared.
• 7 points were found on the surface of the ground.

The area where meat was prepared was interesting. It was a large pile of bison bones. The bones were neatly stacked. This suggests it was a place for processing meat. It was not a place where animals were killed.

One large Goshen point found here was special. Scientists think it might have been used for rituals. It had a carefully rounded tip. Usually, these points were made very sharp. Many other stone blades, called lithic blades, were also found at the Mill Iron Site.

The Goshen Complex

The Goshen complex is a group of ancient cultures. It is known for the Goshen point. This complex is similar to another ancient group called the Plainview complex.

The Goshen complex existed a very long time ago. It was around 9,000 to 8,800 BCE. This time period was between the Clovis culture and Folsom culture periods. Scientists first learned about the Goshen Complex in the 1960s. This happened at the Hell Gap Site.