Finding Arrowheads in Delaware: Limited Prospects, Responsible Approaches

Delaware's Modest Lithic Landscape

Delaware is not a prime arrowhead hunting state. Its small size (2,489 mi²), dense historic settlement, agricultural intensity, and coastal geology mean surface finds are uncommon compared to Midwest/West. However, artifacts exist.

Where Artifacts *Might* Surface

• Delaware River corridor: Especially northern (New Castle County) — Lenape (Unami) territory. Plowed fields after rain near river terraces.
• Nanticoke River watershed (Sussex County): Nanticoke people. Sandy soils, agricultural fields.
• Inland Bays (Rehoboth, Indian River, Little Assawoman): Seasonal camps. Eroding shorelines occasionally expose material.
• Cypress Swamp / Great Cypress Swamp: Historical Nanticoke refuge. Difficult access.
• Quarry sites: Jasper (Pennsylvania jasper traded widely), quartz, chert outcrops in Piedmont (northern DE).

Legal & Ethical Framework

• Private Land: Owner permission REQUIRED. Trespassing = criminal.
• State Parks/Forests (DE State Parks, Redden, Blackbird, Taber): Collecting PROHIBITED (DE Code 7 Del. C. § 5301).
• Federal Land: None significant in DE. Nanticoke Wildlife Area (USFWS) — no collecting.
• Waterways: Riverbeds = state sovereign land. Permit needed.
• Human Remains/Sacred Objects: NAGPRA applies. Stop, report, do not disturb.

Responsible Pathways

1. Contact Delaware State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) — guidance on known sites, laws.
2. Join Archaeological Society of Delaware (ASD) — field trips, lectures, ethics training.
3. Visit Iron Hill Museum (Newark), Zwaanendael Museum (Lewes), Delaware Museum of Nature & Science — see curated collections legally.
4. Report finds to SHPO — contributes to knowledge.

Artifact Types in DE

Late Archaic (3000-1000 BC): broadspears, fishtails. Woodland (1000 BC-1600 AD): Levanna, Madison (triangles), Jack's Reef. Contact period: brass points. Not Clovis/Folsom (Paleoindian rare).