A link to life 10,000 years ago

Ten thousand or so years ago, a paleo-Indian, most likely a male, lost a spear point while hunting near Bayou Mallet east of what is now Eunice.
Or was it dropped by a woman using it to forage for edible plants or using it on a fishing stick?
Regardless, it was idle in the soil of a north-south ridge along the bayou’s meandering route until found in the late 20th Century.
As he holds in his hand “the holy grail” of his hobby, the passion David Guillory has for his avocation is clearly evident.
Speaking to the Kiwanis Club, Guillory, deacon at St. Thomas More Church, said Louisiana is a treasure trove of hidden things, providing the locale for most of the 900 pieces in his collection of arrowheads and other artifacts.
“There is something literally everywhere,” he said, while showing his audience a tooth from a miniature buffalo that ranged the Acadiana prairie grasslands 500 or so years ago. He found the tooth while walking the grounds at a retreat in Grand Coteau.
The Clovis point referred to at the start of this article dates from the Paleoindian period of 10,000 to 13,500 years ago.
The fluted point is called Clovis, for the New Mexico city where one was first unearthed in 1929.
Another piece in Guillory’s collection is a Pelican point, found just off La. 13 South just out of Eunice. It dates back 6,000 to 8,000 years.
Guillory offered a number of tips for would-be arrowheaders, with a large dose of patience being at the top of the list.
The best place to find arrowheads is on high ground near a body of water, like a river or bayou.
“You have to have water; water is essential for life. A lot of times, if you have a bayou or river, you want to look for a shelf, a place where Indians may have retreated from the water to,” Guillory said, adding that it is important to keep in mind that the courses of rivers and streams have also changed over time.
Once you find a likely spot, that’s where the real work begins.
“You’re not going to find them lying on the ground. Most are dug out of the ground, many of them very deeply,” Guillory said.
Guillory said it is important to go below the topsoil, and dig into the clay in thin slices, sometimes as much as four or five feet.
Armadillo holes are also a great place to begin, since the hole has already been dug, Guillory said.
Shards of pottery or even rocks are signs of human habitation in the area, and a careful search may yield treasures.
The satisfaction that comes with holding something that hasn’t been in a human hand for centuries is the reward for the hours of digging, sifting and sorting.