Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology

Crescents are enigmatic flaked stone artifacts commonly associated with Western Stemmed Tradition and Paleocoastal complexes in western North America. Despite a number of suggestions, their function remains unclear. It is proposed here that at least some crescents may have been hafted on projectile shafts below (but near) their stone or wooden points as ìspursî to limit the penetration of the projectile into the body of a targeted animal, such as a large bird. This would have served to minimize the post-mortem damage to the prey and increase the chances of recovering both the projectile and the prey. This is the same concept found in some ethnographic bird arrows that have wooden cross members fastened below their wooden tips.