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Legacy: Clovis Points

Steve Wick | Staff Writer

Fourteen Clovis points -- the stone spear tips used by Paleo-Indians -- are known to have been found on Long Island, proof that Indians lived here more than 10,000 years ago. Experts say dozens of other points have probably been found and are sitting in garages, barns, cigar boxes, or private collections. All 14 points were found in Suffolk, Nassau and Queens Counties, alongside creeks or, in the case of three found near Mt. Sinai, along the Long Island Sound waterfront. One was reported stolen from a private collection sometime in the 1960s.

Most of the 14 are in private collections and not available to the public. You can see the others at these locations:

Two intricately carved points are on display in the Southold Indian Museum. Garvies Point Museum and Preserve in Glen Cove has two points; the Sachem Public Library has two, and the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of the American Indian in Manhattan has four.