Archaeology Collection - Slate Bayonet

A Far Cry from Crude

What do you think of when asked to picture a four or five thousand-year-old stone tool? Most likely, something that looks as though it was hastily banged out for subsistence living – something very unlike this elegant bayonet. Made from banded green slate, its broad, thin blade was ground and polished with great care and skill. The bayonet was probably used for ceremonial purposes by the Maritime Archaic peoples who lived throughout Atlantic Canada roughly 3500-7500 years ago. It was found by a 19th-century collector, likely somewhere along the lower Mersey River.