Bracken Point

A large corner-notched dart point of the Northern Plains that follows Pelican Lake. The blade resembles a rougher version of Pelican Lake, and through time the points become cruder and more varied in shape.

The notches are open and the neck is wide, so the shoulders are obtuse or only very mildly barbed rather than sharply tanged. The base is straight to slightly convex and, in Kehoe's original description, ground like a Besant base.

Some late points grade toward Besant or Sandy Creek forms. Classic Pelican Lake points differ in their narrow necks, sharp barbs and straight bases. The key trait is a wide-necked corner-notched point with blunt shoulders and a convex, ground base.

Northern Plains of southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, with possible examples in north-central Montana.

Identification tips: Look for a wide neck, blunt or barely barbed shoulders and a convex, ground base; a narrow neck with sharp barbs points to Pelican Lake.

Similar types: Pelican Lake has a narrow neck, sharp barbs and a straight base (Peck 2011).

Naming: Kehoe named the 'Bracken shouldered, convex base variety' of Pelican Lake in 1974 after a point from the Bracken Cairn, a red-ochre burial of at least five people. Peck (2011) treats Bracken as its own point type and phase. Many points labelled Pelican Lake in older Alberta reports are Bracken in this sense.

Dating evidence: The Bracken Cairn is dated about 2,465 B.P. Bracken coincides with the first sustained use of bison jumps and pounds, for example at Head-Smashed-In, and with large stone-circle camps (Peck 2011).