Retiree Finds 3,000-Year-Old Spearhead in Wisconsin

A man who picked up metal detecting as a hobby 30 years ago has made the find of a lifetime with the discovery of a 3,000-year-old spearhead.

Dick Banaszak, 65, discovered a socketed-tang spear point while detecting along the Root River in Racine, Wisconsin, and immediately knew it was something precious, having found an incomplete copper culture arrow point a year previously.

“I went and sat under a tree,” retired Public Works employee Banaszak told Newsweek about the moment he made the discovery. “Just sat there, picked the dirt off it and was like, ‘Wow, this is thousands of years old, it was amazing, and now I have it in my hand.'”

He added that, after he found it: “I was done for the day. I was too excited, I had to go home.”

Banaszak initially shared his find to Reddit’s r/metaldetecting sub, where one informed user suggested it was a Copper Culture spearhead, but another joked it was a fence topper.

He later learned that, in an episode of TV series Detectorists, the characters found something similar, thinking it was a spearhead, but it ended up being from a fence post, which was what the user was referring to.

But, determined to prove the informed user right, Banaszak took the spearhead to the local university’s archaeology department, where he was told he had “something special”.

It was confirmed to likely be a Copper Culture socketed-tang spear point of about 3,000 years old.

Old Copper Culture refers to the tools created by inhabitants of the Great Lakes region of North America, possibly beginning around 4,000 BC, according to the Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM), home to one of the world’s largest collection of Copper Culture artifacts.

Tens of thousands of Old Copper Culture artifacts are believed to have been discovered over the years, however the MPM suggests the number could have been far greater but for the fact early European settlers to North America melted down artifacts to forge new items.

With old copper culture items only found in the Great Lakes area, and Banaszak living in the most southern portion, he said “a find like this is even more rare” than in the northern section.

And Banaszak’s discovery proved hugely popular on Reddit. He shared confirmation on its identity to r/metaldetecting through his account r/deekfleet on July 24, where it racked up over 2,400 upvotes.

One impressed commenter called it “absolutely incredible,” while another enthusiast called it “archaeologically interesting, and perhaps significant,” pointing out that “by 3,000 years ago, the use of copper was becoming more restricted. This spear point may be closer to the last of its kind than the first.”

And one user revealed: “I would like to be the first to apologize to OP [original poster] that I called it a picket fence post. Congrats on an amazing find!”

One cheered the “incredible piece of history you’ve found,” and asked what Banaszak was going to do with it.

And he told Newsweek that he was keeping it, planning to get a special display case, and that it would one day go to his son, who he used to go metal detecting with when he was growing up.

As for why he shared his find to Reddit, Banaszak said he simply “likes to promote the hobby.”

“It’s something I’m pretty passionate about. That’s why I participate in this metal detecting group, to share with them and maybe get someone interested in metal detecting.

“I’ve told a few of my friends about the Copper Culture and they’ve looked it up and they were pretty fascinated by it,” he said.

“I’d like to see other people get out and enjoy what I like to do.”

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