First stage North Carolina Hardaway	Ron Harris
Central States Archaeological Societies 2006 October Journal	Hickory, North Carolina

In 1986, Timothy Shaun Phillips, then 9 years old, discovered this large, rare first-stage Hardaway corner notched point in his grandfather’s cornfield while he and his brother were playfully chasing their dog. The family farm was in the Drowning Creek drainage at Jackson Springs, west of Pinehurst in western Moore County, North Carolina.

The Hardaway is 3 1/2 inches long, extremely thin and knapped from green silicified shale from the Carolina slate belt in central North Carolina. The large majority of such points are much smaller and found in resharpened or exhausted stages. The Hardaway tradition dates to the early archaic period of about 8000 BC as determined by archaeologists in controlled excavations at stratified sites.

Young Phillips cherished his find after being told that it was a “special Indian rock.” It remained packed away in a drawer in his home long with his baseball card collection. In September 2003, he and his fiance saw an article in Carolina Country written by the author with pictures of Carolina arrowheads from the authors collection.

They emailed a picture photo of the Hardaway Timothy had found in hopes of learning more about its age, type and approximate value. After several months of email exchanges, Timothy and his fiance were invited to come to Hickory, North Carolina and view the author’s collection. After spending the better part of that afternoon viewing the collection, Tim and his fiance concluded that his special Hardaway would best be served displayed within the Harris collection rather than stored away in a dresser drawer at their home.

The Phillips Hardaway is now proudly exhibited in a special frame in the author’s collection along with the brief history of its find.