Arrow head found please help

[ravyn]

I live in Gloucester Massachusettes and work as a teacher. I was on a field trip with my classroom at a local beach when I stumbled across a stone arrow head. I was very excited about the find as were my students. Someone told me it was not an arrow head, just an odd rock because arrow heads are not found on beaches. If anyone knows anything please help as it can be a great story either way for me and my classroom.
Thanks for the help!
I am attaching two photos of the possible arrow head next to a quarter.
 

[CliffJ]

Well, it's not exactly an arrowhead. It is a spear, knife, or atlatl dart that probably comes from the mid-Archaic period (4000-6000 years old). There were no arrows before the bow which is no earlier than 2000 years old here in the US. Your dart is probably a Poplar Island type or similar.
Yes, there are arrowheads and darts and knives found on beaches, that are eroding from the shore.

[kreative]

Posted by [dylan]:

interesting info about the mid-archaic period:
Middle Archaic (ca. 6000 to 4000 BC)
The Middle Archaic period roughly corresponds in time with a period of broad fluctuations in temperature worldwide. At this time, the average temperature of what is now the southeastern United States was much higher than it is today, and the region received much less rainfall. The Middle Archaic period was also a time of significant changes in Native American cultures throughout the Southeast. People established long-distance trade networks, invented new types of tools, and according to archaeological evidence, began engaging in warfare for the first time. Many of these changes probably occurred because of the changing climate of the region. The occurrence of stone tools in places far from the sources of stone are the first evidence of long-distance trade networks. Middle Archaic artifacts found across Alabama and the southeastern United States are made from flint that originated in present-day northeast Alabama, and Middle Archaic projectile points made from a type of sandstone in southwest Alabama are found across Alabama and Mississippi. The earliest evidence of warfare in Alabama and the Southeast has been found at Middle Archaic sites and consists of skeletons that have projectile points imbedded in them. This warfare may have resulted from competition for resources during this hot, dry era.
Many Middle Archaic sites are much larger than Early Archaic sites, and they often show large accumulations of debris, such as the previously mentioned shell mounds. Archaeologists interpret this as evidence of population increase. Such an increase would likely lead to a decrease in the territory available to each group and cause an increase in population density as well.

anyone want to take a guess of what this find may be worth?

[Dan]

Yes you can find them on the beach, that one looks tumbled in the surf. here is a link to northeast points. I am from CT and use this reference alot. http://www.nativetech.org/stone/points.html

[Texas Cache]

dylan wrote:

anyone want to take a guess of what this find may be worth?

  A piece of history...priceless!
To a collector... only what he is willing to pay for it.
Nice find for sure!