( CNN ) -- Ten-year-old Noah Cordle kicked off his summer vacation by dipping his toes into the Atlantic Ocean , only to make an ancient discovery when a sharp object hit his foot . `` It felt like a crab , so I jumped backward , '' said Cordle , who was vacationing with his family in Beach Haven . But it was n't a crab , or a mussel shell as he deduced it might be next , after seeing its black color . It was an arrowhead -- one that an area expert says dates back to the Paleoindian period , approximately 8,000 to 11,000 years ago . `` A couple of people told us they did n't think it was real , '' Noah 's mother , Andrea Cordle , said of the find , which she described as being about 2Â½ inches long and black with a small fleck of orange along a ridge on its side . Andrea and her husband , Brian Cordle , turned to Greg Lattanzi , the assistant curator at the Bureau of Archaeology and Ethnography at the New Jersey State Museum . Lattanzi , who said the museum has a collection of more than 20 similar arrowheads -- more technically termed projectile points -- called Noah 's find `` rare . '' He said that most similar arrowheads have been excavated from archaeological sites in the northeastern United States rather than washing ashore . After examining the arrowhead under a microscope , Lattanzi said it appears to be made of Jasper and Chert stone and was probably attached to a spear and used for hunting . The Cordles , who live in Lorton , Virginia , say they plan to hold on to their treasure for a while before finding it a permanent home . `` It 's really cool , but we 're not collectors , '' Andrea Cordle said . `` We 're going to donate it . ''
Noah Cordle , 10 , found an arrowhead while vacationing in New Jersey . He was able to identify it as a Native American artifact because of the shape and size. Noah 's mother says the family plans to donate the artifact .