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ASHEBORO -- Warner Williams has spent more than 60 years collecting the oldest "human antiques," masterpieces of craftsmanship and survival skill, some already ancient when the Egyptian pyramids were under construction 4,500 years ago.

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What's more, many of his prized arrowheads came from the Triad's own soil, made of the rhyolite rock that brought American Indians from as far away as what is now New York state.

"It was the difference between living and dying," Williams said of his 1,500-piece collection. "Without these little pieces of stone, they had nothing. These were their spears, their knives, their hand tools."

Triad residents can join Williams on a journey back in time Saturday when he unveils the best of his massive collection at the Asheboro Public Library, an annual event that has drawn hundreds of people every year since 1996.

Visitors will see artifacts that span 12,000 years of human migration and settlement, from the handiwork of such known tribes as the Occoneechees and the Catawbas all the way back to the nameless bands of prehistory.

"Everything that he shows is perfect," said Roger Martin, a Greensboro frame-shop owner who shares Williams' hobby. "Arrowheads are his game and he's tops at his game."

Williams' annual presentation is one of the library's more popular events, attracting people from other states who come to chat about the intricacies of collecting American Indian artifacts.

"He loves to talk about his arrowheads, but he's also very happy to talk with you about your arrowheads, too," Library Director Suzanne Tate said.

Williams started collecting as a 12-year-old boy in Asheboro a couple of years after World War II. He found an arrowhead in the dirt road near his home.

"I knew what it was right away," he recalls. "And it started a passion that is just as strong today as it was back then."

The retired, 73-year-old stockbroker began as a collector who took pride in finding his own artifacts in Randolph County, back when they were much easier to unearth in farm fields than today.

That's because farmers of that era routinely turned the soil with plows drawn by mules or by relatively light-weight tractors, digging arrowheads out of the dirt with less damage than modern farming equipment, Williams said.

About 25 or 30 years ago, he made the transition from building his collection only through his own finds to buying and trading for superior specimens.

Williams likes the range of differing qualities he sees in arrowheads from the same periods or locales.

It shows the individual touch of the artisan who had more finely honed skills than his neighbors.

"It's like anything else you find in life where one man may be expert at it and another might not be," he said.

Williams also finds meaning in how arrowheads evolved over the years, as new people worked with new materials or faced different challenges eking a living from the unforgiving landscape.

"We do the same thing today," Williams said of the changes in style. "You can't buy a new '66 Mustang convertible anymore. They quit making it."

All the arrowheads in Williams' display at the library will be "10 grade points," meaning they are perfect on a 1-to-10 scale that gives credit for such attributes as length, symmetry and patina.

His collection is widely regarded as the finest on the East Coast. He has won numerous best-of-show and other awards when he has exhibited it in competitions.

In fact, more than 200 of his arrowheads are included as references in the "Overstreet Identification and Price Guide," the bible of American Indian artifact collecting.

Martin, the Greensboro collector, said that getting a look at Williams' treasures will be worthwhile even to people who are not well-versed in prehistoric artifacts.

"They will walk away saying that this is a real hobby and 'I never realized there were that many arrowheads of such a high quality,' " Martin said.

Williams, who will be on hand throughout the day, said that in addition to knowledge of ancient artifacts, the best thing he can pass along to others is the value of having an abiding interest that keeps life interesting.

"When you have something that stirs up that innermost feeling in a person's heart, you really have something that's going to be there forever."

Contact Taft Wireback at 373-7100 or taft.wireback@news-record.com