Bone from large animals like mastodons has specific properties — density, hardness, toughness — that differ from the bone of deer, elk, or other common prey species.

Working large mammal cortical bone into a precise projectile tip requires different tools and different techniques than working the long bones of smaller animals.

The maker of the Manis point had the knowledge and the tools to do this work.

Third, the use of bone rather than stone as the projectile material is itself significant in ways that the article will return to later.

Stone and bone have different knapping properties, different failure modes, and different advantages as projectile tip materials.