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Noah Cordle, 10, found this Clovis point on a New Jersey beach this summer. Cordle this week donated the artifact to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History.

(Cordle Family)

A Virginia boy who found an ancient hunting tool while vacationing at the Jersey Shore this summer has donated the artifact to the Smithsonian Institution.

Noah Cordle, 10, found the Clovis point near the edge of the surf in Beach Haven on Long Beach Island in August. Cordle and his family visited the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History on Monday, according to a report on Smithsonian.com, where they met with archaeologists and handed over the point.

Cordle's father, Brian, told the Asbury Park Press that "it felt right" to donate the point to the Smithsonian, rather than a museum in New Jersey, because of the work the institution does with Clovis points.

Dennis Stanford, a researcher at the National Museum of Natural History who specializes in Clovis points, told the Washington Post that Cordle's find was between 13,500 and 14,000 years old.

The point donated by Cordle was the first from New Jersey for the museum, according to the newspaper.

Erin O'Neill may be reached at eoneill@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter NJ.com on Facebook.