Crescents have been found in several reliably dated sites. They are commonly found on sites that produce artifacts from the Western Pluvial Lakes tradition, dating from 11,000  to 7,500 years ago. Crescents are often times found with fluted points. They appear sometime during the Paleo-Indian period and they continued to be used into the Early Archaic period.

    There are at least three main types of crescents. The most common are the lunate crescents that have one wide curved edge on one side and a straight to concave edge on the other. Not as common are the winged crescent or "butterfly" shaped forms. These may simply be modified lunate forms. The modification involves either a straightening or slightly notching of the center convex edge which gives a final appearance of wings. The rarest form of crescents are the eccentric forms. As many as six different types and twelve different subtypes have been described. The variations involve notches, projections and serrations.

    No one knows for sure exactly how crescents were used. No hafted examples have ever been found and none have been reported to have any hafting residues such as pinon pitch or asphaltum. Edge wear analysis on some examples are reported to have macroscopic edge damage and micro-polish on the convex edge which may indicate they have been used for scraping or sawing.