Native American Artifacts I've Found

[Blue_Runner]

Tsub - you'll be proud of me....I found my first piece of pottery yesterday evening! *I even got the middle of the swirly part! *This was found in the "new" field that I've only hunted less than a half dozen times. *I've found one bird point, a large broken spearpoint, small celt or tomahawk and now this in that field. Its getting pretty grown up with corn and soybeans so I doubt I go back until winter:
Sorry about pic quality...after all it is a camera phone *::)

[C YENSEN]

COOL STUFF MAN, YOU GOT A LOT MORE FREE TIME THAN I DO...... :-/

[Blue_Runner]

Cy last night I left grand central station (my house) at 8:07pm and was back at 9pm. Sometimes I'll only go for 20 - 30 minutes ;) Doesn't take up too much time if you know when and where to go.

[C YENSEN]

SO YOU DIG FOR THAT STUFF OR IS IT LAYING AROUND IN THE FIELDS. ???

[parishht]

C Y, you don't have to dig,
after a rain storm, the water washes the dirt and you can see them.
I live in a big artifact area, but I am just too lazy to
walk out my back door and stroll through the fields.

Oh yeah, a freshly plowed field after a rainstorm is the best.

[Blue_Runner]

Cy, I'll give you the basics on artifact hunting in just a couple of bullet points.....

- Best bet is to hunt where the indians lived - i.e. campsites. This is where they sat and made arrowheads, knives, tools etc out of stone. They had to have water, so looking near a creek, stream or spring, is your best bet. Flatter land is better since they typically didn't pitch thier tents on a hillside or in a flood plain.

- Be suspicious, if you see a rock pick it up and examine it. I like to hunt in fields that have few rocks so when I find a rock I'm curious. I found a perfect point once because I bent down to pick another rock up. I reached for the regular rock and my finger accidentally turned over a perfect arrowhead in the process!

- Plowed fields are where I hunt. This is where the plow reaches way down deep and pulls the artifacts to the surface - but they aren't visible just yet. Need to wait for a good rain or "gully-washer" to clean and compact the upper layer of soil that is hiding the artifacts.

- Early morning or later evening provide better light than the mid-day sun. Bright sun creates a glare on the soil and makes it harder to see.

- Study flint. Flint is the type of stone arrowheads were made from. Know what it looks like so you will recognize it if you see it. Look for little flakes of flint. This is where they sat and made arrowheads and tools. You are likely to find arrowheads and tools in this area. When making arrowheads they are prone to being broken during the process...at which time the indian would have chunked it right there.

- Think about the topology of the land. Realize that over thousands of years what was the surface back then may have since been covered by several feet of soil. This is particulary true next to rivers and streams that flood and displace soil.

- Look in gully's created by heavy rain. I found one right outside my back door in a small gully less than a foot wide and about 8 inches deep where the water runs past the edge of a retaining wall.

- Be suspicious, if you see a rock pick it up and examine it. I like to hunt in fields that have few rocks so when I find a rock I'm curious. I found a perfect point once because I bent down to pick another rock up. I reached for the regular rock and my finger accidentally turned over a perfect arrowhead in the process!

- Be patient. I typically pick up roughly 25 - 50 pieces of flint before I find an artifact (not always). But, the flint I'm picking up is the waste from when the indians manufactured the tools.

Now go young jedi and find some chit! Please post pics ;D

P.S. A co-worker of mine showed some pix to her son of my arrowheads. The other day he plowed a 1 acre field for a lady then it rained. After the rain he walked around the field 5 min and found his first arrowhead!

[Blue_Runner]

Parish beat me to it ;D In summary, what he said ;D

[C YENSEN]

wow, sounds cool, I might have to give that a try. Just gotta find somewhere close indians lived.

thanks for the explanation ;D

[Blue_Runner]

Just find a plowed field, ask permission and start walkin! Its that easy! A nice cheap hobby ;D You could even make money by selling them, but I'd never sell mine. They mean to much to me. I'll pass em down to my girls and hopefully they'll add to it.

[tsubaki]

Blue, I'm glad you found some pottery. It just seemed impossible that there wasen't any there.
See if there has been any research done to be able to date the pieces as to design and texture.
The predominant university in your area should be able to give some direction. That is where I got most of my info.