Some local field finds.

goldrush00013

I was itching to do some artifact hunting, and took up an offer to hunt some fields near a friends house. I took my detector along because my friends house dates to around 1880, so I was hoping to dig some goodies before we went arrowhead hunting.

I got my Garrett out after arriving at his house and made a bee line for the old walkway which lead to the mailbox. I didn't get very far when I got a good penny signal from 4 inches which turned out to be a 1959-D Memorial cent. Not a great find but it sparked my interest for this old home. I didn't take two more steps when my detector started screamin a long continuos ring in my headphones! I looked down at my meter and saw that my batteries were dead! So I packed up the 2500 and entered the field directly behind the house to see if I could have some better luck with a good artifact.


We walked for about 2 hours and found many flint scraps and spalls but was having a tough time finding a good artifact. We then crossed the road into another field and I hit the first high knoll that I came to. It proved to be a decent spot as all the artifacts below came from the knoll which was only about 15 yards in diameter.

From the left is a broken base to a Meadowood point. Then the black artifact is an Ohio Thebes point (5,000 BC) that was broken in prehistoric times and re-chipped to form a hafted scraper. Above the Thebes is a small thumb scraper and to the right of it a very large end scraper.
At the bottom next to the Lincoln is a small ovoid knife made of Indiana Hornstone which shows great contrast of material.


The rest of the afternoon proved to be a bust and my buddy was cussing me cause he never even got a whiff of a good artifact.

Thanks for looking!

HH

IndianHeadMan

Cool.. I have still never found an arrowhead.

loditom

Those are some great find's GR!!HH,Tom

goldrush00013

<< <i>Those are some great find's GR!!HH,Tom >>



Thanks Tom, but they are not what I'd call great finds.
In relation to a metal detector find, they would rate right up there with a Wheat cent in my book. Not great but I'll take it!

marym

I realize this is going to sound like a "dumber than boots" question about these artifacts, but do you find them laying on top of the ground? I have visions of you guys lightly scraping the soil, much like archeologists, looking for these things. I'm also curious if we have anyone on the board from Maine that hunts artifacts, and if so, how successful are you?
Mary

goldrush00013

<< <i>I realize this is going to sound like a "dumber than boots" question about these artifacts, but do you find them laying on top of the ground? >>




Mary, that's exactly how I find them.

I look for fields that are near a water source preferably. I walk all along the high knolls in the field and scan the ground looking for flint. I often return to the same spots after several rains cause more items will be exposed as the soil settles.

I will add that differant states have differant laws on artifact hunting. If you think you may want to try hunting, you should check with the Maine Archaeological Society to see what the laws are. Link

demodigger

those are cool. i found an arrowhead made from obsidian many years ago.

goldrush00013

<< <i>those are cool. i found an arrowhead made from obsidian many years ago. >>




If I ever find an obsidian point, I'll likely keel over from heart failure!

Such treasures are almost never found out this way, with the exception of Hopewell burial mounds. Interestingly enough, a friend I hunt with found an obsidian point in a field that he hunts regularly. Unfortunately it was a fake that someone had planted to give a collector a rush of a lifetime only to have those dreams crushed. There was a time when you could count on a field found artifact to be absolutely genuine, but not anymore.

AgileMJOLNIR

I found and still have an Obsidian arrowwhead I found when I was about 10yrs old. They are really cool to come across. Nice artifacts there by the way Gold.

pocketpiececommems

I have found many Indian artifacts but do not have the knowledge to date them like you do. Your story really makes the hunt interesting.

SilverDreams

Neat finds! At least you got out and found something.