OT - are there any arrowhead collectors here?

jmski52

This may not be a big deal to anyone here, but I just wondered.........do you find any Indian artifacts when you are metal detecting?

When we built our house a few miles outside of town 9 years ago, I put in some mums around our circular sidewalk and they didn't fare very well because I had to dig some potting soil into hard clay and that didn't work out very well for the mums. Fast forward 9 years, the holes where I put the potting soil had subsided, so I decided to till up the area and level it off. That was a couple weeks ago. After yesterday's rain, I was picking up some of the rocks that had surfaced and found what looked like an arrowhead, but not very well-made.

Now, I think it was either an arrowhead reject or maybe a cutting tool, because the edges are pretty sharp. Does anyone here have any expertise and can you tell anything about who made it or how long ago it was made by looking at it? It's weird to know that I've been walking past it several times a day for almost a decade.

I may have found a new hobby.

millennium

Can you post a pic....we'd all like to see it, and there are some pretty knowledgeable people here.

kiyote

I grew up in Ohio in the country where every farm had a shoebox of arrowheads, spear points, grinding stones, etc. It's really exciting to find one, for sure. The last time I was out metal detecting in Ohio I did end up finding a grinding stone.

goose3

funny, we finally got some good hard rain here in Ohio. My kids have been wanting to hit the field across the street and search for them.

Last time we did we found a few in probably less than 1 hour.

pocketpiececommems

I collect arrowheads. 3 of the One Room School sites that I hunt on are also Indian sites. This is a bonus for me because I get to hunt arrowheads and detect at the same time. The fields around here have been planted and we just had 3 inches of rain over the last several days. I had just told my wife that when the sun comes out and it dries out a little I will be on those sites. When the corn is just coming up it sure makes my detecting grid for me. Drilled beans are another story.

kiyote

A freshly plowed field after a rain is the best time to hunt-- you get an eye for them. I was only ever decent at best. My hunting pal in Ohio would find 5 to my every one. He found an amazing Thunderbird flint-- a flint carved into an eagle with spread wings instead of an arrowhead.

pcgs69

I've always wanted to find one, but it hasn't happened yet. Must be a really cool feeling picking one out of a field.

pocketpiececommems

I also hunt in creeks. Sometimes that's like finding a needle in a haystack. But once you get the eye for them they kinda jump out at you.

ricko

This area (Catskill Mountains), had major Indian populations in the early years. Arrowheads used to be a fairly common find. I have one that I found and have retained now for about 45 years. Most finds are along the Hudson River, creek beds or plowed fields. Cheers, RickO

jmski52

I finally took a couple pics. It's pretty sharp (the edges, I mean).

metalmeister

I looks like it was man made.

pocketpiececommems

It looks like a flake. Was there a lot of this where you found it?

metalmeister

Yes, flake was the word I was searching for.
Once hiking at a mountian pass, stopping for rest at a
nice rock, looked down and saw piles of obsidian(sp?)
flakes in the soil. I was resting on thier arrowhead workshop. Neat.

jmski52

This was next to the sidewalk in front of my garage. I live in the country. This looks like flint, but the rest of the rocks that rinsed off during the rain were native rock, limestone I believe. I rototilled a strip simply to level off the spots that had settled over the years after my ill-fated mums were long gone.

So what was a flake used for? Was it simply a reject?

I only have to drill down about a foot or two in some spots before I hit rock. I did drag a harrow around when I first prepped the yard. Maybe it's time to disturb the area again? Nah, it took too long to establish the yard. On the other hand, I've got plenty of spots next to the creek and next to the woods that I could harrow again.

TennesseeDave

I live in middle Tn. and have around 100 nice flint artifacts(arrowheads,spearpoints,knives;etc.)I can't tell for sure if your flint object was made or what was leftover from another project.Could be a crude scraper of some sort I guess.Flakes of flint are usually a good sign that there may be Native American artifacts close by.Keep looking and good luck.

goose3

offhand that doesn't look to be tooled.

I found this one the other day across the street in a field.

metalmeister

Score. Very nice!

pocketpiececommems

Flakes are the pieces of flint that are chipped or flaked off when making an arrowhead. When I search fields I always pick them up so I don't look at them again. When I get home after a hunt I wash them and many times come up with pieces of broken arrowheads. I'm sure that some flakes were used as tools as they are very sharp.

metalmeister

My GrandFather gave me this arrowhead when I was in single digits.
Arrowhead is about 4" long. He was born in the 1890's!
He was from back northeast, so A/H probably from there.
Edit: could be a spear head. Its pretty wide.

ricko

Nice arrowhead Goose....

Metalmeister... the arrowhead your grandfather gave you is quite nice as well... looks like quartz, not too common.
Cheers, RickO