The head hunters are back
My friends and I have been out head hunting again. We enjoy looking for heads that were once placed on a stick. No worries folks, arrow and spear heads are the focus of our obsession.
Although some tribes of Native Americans were into human sacrifice, most were accustomed to a more gentle life. When it came to animals, they were hunted down using hand-made weapons. The tools of the trade can still be found to this day. The stone implements of survival can be recovered readily by the patient and keen-eyed. There are a few things to know that will increase your odds of finding ancient artifacts. Being able to catalog where they were found and the age of the tool is part of the pastime for most. Regardless of age, there is something truly amazing about picking up a point made thousands of years ago.
My adventures in artifact hunting were kindled many years ago. I had a teacher in school when I lived in Virginia that collected, and I caught the bug from him. Upon moving to New York, my interest was further kindled by Ted Whitney at the Rexford Street Museum. Seeing tools of the past took me to another place in time and allowed the imagination to wander. As a child, to present day, I still wonder after finding every arrow head. Who made it and how was it used? Some of the artifacts tell their story if you know what to look for. Of the many ways to find tools of the past, I prefer surface hunting. It is less harmful to the archaeological study of ancient people, and can help bring about new information.
I have been surface hunting for most of my life, and over time, I have amassed quite an extensive collection. One thing I have found is head hunting never gets old. Just like hunting for food, every artifact hunt is different. There are relics of all different time periods to be found and collected. While I focus on ancient items, I find some pretty cool modern stuff, too. A few of my favorites are french gun flints, a brass sleigh bell, and a large cent from 1803. I have found over 1,000 whole points to date, and thousands of broken ones. Modern plowing techniques are rough on small stone tools. More often than not, you will get a piece rather than a whole one. I recommend drawing a map of the site. Number your finds and mark them on the map. I have reunited several broken points by using this technique, one of which was in three pieces.
To locate a site, I look for high ground near a river, stream or lake. Native people and their village sites, were almost always associated with water. Water being the most important thing in life will help direct you to sites. I enjoy floating the river and searching through gravel beds, but it's not all that productive. I prefer looking in plowed fields, just make sure to obtain permission, before trudging through a farmer’s field. Some farmers are fine with the practice of surface hunting, while others may be less than friendly. If you are lucky enough to have found a location, there are a few things you should look for. The first is small chips of chert, or what is more commonly called flint. They may be tools, but are more commonly byproducts of stone tool production. You should then look for fire-cracked rocks. They will be darker or more reddened than stone of the same variety in the surrounding area. The intense heat of the fire will fracture and discolor the stones, and help you indicate areas of occupation. If you get lucky, you may even be able to detect the large black circles of ancient fire pits. If you find this, mark it on your map as a hot spot. You should focus on these areas of a field first as they tend to produce the greatest quantity of items.
After I finish looking for the day, I immediately tag the pieces with small numbered cards, and place the items in storage trays. When the cold days of winter hit, I enjoy cleaning, dating, and arranging the points in display cases. Some of the tools found in our valley date back more than 10,000 years. The most common items are in the three to six-thousand-year range. Most of them predate the Pyramids in Giza. I also enjoy taking pictures with and without numbers of the items as they are found. This helps if you happen to get them mixed up.
Good wishes and happy artifact hunting.
Although some tribes of Native Americans were into human sacrifice, most were accustomed to a more gentle life. When it came to animals, they were hunted down using hand-made weapons. The tools of the trade can still be found to this day. The stone implements of survival can be recovered readily by the patient and keen-eyed. There are a few things to know that will increase your odds of finding ancient artifacts. Being able to catalog where they were found and the age of the tool is part of the pastime for most. Regardless of age, there is something truly amazing about picking up a point made thousands of years ago.
My adventures in artifact hunting were kindled many years ago. I had a teacher in school when I lived in Virginia that collected, and I caught the bug from him. Upon moving to New York, my interest was further kindled by Ted Whitney at the Rexford Street Museum. Seeing tools of the past took me to another place in time and allowed the imagination to wander. As a child, to present day, I still wonder after finding every arrow head. Who made it and how was it used? Some of the artifacts tell their story if you know what to look for. Of the many ways to find tools of the past, I prefer surface hunting. It is less harmful to the archaeological study of ancient people, and can help bring about new information.
I have been surface hunting for most of my life, and over time, I have amassed quite an extensive collection. One thing I have found is head hunting never gets old. Just like hunting for food, every artifact hunt is different. There are relics of all different time periods to be found and collected. While I focus on ancient items, I find some pretty cool modern stuff, too. A few of my favorites are french gun flints, a brass sleigh bell, and a large cent from 1803. I have found over 1,000 whole points to date, and thousands of broken ones. Modern plowing techniques are rough on small stone tools. More often than not, you will get a piece rather than a whole one. I recommend drawing a map of the site. Number your finds and mark them on the map. I have reunited several broken points by using this technique, one of which was in three pieces.
To locate a site, I look for high ground near a river, stream or lake. Native people and their village sites, were almost always associated with water. Water being the most important thing in life will help direct you to sites. I enjoy floating the river and searching through gravel beds, but it's not all that productive. I prefer looking in plowed fields, just make sure to obtain permission, before trudging through a farmer’s field. Some farmers are fine with the practice of surface hunting, while others may be less than friendly. If you are lucky enough to have found a location, there are a few things you should look for. The first is small chips of chert, or what is more commonly called flint. They may be tools, but are more commonly byproducts of stone tool production. You should then look for fire-cracked rocks. They will be darker or more reddened than stone of the same variety in the surrounding area. The intense heat of the fire will fracture and discolor the stones, and help you indicate areas of occupation. If you get lucky, you may even be able to detect the large black circles of ancient fire pits. If you find this, mark it on your map as a hot spot. You should focus on these areas of a field first as they tend to produce the greatest quantity of items.
After I finish looking for the day, I immediately tag the pieces with small numbered cards, and place the items in storage trays. When the cold days of winter hit, I enjoy cleaning, dating, and arranging the points in display cases. Some of the tools found in our valley date back more than 10,000 years. The most common items are in the three to six-thousand-year range. Most of them predate the Pyramids in Giza. I also enjoy taking pictures with and without numbers of the items as they are found. This helps if you happen to get them mixed up.
Good wishes and happy artifact hunting.
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