larson's pottery thread got me thinking....

[archer66]

I have NEVER found any pottery. Since I do all my hunting in streams would you say that I don't find pottery because it isn't durable enought to survive in a stream, because it doesn't stand out like flint does, because it isn't there, or some other reason

[chong2]

just curious as to what part of the country do you live?

[archer66]

I live in Missouri about 100 miles north of St. Louis, near the confluence of the Mississippi River and Salt River.

[joshuaream]

Often times what's left of pottery in a creek are dime sized bits and pieces, not the larger incised rim shards that many people post.

[John G. Scoggins]

Pottery holds up in the water I hunt.I've found shards in almost every creek and river around here.But, our creeks and rivers are probably tamer and have a lot fewer rocks than yours do.You also might be in an area that isn't rich in pottery.

[Rege-PA]

The pottery I find in SW PA was not fired to a high temperature and just meets water proof requirements, the tempering agent was mussel shell and if the amount used was not dispersed properly the shell particles tended to become soft and absorb moisture creating weak spots in the pot. I have dug many shards from the ground and in moist conditions they frequently break before they can be removed. I think submerged in water they are ground to putty in no time.

[Tnmountains]

The pottery I find if digging in woods or shelters is soft until dried out. If it in our river systems it traveles from a bank to the water and in time swept to the depths but it survives very well here. The trick in finding pottery is finding the ancient trash piles. On early sites say in fields back in the mtns where I find Kirks and such I never find any pottery On the rivers and creeks it is common but
I have to be right on a sites edge to recover any. We used to not even pick it up. Now I enjoy collecting the broken pieces to put in frames. I have also collected pottery that has been under water for over 30 years of impoundment. Its very soft until dried. I have even micro-waved on low or used the oven to re-harden soft pottery

[larson1951]

the pottery from the dakotas will hold up well in water
it is very prolific in the fields where old sites were
most pieces are small about the size of a match book
larson

[centfladigger]

man there is pottery by the boat loads in certain rivers down here in Fl. we just cant pick them up though.Incised and punctated, beautiful pieces, have to leave them there. We have sites we dig on the that have thousands of pieces mixed in, same with all our shell mounds

[chong2]

like rege said i think the firing has alot to do with it, in the SW here, thats what they did, some they didnt and will actually dissintigrate if left submerged. go find a camp is your best bet

[realsilvergirl]

I think I found some pottery....sorry to post this here but I tried doing my own first post with photos but the pix aren't going through. Anyway, our yard was tilled this last week and my mom had the bushes and trees cut. Today I was out there missing the lilac trees she had cut down and something was drawing me out there. I live in Iowa near the Mississippi (mile or so away) and when little always found bits of what looked like brick to me but in rock shapes -as kids we called it gold and used it to buy each others toys. Maybe it is just VERY old brick or could it be clay? We would "draw" with it on the concrete driveway-it was orange=y. Anyway today I see lots of old screws and blue-green glass and more "brick" then I see this bit of green concave and convex (depends what side is turned up) brick thing. It was a broken bowl or something, and painted green with black wavy lines on it. Very ancient looking. Could that be native american pottery? Wish I could do the photos...thanks for input. I know it is hard to tell me to pursue it or forget it without any photos....I will be out there again today. Also do metal detectors detect other types of objects---pottery rocks etc...probably not...

[The Grim Reaper]

Most of the Pottery we find comes off of our village sites, but we do find some along the banks of the Ohio River and it is still in great shape.

[Twitch]

I've found some about halfway between us. Once the water drops I can take to a good pottery spot, if you're interested. Looks like a major storm is headed your way - keep your head down.

[archer66]

Sounds good Twitch....I still plan to get ya on a creek hunt too...maybe even some smallmouth fishing if you'd like.

The storm wasn't too bad...lots of lightning and some wind....little bit of rain.