Weekend Dig Artifacts

[catherine1]

Never found anything great. Mostly brokes except for the small knife in the middle (1.5 inches). I was wondering about the point with the broken base in the bottom L/H corner? The other two notched pcs. are Hopewell. The rest probably woodland. I included a couple extra pics of that broken base.

[Treefrog]

maybe a kirk?

[Bama Ron]

What state do you live in?

[1320]

Looks like a Kirk Snapped Base to me, nice finds altogether!

[riverrocks64]

my guess is kirk with broke base and ear.....nice finds

[catherine1]

Thanks for the views and replies. I don't find a lot of archaic pcs. (3 total) at my dig site.

[1320]

Are you finding the archaic pieces a little deeper or in a different location within the dig area? Very cool.

[WV sifter]

Like that blade..that point in the middle left is a real tearjerker 4sure!,as for the snapped base point,looks like a snapped base kirk.

[catherine1]

I know from all your posts 1320 that the rock shelters you are digging are deep because they are in the woods. I found all (3) archaic around 6 inches and I find the Ft. Ancient at 2-4. The Hopewell/Adena stuff is always around 4. But the soil density changes as you go from field to the woodline at my site. We have our share of clay in the soil. And I believe the density of the soil has a lot to do with the depth of the artifacts. The ravine I dug runs off the field into the woodline. It was about 24 inches to the pan and naturally tapered up hill to 12. You start to look at things a little differrent---- when your arms are sore from digging. But I am still learning with only 2 years in the artifact search! The reason we dig is because there is not enough time for nature/plow to make it to the surface? Happy finding!!!

[1320]

I know from all your posts 1320 that the rock shelters you are digging are deep because they are in the woods. I found all (3) archaic around 6 inches and I find the Ft. Ancient at 2-4. The Hopewell/Adena stuff is always around 4. But the soil density changes as you go from field to the woodline at my site. We have our share of clay in the soil. And I believe the density of the soil has a lot to do with the depth of the artifacts. The ravine I dug runs off the field into the woodline. It was about 24 inches to the pan and naturally tapered up hill to 12. You start to look at things a little differrent---- when your arms are sore from digging. But I am still learning with only 2 years in the artifact search! The reason we dig is because there is not enough time for nature/plow to make it to the surface? Happy finding!!!

That's great information, thank you. I find archaic artifacts at varying depths within some of the shelters and I've often wondered if soil characteristics play a role. Sometimes it's obvious that erosion explains the depth of artifacts but I've been in a few places where the soil is so compacted that there's not much digging to be done, I like those Now, I'm wondering if the compaction is a natural process or if it's caused by usage? I must agree with you, digging does provide for varying points of view.

[WV sifter]

I can relate to that,ive dug a many archaic pieces at depths anywhere from 6" down to almost 3 feet,i guess it depends on the shelter,how it settles over so many years along with soil type ,ive found a many of woodland points sifting the first layer of ground(2-3"deep)as im sure some of it has to do with the particular area and the lay of the land as well.