Battlefield Archeologist - Pea Ridge, AR

Icewing

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Battlefield Archeology - Pea Ridge, AR

Ok guys, sorry I've been so slow in getting to posting this.

As I told you guys a couple of months ago I was contacted by the National Parks Service and asked to help them and the Arkansas Archeological Survey recover some artifacts on the Pea Ridge National Military Park.

The schedule got changed up just a bit but we ended up getting to hunt for 6 days instead of 5, so it worked out for the better in the long run.

Day 1 started off really slow, we spent about 6 hours in the first section and didn't find squat, which was to be expected because it was primarily a farm. Toward the end of the day though we started finding some actual civil war artifacts. That's when I found this really ugly unrefined canister shot ball that was fired by the Confederates.

20180317_144727.jpg 20180317_144734.jpg

The next few days were much more productive. As we worked our way back into the woods (not wooded durring the wat) toward where the Confederates had 21 cannons set up we found more and more good stuff. The vast majority of which was 12 pound case and canister shot, and a variety of musket balls. We also found a few pieces of regular hollow balls with the really thick wall, and some pieces of James bolts. I even found a couple of percussion caps and a hammer from either a musketoon or carbine, a other first for me. On the other side of the ridge I found several of what i believe were 44 caliber navy pistol bullets.

In the end we recovered roughly 1,000 civil war artifacts, it was a fantastic learning experience and I will without a doubt be doing it again.

Pieces of James bolt
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Boreman fuse
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We found dozens of these canister shot balls
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Regular (hollow)
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Hammer
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Case shot
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44 caliber Navy pistol bullets (that one was just laying on the surface)
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Thanks for looking, I hope you enjoy the pics.

***I screwed up the title, it was supposed to be Battlefield Archeology***
 

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Joe G from Md

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Nice finds, one thing if you found .44cal. bullets they would be for army revolver, navy is .36cal. You did good!
 

Carolina Tom

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Congrats IW. Thanks for helping to preserve history!
 

mindcrime1988

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Great opportunity. Congratulations on the finds and thank you for representing the rest of us detectorists who follow the rules as it will hopefully "calm the waters" so to speak with archeologists and others who know nothing about our passion/hobby. :icon_thumright:
 

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Icewing

Icewing

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Great opportunity. Congratulations on the finds and thank you for representing the rest of us detectorists who follow the rules as it will hopefully "calm the waters" so to speak with archeologists and others who know nothing about our passion/hobby. :icon_thumright:

Yes sir I made it a point to let them know I was serious about trying to bridge the gap between archeologists and serious treasure hunters. In the end I was invited to join the Archeologists digging team on future dig sites where experienced detectorists are needed.
 

Yak1366

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Congrats on the Finds Icewing!!!

What a great opportunity to take part in. To do that, would be a true bucket list item for me.
 

alabama11

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Great work on that conservation effort. We can only hope this type of research becomes the norm. It will likely be written up in report form and aid in future planning ect. Thanks for sharing photos.

I participated in a similar effort bordering Lookout Mt. Park in 2004 on a private parcel. We recovered 375 artifacts. A 10 lb live Reed Shell was the most exciting recovery. The NPS officers kindly visited us to make sure we didn't accidently cross the invisable boundary line.
 

devldog

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Icewing, Congrat's to you on some nice Saved History. I really liked the musket hammer and the Borman artillery fuse. All nice finds and for a good cause.
 

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Great job! Its very rewarding doing this type of work! :occasion14:

I had the pleasure of working the oldest battle in America, in Mystic Conn., lots of fun and hard work!
 

Arky 1

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Yes sir I made it a point to let them know I was serious about trying to bridge the gap between archeologists and serious treasure hunters. In the end I was invited to join the Archeologists digging team on future dig sites where experienced detectorists are needed.

If you need help feel free to contact me
 

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Icewing

Icewing

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If you need help feel free to contact me

It's really not up to me who gets invited to help. You would have to contact the park itself and let them know you are interested in volunteering.
 

Paleo_joe

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I shoveled for an archy metal detecting on a dig in SW AR and it was great. Happy to dig plus the conversation was so good!
 

Cletus

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wow what a great opportunity . Congrats on some great finds !!
 

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