What type of Artifact Hound are you?

[Tnmountains]

What type of Artifact Hound are you?

Ok guys I would like for this post to stay fun and positive while shedding some light on the thought process of fellow artifact enthusiast.
I will start with a story of a friend I used to hunt with. He was the best researcher and hunter I ever knew. He studied everything in his areas to be successful and he was. He would go and find the best of the best with many items eventually being published. You would think he would have had a museum. He had nothing. He sold everything he found after he amassed several hunts.
I guess you would have called him a supplier.
Another friend no longer hunts but buys whole collections and only then to get the best of the best. He will keep the best and sell of all the field grade. His collection is only the finest.
Another friend lost his job and had to make concessions and provide for his family. He sold his collection for Penney's on the dollar. He did what he had to do knowing that he would never amass a personal collection like that again. He quit the hobby.
The hobby takes many forms in supply and demand. The hunter who collects only personal finds. The guys who hunt yet also seek good examples to add to a growing collection of study items. The guys at shows who have the finest examples of every piece imaginable for sale. Many collected at estate sales or from supply hunters or from family's who end up with collections of long ago collectors.
I guess my point in this post is that it is all OK. There is a supply and demand for these items.
I recently found I guess my best item a couple weeks ago and got it authenticated by experts just so I could park it on a shelf and have peace of mind if I showed it to someone. There is no monetary value in it to me but imagine if I was to start trading and selling it would be exciting.
OK so what type of collector are you?
What makes this hobby fun for you.

TnMtns

 

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[archer66]

Re: What type of Artifact Hound are you?

I'm hunt for personal enjoyment...any finds are a bonus. I've never bought or sold anything.

 

[Dirtfan]

Re: What type of Artifact Hound are you?

I'm a history buff, collect anything history, I especially enjoy being the first person to touch an artifact, sets me to thinking and wondering. Ever lay in the grass and wonder what life was like in the day. You can almost see it come to life. Love the research and the rewards in the end. I don't think I could ever sell one of my finds.

 

[bravowhiskey]

Re: What type of Artifact Hound are you?

After doing all the field work necessary to find, these finds become important to me and I couldn't/wouldn't ever sell them.
My only hope is that, family members, they would be handed down to, would feel the same.

BTW, many kudos on your banner find.

BW

 

[larson1951]

Re: What type of Artifact Hound are you?

I hunt but don't sell or buy
i have given a few pieces away
a couple nice guys gave me a few pieces
larson1951

 

[DemonCatSpaceStar]

Re: What type of Artifact Hound are you?

I never buy (or sell) anything. I hunt for enjoyment of finding things that no one has seen for years (or thousands), knowledge of the people who made whatever it is & exercise (which I seem to get more of then anything ) & I would never sell what I find but if it came down to my family in need it would be a different story.

8)
Phil

 

[Th3rty7]

Re: What type of Artifact Hound are you?

I hunt alot and buy alot. I just like artifacts too much to be content with a local collection, and life's too short to be able to hunt all the areas I'd like too. I've never sold an artifact, but I'm considering setting up to do so somewhere down the road. Mostly to acquire new artifacts to study and appreciate and recycle, while building a nice collection along the way. I couldn't part with any personal finds though, not even the field grade pooters.

 

[Tnmountains]

Re: What type of Artifact Hound are you?

I had never bought anything except pottery until the internet became so popular and e-bay. This winter while bored I puchased what was supposed to be some Tennessee points. I am not sure what they are but it was fun to wait for them to arrive. I have never sold anything but have given many away.
So I guess I "hunt and buy some". I also appreciate the items received from other members .

 

[RichPA]

Re: What type of Artifact Hound are you?

Right now I'm only a hunter, but selling and buying is bound to happen in the future. Local collections would be of most interest to buy.

 

[Jonzer]

Re: What type of Artifact Hound are you?

I do not buy or sell. Just hunt and keep.
I have a 3 inch Dalton that a buddy gave me before he passed.
I gave a 4 inch Thebes to another buddy for helping me remodel my house.
I found and sold a broken Folsom back in the 90's and then didn't find a good piece that whole year. jinxed.

 

[jmfg222]

Re: What type of Artifact Hound are you?

i dont buy or sale any.i do have a pretty large collection that my dad handed down to me.just love to hunt.

 

[Neanderthal]

Re: What type of Artifact Hound are you?

I hunt, buy & sell. Although, I have given away far more than I have sold. I'm not a regional collector and try to obtain artifacts from everywhere. Studying artifacts from other areas will often help me get a better comprehension of the natives indigenous to my own region. It raises a lot of questions, but does help in my quest to try and get a view of the "whole" picture. For me, it's about the education.

 

[lostcauses]

Re: What type of Artifact Hound are you?

Not sure how to respond to this topic.

My earliest memories are of Spain. I remember a place with rocks i was told was a castle and listing to my mom and the other women it was an arch site. we were shown some things and remember walking around. There was an old well, and I was wondering what might be in it.

We ended back in the states. My grand father was an rock hound (gold seeker) and archeologist. He would show us things he recovered in digs.

On day out watering the horses and other animals I noticed a obsidian bird point in the sand. For the next mpounth I screened the area around the old house and found more arrowheads and two coins. One one area of the property there was an old dump. My Grandmother decided it was worth digging through, so that is were I got into the old dump digging. I added the arrowheads coins and bottles to the other stuff I found around the place.

We then moved, and for some reason my box of treasure never made it with me.

When I was about 13, my mother went into the antique business. I learned to look up the stuff she got and find the values. My real dad was a jeweler, and that also gave me information and experience. He also knew my like of electronics, and bought me my first radio Shack metal detector kit. Oh the memories. Later found myself working for some mining operations that also taught me a great deal about mining.

For the hunting aspect I found that I truly enjoy is to get out and away from the reality of life. It is one of the best escapes I have ever found. Yet the experience of losings the items from my child hood has given me a bit of a different perspective on the items. If on personal property I will collect and keep a few items. If with a different person I let them have the stuff.

I do have a few finds that due to the experiences I keep. Most goes to others I hunt with or I leave it there: or give it to the property owner. I do not go with the saving history. I get to escape for a time, find stuff and get to learn a lot about the people by the things left behind.

On public property I do hunt, and leave the items. I do not go with finders keeper game, or that I am part of the public so i own it. I don't. yet I can photograph, examine and leave it. ( it was there a lot longer in most cases than I have been alive, and will most likely stay there a lot longer than I exist.)


I can not say I am the normal person. I am not. I love the hunt as much as most. I love the find as much as most, yet experience has taught me that an item that has laid were I found it for say a hundred or thousands of years is best left were it was. ( not construction sites are of coarse a salvage operation, and even then are usually given to the local museum or property owner.)

I an a bit different from most treasure ( relic ) hunter.

Of course I still buy and sell antiques, and some times purchase relics and artifact ( if I can find out were they came from, or estate material) and resell.

I love to get out and find stuff, but do not need to keep the item. I am not the normal.

 

[shopdog]

Re: What type of Artifact Hound are you?

I collect for the enjoyment of spending time with my family .It`s an awsome thing when my kids find something that is a real artifact ,not one of the many rocks they find and ask, DAD IS THIS SOMETHING ,I hear that oh about every other minite, but when they pick some thing up and theres silence then the little happy dance because they know they have found something pretty cool . we dont sell anything that we find but i do buy things from time to time mostly because its something I know we will never find around here or someone hurting for money not wanting to get ripped off. My wife has bugged me a few times about selling some artifacts I just can`t sell all those little happydance memories they are priceless.

 

[SouthernGirl]

Re: What type of Artifact Hound are you?

I just hunt for the love of the hunt.

 

[Americus]

Re: What type of Artifact Hound are you?

I absolutely love hunting artifacts. I feel truly blessed when I find something. I could never sell anything that I found and I never buy anything.

 

[Tnmountains]

Re: What type of Artifact Hound are you?

What this is looking like is a great diverse group of people that bring to the table a huge collective knowledge in a hobby and passion everyone enjoys. Including me. Lets let this run awhile so people can vote. Thanks for voting.

 

[creek astronaut]

Re: What type of Artifact Hound are you?

Pure hunter.Its nice seeing the nice relics on the wall,but its all about the peace of being outdoors and walking up on a relic that hasnt been touched in thousands of years.Most of us know that feeling,the rush that comes with finding that killer peice laying in the dirt or water.I dont consider myself a collector of artifacts,just a hunter of artifacts and the history behind every peice I find.Good thread Richard.

 

[Flintfinder of Mo.]

Re: What type of Artifact Hound are you?

Ate up with it, I am... I love to hunt for them, it is my passion. I love to hear the creek running, the soil beneath my feet as my stick floats across the ground flipping flint, the wildlife, waterfalls, trees, bluffs and rolling hills. Oh I do love it all. When ever life has got me down, I have always used hunting as an escape. It calms me, puts me in a spiritual place, gives me peace of mind.
Everyone that knows me seems to stop by the house after I hunt, to see how I did. If I ever miss a day of work, the guys will ask me the next day "well how many did you find". People from my area bring there finds to me to look at, and that is a true honor. I am blessed to have found some of the things I have in my collection.
I have given many away, traded some to hunting partners, bought some local points from the farmers that found them. Its hard enough for me just to get a grip on the Mid-West artifacts, let alone all areas. Perino was an amazing man to have had all the knowlege he had. If I had a frame of Dovetails, Hardins, Clovis points , etc You know purchased points. They would not hold a candle to the way I feel about the clappy stuff I find. I truly Love this Hobby..... John

 

[d2]

Re: What type of Artifact Hound are you?

Never bought a piece but have found thousands and I love every minute of it. My true passion is the real old stuff and for that I have to dig. It always amazed me that I would dig a hole big enough for a thousand gallon septic tank with a shovel, in a days time but hate spending an hour mowing the yard. And as mentioned above the time spent with the kids looking and having to tell them a million times a day that what they are holding is just a rock. I guess we did something right because my babies are now 30 and 27 and they take their babies out looking when I break up the oat patch or find a place on the creek. And being the first to hold something that was dropped, lost or thrown away 6-7-8000 years ago has a magical touch and feel for me...d2