Ear Plug...Never imagined another one would be found!

BJH62

Jr. Member
Apr 14, 2012
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Hello all-

Haven't posted in a while but I felt I needed to share this...10 years after my niece found an ear plug (see original post here: http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/n...cts/23308-ear-plug-anyone-ever-found-one.html) I was lucky enough to find one of my own today. Here are the pics. Note the tally marks. Cannot believe it! My niece (now 20) says she doesn't feel so special anymore. (Hers is on the left in the picture.)

Thanks for looking.

BJH
 

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Upvote 0

Mrdigz

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That's a really nice find.
 

Texas Ed

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Now you have a complete set of ear plugs - anyway thanks for sharing your post with us.

Texas ED
 

joshuaream

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Jun 25, 2009
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Neat finds. Those would certainly be rare finds from your area, but pretty classic Mississippian relics. Oneota Complex would be my guess, or made by a different Mississippian group and traded up into your area as part of the Mississippian material exchange. (There is a lot of Oneota pottery that made it down to the Angel site in Southern Indiana, as well as Catlinite from Minnesota and a related type of pipestone & Copper from Ontario Canada that went south. Marine shells, beads, bois d'arc wood went north.) There were some some other groups that could have made it if you are closer to the Dakota border (Black Duck Complex.)

They don't look like a matching pair, so if you found them on a single site you've probably got a pretty significant cultural site below your feet. In Indiana and Kentucky, they moved from mound burials to non-mound burials later in their phase, which might mean it just looks like a normal field if you don't happen to see a big mound nearby. Non-mound features included pit burials with multiple individuals, individual flexed burials (curled up), extended burials, even the start of tree burials, etc.

Do you find any pottery on the site? I'd love to see a chunk, that can usually pin down the specific group that had items like these.
 

OP
OP
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BJH62

Jr. Member
Apr 14, 2012
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Thanks everyone for the comments. The earplugs were found in the same plowed farm field but probably a 1/4-1/2 mile apart. The field sits on the Minnesota/North Dakota border.

Joshua--Thanks for the information. Any additional websites, books, etc. where I can find information is appreciated. (I've done a lot of looking but haven't found much.) We find a ton of pottery at this site. Most of the pottery we find is shell tempered and isn't decorated. I'm attaching some pics of the decorated pottery we find. pottery 4.jpg pottery 2.jpg pottery 3.jpg Pottery.jpg

BJH
 

DigIron2

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Very neat. Have heard about them but think that is the first time I have seen one. Thanks for sharing.
 

The Grim Reaper

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Apr 3, 2008
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Like Joshua said, those are very rare artifacts and to find two complete specimens on the surface is astounding.

That belongs on the Banner so everyone should go back and vote for it.
 

tchaire

Full Member
Oct 4, 2004
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I would vote banner but I'm still mad you went without me...O.K., I guess you deserve to find something like this since I'm the one that always comes home with the better finds. Seriously though, this is the first one I've seen since my daughter found hers 10 years ago. In that time I've seen many old-time local collections and have attended a few artifact shows around Minnesota and North Dakota and have not come across another one; which makes me believe as Joshua and Grim have said, that they are rare, especially for area.

Way to go brother!
 

quito

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Mar 31, 2008
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Spectacular finds!

With the amount of pottery that is being found, something tells me you are missing an awful lot of flint and other artifacts. I would be examining every flake of flint I see, and popping a whole lot of rocks out of the ground on that site if I were you.
 

CaptEsteban

Bronze Member
Jul 26, 2011
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Spectacular finds!

With the amount of pottery that is being found, something tells me you are missing an awful lot of flint and other artifacts. I would be examining every flake of flint I see, and popping a whole lot of rocks out of the ground on that site if I were you.

Yep = SIFT !
 

rock

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Aug 25, 2012
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The points are probably tiny like 1 in and less. The ear plug things are cool never seen any before.
 

rock

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Aug 25, 2012
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Hit the Banner button, Good Luck
 

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BJH62

Jr. Member
Apr 14, 2012
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Thanks quito...We do find plenty of other artifacts on this site. If you look back at some of the threads of my brother (tchaire), many of the things in those posts were found on this site. This site has been hunted for decades (long before I started looking). I'm always amazed at what we still find in this field.
 

OP
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BJH62

Jr. Member
Apr 14, 2012
27
109
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Rock...Most of the points on this site are less than an inch...Usually triangles. Thanks for the banner vote.
 

eastTNJoe

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Mar 4, 2013
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I never even knew they were an artifact..really cool...I'm voting banner too!
 

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