The Grim Reaper
Gold Member
Since you guys really like the story that goes along with the finds, here's a little story about one of my better days of hunting in my 45 years of hunting artifacts in southern Ohio and northern Kentucky. Some of you may recognize it from the AACA magazine, but I thought I'd share it with everyone over here. Hope you enjoy it.
A Perfect Ending To A Great Day
This day started out like any other day that spring of 1982. I had just been laid off from my job and after a few futile weeks of looking for a job to no avail I decided to spend my time hunting artifacts every day to take my mind off of my lack of employment. I would get up around 9:00 AM, get me a quick bite to eat, and then it was off to a field of my choice to see what I could find.
We had some really strong thunderstorms move through the area the evening before and I watched the strongest ones move through to the south of my house, so I headed that way. I had more less already decided on where I was going to hunt that morning and that was what we refered to as the Dow Site since it a set of 4 small Fields that blanketed both sides of the fence surrounding the entrance to the Dow Chemical Plant in Lawrence County, Ohio.
I stopped by a buddies house on the way to see if he wanted to go with me and tried for around 45 minutes to convince him to go, but he said he had to much to do that day and that he would be in the dog house with his wife if he went, so I went on by myself. Being 23, unmarried, and living at home with my parents at the time I didn't have that problem and didn't have to answer to anyone which lent itself to many long all day hunts and this one would be no different.
I finally arrived at the field right around 10:30 that morning and saw that the corn was up about knee high in most spots and a few spots it was up close to mid thigh. I started finding points almost as soon as I entered the first field and within an hour I had a couple of Fishspears, a Brewerton, a nice Madison, and a few Scrapers. I knew then it was going to be a good day. I spent about three hours in the first field and found numerous more points and tools, so many that I had to go back by my car before I headed to the next field to empty my bag that I carried to put my finds in. I got me a quick drink from my pop I had left in the car and headed out to the next field.
This field didn't produce near as well as the first and from past experiences in it I wasn't all that surprised. It didn't have near as a pronounced ridge as the other fields did and the low lying areas usually layed in water which left a lot of mud and grime in the field. I did manage to find one decent Archaic Side Notch Point in there and a nice little Brewerton, plus a few Scrapers. I only spent about two hours there and it was going on 4:00 PM by the time I decided to head to the next field.
This spot was usually very productive and we had nicknamed it Hafted Scraper Field since it never failed that most of the whole pieces you found were nicely made Hafted Scrapers. I hadn't walked no more than 20 feet into the field when I spied my first piece and of course it was a really nice Hafted Scraper. Within an hour I had found three more nice Hafted Scrapers, a decent Side Notch Point, two more Brewertons, another Fishsperar Point, and the usual array of Scrapers and broken pieces. It was getting close to 6:00 PM by the time I finished this field and I decided to go get a quick bite to eat at the local McDonald's and then head back to finish off the last field.
It was around 6:45 by the time I finally got to the site and headed out to the last field. I had saved the best one for last. This field had always produced some very nice pieces for me and I hoped today wouldn't be any different. I started finding things almost as soon as I stepped into the field and the flint was just laying out everywhere. By 8:00 PM or so I had found another 6 points and quite a few Scrapers and I hadn't even made it to the best spot in the field that day. I hit the last big ridge in the field, which was usually the best spot, and was rewarded with another batch of nice points and Scrapers, as well as a nice Knife Blade.
It was getting close to 9:00 PM by now and I was dog tried since I had logged in quite a few miles that day and had been hunting close to 10 hours. I decided to walk out on the low end of the field that normally didn't produce much, but you would occasionally find a point or two there and is was right on the way back to the car. I had reached the end of the field and was walking along the edge when I passed by a corn row to my left and I got this odd feeling that I should go up the row. I can't explain the feeling, but it was like a voice in my head saying "Check that row!" At first I ignored it and took a couple of steps past the row when the feeling hit me again that I should really check out that row, so I thought what the heck it can't hurt to make one pass up the row. It was getting close to dusk now and the corn in this part of the field was almost waist high by now so you had to part it with your hands to see the ground. I took about 15 steps up the row and as I parted the corn there layed one of the nicest points I had ever found to that point of my artifact collecting. It was laying completely exposed and just glistening from the rain the night before. I couldn't believe my eyes and had to do a double take to make sure it was really there. I reached down and picked it up and wiped the mud off the back side to see that it's a Lost Lake (though I didn't know that at the time) made from Carter Cave Flint with a bluish/white line extending from the tang to one side on the blade edge on both sides of the point. It also had a quartz inclusion on one side. It was by far the finest artifact I had ever picked up and indeed the perfect ending to a great day.
Pictures
Pic 1 and 2 are of the Lost Lake
Pic 3 is of some of the Archaic Side Notch Points from that site, including a few from that particular hunt.
Pic 4 is of some of the Fishspears from that same site, including a few from that same hunt.
A Perfect Ending To A Great Day
This day started out like any other day that spring of 1982. I had just been laid off from my job and after a few futile weeks of looking for a job to no avail I decided to spend my time hunting artifacts every day to take my mind off of my lack of employment. I would get up around 9:00 AM, get me a quick bite to eat, and then it was off to a field of my choice to see what I could find.
We had some really strong thunderstorms move through the area the evening before and I watched the strongest ones move through to the south of my house, so I headed that way. I had more less already decided on where I was going to hunt that morning and that was what we refered to as the Dow Site since it a set of 4 small Fields that blanketed both sides of the fence surrounding the entrance to the Dow Chemical Plant in Lawrence County, Ohio.
I stopped by a buddies house on the way to see if he wanted to go with me and tried for around 45 minutes to convince him to go, but he said he had to much to do that day and that he would be in the dog house with his wife if he went, so I went on by myself. Being 23, unmarried, and living at home with my parents at the time I didn't have that problem and didn't have to answer to anyone which lent itself to many long all day hunts and this one would be no different.
I finally arrived at the field right around 10:30 that morning and saw that the corn was up about knee high in most spots and a few spots it was up close to mid thigh. I started finding points almost as soon as I entered the first field and within an hour I had a couple of Fishspears, a Brewerton, a nice Madison, and a few Scrapers. I knew then it was going to be a good day. I spent about three hours in the first field and found numerous more points and tools, so many that I had to go back by my car before I headed to the next field to empty my bag that I carried to put my finds in. I got me a quick drink from my pop I had left in the car and headed out to the next field.
This field didn't produce near as well as the first and from past experiences in it I wasn't all that surprised. It didn't have near as a pronounced ridge as the other fields did and the low lying areas usually layed in water which left a lot of mud and grime in the field. I did manage to find one decent Archaic Side Notch Point in there and a nice little Brewerton, plus a few Scrapers. I only spent about two hours there and it was going on 4:00 PM by the time I decided to head to the next field.
This spot was usually very productive and we had nicknamed it Hafted Scraper Field since it never failed that most of the whole pieces you found were nicely made Hafted Scrapers. I hadn't walked no more than 20 feet into the field when I spied my first piece and of course it was a really nice Hafted Scraper. Within an hour I had found three more nice Hafted Scrapers, a decent Side Notch Point, two more Brewertons, another Fishsperar Point, and the usual array of Scrapers and broken pieces. It was getting close to 6:00 PM by the time I finished this field and I decided to go get a quick bite to eat at the local McDonald's and then head back to finish off the last field.
It was around 6:45 by the time I finally got to the site and headed out to the last field. I had saved the best one for last. This field had always produced some very nice pieces for me and I hoped today wouldn't be any different. I started finding things almost as soon as I stepped into the field and the flint was just laying out everywhere. By 8:00 PM or so I had found another 6 points and quite a few Scrapers and I hadn't even made it to the best spot in the field that day. I hit the last big ridge in the field, which was usually the best spot, and was rewarded with another batch of nice points and Scrapers, as well as a nice Knife Blade.
It was getting close to 9:00 PM by now and I was dog tried since I had logged in quite a few miles that day and had been hunting close to 10 hours. I decided to walk out on the low end of the field that normally didn't produce much, but you would occasionally find a point or two there and is was right on the way back to the car. I had reached the end of the field and was walking along the edge when I passed by a corn row to my left and I got this odd feeling that I should go up the row. I can't explain the feeling, but it was like a voice in my head saying "Check that row!" At first I ignored it and took a couple of steps past the row when the feeling hit me again that I should really check out that row, so I thought what the heck it can't hurt to make one pass up the row. It was getting close to dusk now and the corn in this part of the field was almost waist high by now so you had to part it with your hands to see the ground. I took about 15 steps up the row and as I parted the corn there layed one of the nicest points I had ever found to that point of my artifact collecting. It was laying completely exposed and just glistening from the rain the night before. I couldn't believe my eyes and had to do a double take to make sure it was really there. I reached down and picked it up and wiped the mud off the back side to see that it's a Lost Lake (though I didn't know that at the time) made from Carter Cave Flint with a bluish/white line extending from the tang to one side on the blade edge on both sides of the point. It also had a quartz inclusion on one side. It was by far the finest artifact I had ever picked up and indeed the perfect ending to a great day.
Pictures
Pic 1 and 2 are of the Lost Lake
Pic 3 is of some of the Archaic Side Notch Points from that site, including a few from that particular hunt.
Pic 4 is of some of the Fishspears from that same site, including a few from that same hunt.
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. Thanks for sharing.
