A good mixture and a stone pipe to boot

[georgia flatlander]

Some good rain loosened up the dirt and allowed my wife and I to find some pretty cool things.
The stone pipe was definitely a highlight!
Found in early Archaic and late Archaic sites. Any input on the pipe would be helpful. It has no design or enhancement that I can notice. Thanks!

Early Archaic


Late Archaic


My wifes' finds


Stone pipe

 

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[ptsofnc]

Wow! You have a lot of great finds! Happy for you!

 

[Kray Gelder]

Whoah! Excellent day!

 

[nmtreasure]

Wow, one heck of a day! Lots of cool finds.

 

[Shorewalker]

Great finds! I love the pipe!

 

[lairmo]

Super awesome day!!!

 

[newnan man]

Most excellent!!

 

[arrow86]

You guys killed it , some really great finds in there . So are these all surface finds or do you guys do some digging / sifting as well ?

 

[georgia flatlander]

You guys killed it , some really great finds in there . So are these all surface finds or do you guys do some digging / sifting as well ?

Ther is a lot of hill and sand erosion after heavy rains. In most cases there will be a sand or dirt bank that has very distinct strata where an artifact is exposed. If that's the case, we'll use hand-held hoes and shave the dirt in sections, then sift in case we miss something small. About 1/3 are usually surface finds, but it depends on how heavy it rains.

 

[arrow86]

Gotcha that’s pretty cool looks like a great site , I have a site that’s on the river and where it’s flat and level I find tons of artifacts than in the same cove for the next 400-500ft the elevation rises to about 15ft high . The wind and waves have caused all kinds of erosion but I haven’t found anything yet sticking out of the bank or below it .... has me scratching my head every time.

 

[georgia flatlander]

Gotcha that’s pretty cool looks like a great site , I have a site that’s on the river and where it’s flat and level I find tons of artifacts than in the same cove for the next 400-500ft the elevation rises to about 15ft high . The wind and waves have caused all kinds of erosion but I haven’t found anything yet sticking out of the bank or below it .... has me scratching my head every time.

I don't know if it will help you, but we only find artifacts at the clay layer, where the pieces have settled and can't go any further. Occasionally we'll find some in between the layers, but in an 8,000-10,000 year-old site, everything has pretty much settled to the bottom. These banks aren't anything like what you're experiencing; the highest rise we see is less than 48". A 15 footer would have me scratching my head as well, because I wouldn't know where to begin!

 

[arrow86]

Thanks , so everything pretty much stays on top of the clay rite ? Seems to be the same in the area that I find stuff there’s a 1” - 6” layer of sand and than a hard layer of clay everything seems to be on top the clay I guess there could be stuff below but it’s near impossible to sift that thick clay and a real pain to even dig it out.
BTW.... I love the colors in the materials you found some really nice eye candy

 

[catherine1]

Killer pipe............great save.

 

[choo]

Wow that's a great hunt! That pipe is awesome!

 

[fyrffytr1]

That's more than I have found in the last 20 years! Congratulations!

 

[quito]

Very nice!!

That pipe is awesome!!

Keep up the good work!!!

 

[Charl]

Wow, what a great hunt! I do know straight pipes are often called tube pipes or medicine pipes. I don't know too much about them, but they are often called shaman pipes as well, and rather then being used for smoking, the shaman would use them to suck or draw illnesses out of people. So your pipe is a tube pipe style, and perhaps it was part of a shaman's kit! A quick search brought up this page regarding medicine pipes:

http://www.peachstatearchaeologicalsociety.org/index.php/12-pipes/280-medecine-tube

 

[Charl]

Another page of info regarding tube pipes:

Shaman's Sucking Tubes, Page 1

 

[jamey]

nice pipe and great hunt

 

[georgia flatlander]

Thanks , so everything pretty much stays on top of the clay rite ? Seems to be the same in the area that I find stuff there’s a 1” - 6” layer of sand and than a hard layer of clay everything seems to be on top the clay I guess there could be stuff below but it’s near impossible to sift that thick clay and a real pain to even dig it out.
BTW.... I love the colors in the materials you found some really nice eye candy

Some things are found closer to the surface, and we can usually date them based upon their depth. In other words, Woodland points will typically be at a shallower depth than Archaic points.
Interestingly, we find pure white, quartz points at a certain depth, and haven't found them at any other depth. They seem to be about 12"-16" below the current grade, and there are literally hundreds of them. They are in a layer of dark soil that is still relatively loose and haven't penetrated through the more compacted dirt onto the clay layer. I suspect they just haven't yet had time to migrate downward.

And yes, we have not found anything that has penetrated into the clay. We have even tried to dig through the clay in case it is a deposit to see if there is dirt or sand beneath, but so far we are assuming the clay layer is the stopping point. It's impossible to know what the land was like thousands of years ago, but the deeper you get the more of a story it will tell, especially in undisturbed areas.