Good Day Digging

[Garscale]

A friend and I had a pretty good day digging last Thursday near the Brazos. About 50 completes and another hundred or so broke. Fun day.

 

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[newnan man]

Well at least you were diplomatic and I see what you are saying. That said you make some of the same mistake old digger made with jumping to conclusions. Every site I dig is different. In past sites I have worked closely with the scientific community. I dare say I have contributed more to science than any individual digger I know. I am very capable of digging a stratified site in layers.

Now for the site the artifacts in this thread came from? The surface rights have long been under contract to a sand and gravel company. We recently learned that it will be mined starting this summer. My digging partner just managed to buy it so we can screen as many of the artifacts out as possible before they end up mixed in concrete and poured on a freeway somewhere.

There have been several folks like the post saying in some how cheating? Still no one had answered who it I'd they think I'm cheating?

I jumped to no conclusions as your right to do with your land is in my opinion sacred. There are laws pertaining to burials, middens, Native American rights etc. but I'm sure that's not a concern here. I respect people who try and salvage items before construction erases them forever. Here in Florida that has always been a major problem. I have spent countless hours in the evenings going behind road & bridge construction work in newly disturbed ground. I have found amazing artifacts that would have been lost forever. I have found 2 caches this way, 1 in Ohio & 1 here in Fl. I am on a site right now in down town Sarasota that is producing a lot of fossils and some big sharks teeth. I'm trying to find where the fill came from but so far haven't. Fossil rich dirt in Florida usually means a point is not far behind. Your post at first didn't have much in the way of explanation so people are just curious and asked legitimate questions. Don't get all butthurt, I thought you Texan's were thick skinned? Keep posting.

 

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[Garscale]

I jumped to no conclusions as your right to do with your land is in my opinion sacred. There are laws pertaining to burials, middens, Native American rights etc. but I'm sure that's not a concern here. I respect people who try and salvage items before construction erases them forever. Here in Florida that has always been a major problem. I have spent countless hours in the evenings going behind road & bridge construction work in newly disturbed ground. I have found amazing artifacts that would have been lost forever. I have found 2 caches this way, 1 in Ohio & 1 here in Fl. I am on a site right now in down town Sarasota that is producing a lot of fossils and some big sharks teeth. I'm trying to find where the fill came from but so far haven't. Fossil rich dirt in Florida usually means a point is not far behind. Your post at first didn't have much in the way of explanation so people are just curious and asked legitimate questions. Don't get all butthurt, I thought you Texan's were thick skinned? Keep posting.

Well here we go again. Great post except the end. I don't see the need to qualify what I do. I am Glad to answer questions but there was and maybe still are people making wild jumps in their mind that have nothing to do with the reality of what I do. I'm not butt hurt but being called a cheat and likely a criminal is a personal attack and you can't expect a Texan to tolerate such idiocy.

The only conclusion you jumped to is that my digging disregards preserving history. The truth is in salvaging history on this site that would otherwise be lost. I didn't see your post as a personal attack but the butt hurt line may indicate I miss judged your intent as well.

 

[Buckleberry]

I would consider it cheating myself of a vocation that I cherish.
I can understand why some have to use pay digs, but turning my own dig into a noisy, gas-chugging, industrialized, production would just cheapen the entire experience. Just my take on it, to each their own and I appreciate that your are saving these from being lost.

 

[southfork]

Garscale glad to see your still on the hunt often wondered if the old peanut machine was still chugging away .

 

[PaleIO]

Keep up the good work Gar they are hard to enjoy under a highway.

 

[newnan man]

Well here we go again. Great post except the end. I don't see the need to qualify what I do. I am Glad to answer questions but there was and maybe still are people making wild jumps in their mind that have nothing to do with the reality of what I do. I'm not butt hurt but being called a cheat and likely a criminal is a personal attack and you can't expect a Texan to tolerate such idiocy.

The only conclusion you jumped to is that my digging disregards preserving history. The truth is in salvaging history on this site that would otherwise be lost. I didn't see your post as a personal attack but the butt hurt line may indicate I miss judged your intent as well.

It was meant as a joke as the smiley indicated. Belive me I meant no malice. (So don't get butthurt!)

 

[newnan man]

Oh by the way as an afterthought you do need to "qualify" what you do if your going to criticize the response you receive as a result of your posts. If you do criticize then yes you need to qualify in order for us to appreciate what it is you are doing. Keep the pics coming, those are great finds.

 

[Garscale]

Oh by the way as an afterthought you do need to "qualify" what you do if your going to criticize the response you receive as a result of your posts. If you do criticize then yes you need to qualify in order for us to appreciate what it is you are doing. Keep the pics coming, those are great finds.

I told you I would be glad to answer questions about how I hunt artifacts but to qualify my own methods to someone's else's opinon of "fair" is Rediculous. I mean there was literally a long term member of this treasure hunting forum that stated he felt it was unfair to use a machine to hunt and dig for relics. Now surface hunting is ok but no machine.
The same guy uses a metal detector(machine?) And then digs the relics. Should I be required to qualify my methods to someone with such a hypocritical stance?

 

[Huzzah!]

Free country--Garscale can do what he wants no matter what the rest of us think.

Garscale takes the risk of breaking artifacts, but that is a risk he is willing to accept; and here it has still paid off handsomely. Keep in mind that those artifacts are up for grabs until found--by any means. Each of us is entitled to pursue and procure according to what laws we need to abide by in our locations, and beyond that point it is none of our business what another hunter does.

That said, I'm sure those who disagree with Garscale's method may get more appreciation out of finding one point than Garscale with his industrialized process, but whether that statement is true or not doesn't matter. Free Country.

No matter your method, find them while you can before all these sensitive types make it illegal to search and find for any at all.

 

[Garscale]

Free country--Garscale can do what he wants no matter what the rest of us think.

Garscale takes the risk of breaking artifacts, but that is a risk he is willing to accept; and here it has paid off handsomely.

Thanks. By the way... My method of excavating breaks far less than any other digging method.

 

[newnan man]

Free country--Garscale can do what he wants no matter what the rest of us think.

Garscale takes the risk of breaking artifacts, but that is a risk he is willing to accept; and here it has paid off handsomely.

Thanks. By the way... My method of excavating breaks far less than any other digging method.

Personally I don't care if you dynamite the entire site. I know for certain you cannot use a bucket or backhoe and damage less than using a hand shovel. I've been in construction all my life and when an excavation gets close to anything known to be underground it stops & the hand shoveling starts. You can backhoe/bucket load all you want but it is not a finesse machine. Some operators are really awesome but all the good ones I've seen always have a shovel behind their seat.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

I would like to see some more of what is being found.

 

[sandchip]

I knew a farmer in south Georgia that used a similar rig. Digging is digging, whether by shovel or loader. The old back can only turn so much dirt. Gar, what you're doing is one hell of a lot better than what developers do, go through the archy survey motions, then rape and pillage the land, artifacts and history be damned. At least you're saving and loving the artifacts.

 

[Garscale]

Personally I don't care if you dynamite the entire site. I know for certain you cannot use a bucket or backhoe and damage less than using a hand shovel. I've been in construction all my life and when an excavation gets close to anything known to be underground it stops & the hand shoveling starts. You can backhoe/bucket load all you want but it is not a finesse machine. Some operators are really awesome but all the good ones I've seen always have a shovel behind their seat.

A shovel gives blade exposure to every artifa t you dig with it. Shovel dings are very common on fine artifacts hand dug.

With my skid steer I go under the strata containing artifacts and let the entire yard of dirt slide into the bucket. Then I ease it into the sifter. I spent 35 years perfecting this machine and getting it to the point of zero damage. Even pristine birdies like those posted in this thread. Virtually none of re artifacts have exposure to the blade. We find flawless artifacts all day long. With almost no exception any damage is ancient.

 

[Garscale]

I would like to see some more of what is being found.

Here is one of many birdie frames from the site. Mabe this will make my point about low breakage. Wonder how many of these would have been broken with a shovel.

 

[TennTex]

I have been lurking for quite a while after Arrowheadology (HillCountryHunter) but felt the need to comment on this. I've never met GarGuy before but I would be lying if I said I wasn't really missing his posts & vast knowledge...his passion for native american history & artifacts is what peaked my interest in what is now, by far, my favorite hobby. I was really excited to see him posting smokers again, only to find people criticizing the method in which he rescued them. Ridiculous

He used to post tons of pictures from several different digs, and I was blown away by how well the layers/historical context were preserved. If you think he is just smashing a bucket into artifacts carelessly, you couldn't be more wrong.

Please continue posting your finds GarGuy, I certainly appreciate seeing them and I know plenty of other people do too. Also, please try to get Speck to start posting again if you can. The size and quality of the flint he was digging was incredible

 

[unclemac]

like you said, the whole place was going to be a gravel excavation. I know for a fact that all those rich black dirt farms in Illinois that have been sub-divided into cul-d-sac hell suburbs, had their artifact rich soil layer scraped off to the clay. The irony is that after the houses were built, the homeowners had to pay to have decent soil brought back in.

Keep excavating the areas that are going to be destroyed and don't let a point escape. Out of curiosity how big an area did you have to dig and how deep to find your 50 points?

 

[Garscale]

like you said, the whole place was going to be a gravel excavation. I know for a fact that all those rich black dirt farms in Illinois that have been sub-divided into cul-d-sac hell suburbs, had their artifact rich soil layer scraped off to the clay. The irony is that after the houses were built, the homeowners had to pay to have decent soil brought back in.

Keep excavating the areas that are going to be destroyed and don't let a point escape. Out of curiosity how big an area did you have to dig and how deep to find your 50 points?

That particular day I ran about 200yds of dirt. Averaging better than a point per yd. That's not the highest volume dirt and would never be worth shovel digging but the quality is good and worth while with the power screen. I low balled the number some.

We have dug 1000 points per day several times.

 

[ToddsPoint]

Here is one of many birdie frames from the site. Mabe this will make my point about low breakage. Wonder how many of these would have been broken with a shovel.

That's one of the most impressive frames I've ever seen. And I've seen a few. Gary

 

[Garscale]

That's one of the most impressive frames I've ever seen. And I've seen a few. Gary

Here are a couple more birdie frames from that site.they have since been consolidated into one collection. Originally we split the points from this site but now. Most are together.