Native American artifacts on land

[Pripyat]

I just purchased this land around two years ago, I just bottom plowed a portion and am finding a plethora of artifacts. There is one section, a 10 yard radius, where we've found half a dozen arrow heads, hundreds of flint flakes, multiple hammer stones, and a bunch of pottery shards. I'm in Patrick, South Carolina, in the sandhills. There is literally NO metal in this section of land. I went over it thoroughly on the highest sensitivity of my detector and found absolutely no steel or iron.

Can anyone comment on any of these items? Literally, the only thing I know, is that the arrowheads are made from chert? I don't know where the chert would have come from. I have no idea how to date the pottery, either. I am fairly certain the round stones are "hammer stones" for flintknapping but beyond that, I'm not sure if I'm looking at a bunch of random rocks or if any of them have any significant historical value. My son (7 years old) is freaking out, he has literally found more arrowheads than anyone else. He is now obsessed with native americans and was able to convince me to start learning to flintknap. Flintknapping supplies come in early next week. Any knowledge at all about any of the items I have here would make his day (or week). Thanks in advance!

Sorry it is so dim - Here is some chert?


More chert?


Pottery


Hammerstone?


Arrowheads, some incomplete


Misc rocks 1 of 2


Misc rocks 2 of 2


Lastly, the latest native american enthusiast, my son (with his two arrowheads he found in a 10 minute span).



Gallery with more pics: https://photos.app.goo.gl/68VvosyX5M4XX3Pu9

 

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[welsbury]

How cool is that. You are going to have a lot of fun in the coming years.Son's smile says it all.

 

[Tdog]

I'd say you have a Morrow Mountain Type II (6000-6800 years old) I circled in this picture.



Check out this link.

https://www.projectilepoints.net/Points/Morrow_Mountain.html

Congrats to the young enthusiast.

 

[Pripyat]

"Son, come over here so I can get your picture!"
"Daaaaad, I need to look for more arrowheads!!!"

It is so great.

Now we can't go anywhere without him asking me questions about how indians did things. Where they got their water, if they got married, how they had kids without a hospital..

 

[Garscale]

You gave about 6000 years of habitation in those pics. Great sandy soil too. If I was you I would make a screen table and do some digging. Mist of the complete stuff should be a foot or two down and below the plow zone. Have fun!

 

[Pripyat]

I was literally perusing facebook marketplace for some steel screen when your post came through. I am wondering if I can take the rock grapple on the front end loader and somehow affix the screen to it. Take a big scoop, then shake the entire grapple until everything has fallen through. The plow I used probably got down about 18". It is interesting, though, two of the arrowheads we found were lying on the surface. One of the pointy ones to the right (bottom of pic) was in a clump of dirt that came off the bottom, over a foot deep.

[edit] These two were on the surface:

 

[Older The Better]

Top row 2nd one looks like a jacks reef but you are out of my region of expertise



Sites can have multiple ages of occupation but the pottery says there’s atleast one component that’s woodland/Mississippian, roughly 2,000 years or younger, the morrow mountain suggests an archaic occupation too

 

[southfork]

The smile is great he's hooked already .

 

[Pripyat]

He's definitely hooked. I'll add this to the first post if it will let me but here are the same pics, possibly higher quality, with some pottery close-ups thrown in.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/68VvosyX5M4XX3Pu9

I'm in awe of the potential age of the Morrow Mountain II.. For whatever reason, I only really learned about indian/european conflict. I never really gave much thought about them living before that.. LOL.

Why is there a tiny hole in one of the hammer stones?

 

[Tdog]

They (Native Americans) have been here at least 13000-14000 years and those numbers are being challenged every day. For what it's worth, the pics of the pottery show that it's grit tempered.

 

[newnan man]

Good to see a youngster excited about finding points! Have fun and Ol Garscale can fill you in on how to screen for points. Good luck & keep posting pics.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

I'd be plowing around that spot for a little bit.
You have some serious potential for family time there which is worth way more than the crops you could grow in that small area.

 

[joshuaream]

That's awesome! Congratulations!

 

[GoDeep]

You must be sitting on a major settlement there to have that much congregated in a 10 yard radius. Are you going to work you way farther out and deeper?

 

[ToddsPoint]

I knapped flint for 22 yrs. and my advice to you is make sure you have plenty of band-aids handy. Flintknapping is a blood sport, especially when you first start. Gary

 

[CaptEsteban]

You do need a " shaker screen." Those are not hard to build & you can just leave it at the site.
Here are 2 types that I have built & used.

https://akzeigers.com/blog/?tag=archaeological-sifter Really need two people to work this one.

https://colleen-morgan.com/2008/11/11/sifting-sieving-screening/ I made this using saplings, or bamboo, with rope tying the 3 poles near the top, & more rope suspending the sifter.

 

[Pripyat]

I bought some screen yesterday evening, 1/4" and 1/2". Only two of the points we've found up to this point will make it through the 1/2" screen (assuming it goes point first and doesn't lie on its side). I made a little 1/4" sifter to play around with, it was actually nice to just walk around and use a small shovel to scoop the dirt surrounding the piece I was picking up. I have been putting all this stuff in my pockets, RIP my washer/dryer.

This was picked up in about 15 minutes in the same area we've been picking through. It is insane how much stuff is here. I have plowed three different sections that probably add up to maybe 2 acres. 95% of our findings come from this one spot, a section maybe 10 yards by 20 yards.



Nothing too good, I think we've pretty much picked the top of the soil clean. I just found out that my son has been throwing anything back down that isn't an arrowhead so there is still a good bit of pottery just on the surface. I'm not sure if I should disc and wait for rain, disc to smooth it out then flip it again with the plow, or just build a sifter and start scooping. I really want to find some more points..

I'm going to do some research and see if it is feasible to use the 1/2" screen to either build a table the width of the tractor bucket or somehow attach the screen to the bottom of the grapple.

If there truly is a screening expert on here, can someone point him my way? I have funding to plant longleaf pine on this property which is why I was trying to clean it up. That is supposed to start this winter. I started plowing after the neighbor told me that if I did, I would find arrowheads. He did me and my family a service.

[edit] Lastly - If anyone has any knappable rock for sale at a lower-than-everywhere-else price to help get me started, shoot me a PM. I ordered some rock with my knapping tools but my son is already asking if he can knap, too. I was trying to make an arrowhead from glass last night and he was dying to try it. I really need to find him some gloves since he won't leave me alone until he gets to try it himself.

 

[Garscale]

I knapped flint for 22 yrs. and my advice to you is make sure you have plenty of band-aids handy. Flintknapping is a blood sport, especially when you first start. Gary

....and safety glasses.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

There is a lot to learn about the pieces you are finding.
Be sure and look closely at every rock as well.

If the area was farmed in the past..look through nearby rock piles. You might find some stone tools that were picked up and stacked along a fence or something.

Small beads will go right through the 1/4" screen..not sure what you can do about that.
I'm wondering if a washing process combined with screening is the best solution?

There are ways to effectively screen material without breaking your back. I believe if you search here, you will find some examples of some very nice contraptions. The easier it is, the more you will do.

 

[Older The Better]

I learned with bottle bottoms, and it usually costs nothing. Added bonus you will never mix them up with your authentic ones.

If you are after finer stuff, I sometimes take some loose window screen and put the dirt in the middle. Then I tie up the edges to make a bundle and spray with water until the dirt washes away