What the Arkies Missed

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I looked at the weather forecast at 5am this morning and noticed that I had a 3-hour window to detect before the rains would come. I decided to head back to the c1840 site to see what the archeologists had missed last summer. This site is planned for a new housing development later this year, so time is of the essence here. The arkies spent almost 3 months digging and sifting here last summer, but there’s no way that they can save everything. Let me clarify this statement by saying, that archeology provides an invaluable service when it comes to the in-depth research of a site. My only complaint is that arkies don’t tell anyone the story of a site, but we as metal detectorists do! This is probably why I love recovering and bringing home the pottery and glass fragments, as they assist in telling the story of the sites I detect.

My first find was an ‘Acorn’ horse harness bell, this was followed by two more crotal bells. On what I decided was going to be my last pass of the morning (mainly because it was starting to snow) I finally found a coin. It was an 1842 Canada Half Penny Token - “During the first half of the 19th century there was a chronic shortage of small coins in Lower Canada. In 1835, following a government decision to remove all the lightweight pieces from circulation, the shortage became acute. No official coins were issued, but the Bank of Montreal, the Quebec Bank, the City Bank and La Banque du Peuple were given authority to issue penny and halfpenny tokens of a weight similar to that of British copper coins.”

My last few finds were a large animal bell, a complete medicine bottle, a toe-tap, a lady’s sash buckle and half a crotal bell.

Thanks very much for looking!
Dave

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A History of Mining on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska - Grab it through Amazon!

[thrifty76now]

A real nice assortment of finds there.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Family Maps of Hinds County, Mississippi, Deluxe Edition - Grab it through Amazon!

[Professor of Engineering]

Fantastic relic hunt!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Very nice MD'ing. Some very nice saves you have there, I like them all. Thanks for the pics and sharing your finds. Congrats to ya!!

Thanks very much Patriot.
It was a nice feeling just knowing there were still finds to save here.
Dave

Awesome finds! Those crotal bells are awesome! Congrats!

Many thanks WhyMe, I can't remember ever finding so many bells in one hunt before.
Dave

Great hunt Dave and congrats! Thanks for the post and the history!

I like the bells too. They may all be sleigh bells. You know they had a strap of crotal bells that went around the girth, but they also had a set of bells that looked like your odd one that were mounted to a thin metal arch. They attached to the tops of the haimes and were really active as the horse moved it's neck. Must have really been noisy with both sets.

Best wishes and happy returns!

Thanks for your insight into the crotals Phil.
You're probably correct in suggesting that these all came from a horse harness, maybe one was left here at the site when it was abandoned.
The larger bronze bells most definitely hung from a leather strap around the neck of animals.

Best of luck to you my friend,
Dave

Great finds I can't believe that an intact bottle survived in a farm field through the freezing, the plowing and the time! Nice crotal bells too and the history on the bank of Canada coins was nice to hear!

This is something that always surprises me as well.
It's truly amazing what survives and what doesn't after being in farm fields for 150+ years.

Thanks for your support here Sir,
Dave

Dave you always post thorough and informative posts, and love the research that you put into your locations and finds. This is just another example of all that hard work, so you deserve all these great finds.

Glad to see that bell come out in one piece.

Huge bonus that you finally scored a token on this site, now get back out there and find more!!

Hi John!
It was great seeing you last week at the farm show in Chesley.
I wish we could've had more time to use your new Deus, we definitely should meet up soon for a hunt my friend.

Thanks very much for your support here on Tnet, I see very few familiar faces from CMD over here.

I would like to get back to this field again this weekend, that is if it ever stops raining!
Dave

Great hunt and finds. I have yet to find my crotal bell. Yesterday I dug one of your half penny tokens, a 1844 here on Long Island n.y. It's the 4th one I've dug here in my town in 2 years. My earliest being a 1813. Must of been a lot of Canadian tourist down here back then.You can see it in my post from yesterday.

Thanks for your post RelicMaster.
That's amazing to hear you're finding Canadian 19thc tokens on Long Island!
I guess either lost be a tourist or through trade.

I'll check out your finds posts as soon as I'm done my responses here.
Best of luck to you,
Dave

Nice haul Dave. That's a lot of bells for one hunt.

Thanks a lot Steve, that's exactly what I thought too!
Hope you're off to another great start this year buddy,
Dave

great pics and great bells etc. love the background info as well, brings even more character to everything

Thanks for your post dirtlooter.
I think a picture says a thousand words and I want you to feel like you were there with me too.
Thanks for your support,
Dave

Great job cleaning up after the arkies. I'm curious if there was some significance to the site? I can't see why the arkies would be interested in an 1840's site unless they were training little arkies?

This is a very interesting theory screwynewy.
You're correct in your suggestion that the arkies usually only target Native American settlement sites or very early pioneer settlements.
I use a number of mid-19thc maps to locate my sites and this site didn't appear on any of my maps.

Based on the age of the coin, the sash buckle, the bottles and the crotal bells, I feel this site started around 1840 and was abandoned around 1865 - 70.

Thanks for your post,
Dave

Great Saves! Those are some very nice bells

Thank you for your post Sir.
Best of luck to you as well,
Dave

Likely development permit triggered studies. They will study dredger tailings if it's paid for by someone else.
Many times the MO is to work at a regulatory agency...get these extensive study requirements embedded into the process...then hang their own shingle...reaping the benefit of their past (government) work experience.

Thanks for your insight into this site IMAUDIGGER.
Here in Ontario it's the law, that an archeological survey must be completed prior to any land development.

I just think this was one of the earlier settlement sites in my area and was only inhabited for a short time period.

Best of luck to you Sir,
Dave

Nice saves

Thanks buddy!

Great hunt! Nice assortment of quality bells and a very cool token. Congrats!!

Thanks for your post my friend, the token find really brightened what was a snowy, windy hunt.
Dave

A real nice assortment of finds there.

Thanks very much thrifty76now.
I hope to save more this Easter long weekend.
Dave

Fantastic relic hunt!

Thank you Professor!