I like finding sites by not only research, but by accident, and I doubly love it when I get carte blanche to dig there.
It started last summer went I traveled to upstate Pennsylvania and nearby New York looking for Indian artifacts. I didn't get all that many, but did get my first Indian net sinkers. The third time out I asked and got permission to detect.
After the Wyoming Massacre and Cherry Valley Massacres of 1778, George Washington decided to put a halt to the Indian and Tory incursions into American territory. He ordered General John Sullivan to march from Easton, PA up the Susquehanna all the way into New York along both the Susquehanna and Chemung Rivers. The did a scorched earth policy and burned 40 Indian (Iroquois) villages along the way, destroying all the Indians' food, lodge homes, everything. This caused the Iroquois to retreat to Canada, and while they knew the Americans were coming and were able to stay ahead of them, what awaited them in Canada was a poorly provisioned English army, and many died over the next few months.
At this one farm, which I detected last summer and now this year, I have been able to retrieve some nice items. Here you go:
The first item is my favorite. It is an Indian hammerstone, hand sized, which they used to make their arrowheads and spearpoints from. Take a close look at it. All the surrounding rocks are sedimentary, and unsuitable for hammerstones, so this was imported, probably from the Delaware River valley where quarts is much more common. You can see the rough areas where the stone was used to smack the flint to make points. But what interested me the most are the flat smooth areas. If you look closely, these areas are highly polished by human hands only! Someone, or maybe generations of someones used and used and reused this hammerstone to the point they polished it with their dirty hands and skin oils. That takes a long time to accomplish. To think someone and their family sat and used this little rock for innumerable hours long before Columbus arrived is mind numbing to me.
This is a second one, without nearly as much wear or use as the first one, but still a keeper.
Flakes, all from the same materials, perhaps Conshocton flint. Again, imported.
Arrowheads and spearpoints. Fourth one over on the top is a well made scraper. Bottom row third over is an Indian made gun flint and last one is a fluted Paleo point.
Indian "tinkle cones" worn on clothing to make a jingling noise, three buck shot, brass trade button with starburst design and a brass arrowhead. All these are from the contact period 1600-'s to 1779, when this particular village was abandoned.
Three trade beads. Yellows are called "French cross" beads, but I am not sure of the other one. We should find mussell shell beads here, but no luck so far.
18th century hand forged nails, two Rev War grapeshot, VERY hard to get anymore, a "D" buckle and a brass trade cross.
There has to be more stuff there but the land size is huge! Timber rattlers roam the woods! Wood ducks live in the trees! You have to try not to hit the black bears as they cross the road! Enjoy!
It started last summer went I traveled to upstate Pennsylvania and nearby New York looking for Indian artifacts. I didn't get all that many, but did get my first Indian net sinkers. The third time out I asked and got permission to detect.
After the Wyoming Massacre and Cherry Valley Massacres of 1778, George Washington decided to put a halt to the Indian and Tory incursions into American territory. He ordered General John Sullivan to march from Easton, PA up the Susquehanna all the way into New York along both the Susquehanna and Chemung Rivers. The did a scorched earth policy and burned 40 Indian (Iroquois) villages along the way, destroying all the Indians' food, lodge homes, everything. This caused the Iroquois to retreat to Canada, and while they knew the Americans were coming and were able to stay ahead of them, what awaited them in Canada was a poorly provisioned English army, and many died over the next few months.
At this one farm, which I detected last summer and now this year, I have been able to retrieve some nice items. Here you go:
The first item is my favorite. It is an Indian hammerstone, hand sized, which they used to make their arrowheads and spearpoints from. Take a close look at it. All the surrounding rocks are sedimentary, and unsuitable for hammerstones, so this was imported, probably from the Delaware River valley where quarts is much more common. You can see the rough areas where the stone was used to smack the flint to make points. But what interested me the most are the flat smooth areas. If you look closely, these areas are highly polished by human hands only! Someone, or maybe generations of someones used and used and reused this hammerstone to the point they polished it with their dirty hands and skin oils. That takes a long time to accomplish. To think someone and their family sat and used this little rock for innumerable hours long before Columbus arrived is mind numbing to me.
This is a second one, without nearly as much wear or use as the first one, but still a keeper.
Flakes, all from the same materials, perhaps Conshocton flint. Again, imported.
Arrowheads and spearpoints. Fourth one over on the top is a well made scraper. Bottom row third over is an Indian made gun flint and last one is a fluted Paleo point.
Indian "tinkle cones" worn on clothing to make a jingling noise, three buck shot, brass trade button with starburst design and a brass arrowhead. All these are from the contact period 1600-'s to 1779, when this particular village was abandoned.
Three trade beads. Yellows are called "French cross" beads, but I am not sure of the other one. We should find mussell shell beads here, but no luck so far.
18th century hand forged nails, two Rev War grapeshot, VERY hard to get anymore, a "D" buckle and a brass trade cross.There has to be more stuff there but the land size is huge! Timber rattlers roam the woods! Wood ducks live in the trees! You have to try not to hit the black bears as they cross the road! Enjoy!
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