another NOOB thread

[TeddyMexico]

Hello all, I've lurked this sight for a few weeks now and I finally decided to join up. I've always had exploration in my blood, now I am doing something about it. Early this spring I hope to hunt for relics on my friends property that used to be home to an Indian tribe. I would love to get some advice! One big question right off the bat...is there any point in taking a metal detector? I'm sure most artifacts are made of stone, clay, etc., but didn't know the odds on detecting any silver or gold.

Anyway, I have about a million questions. I also wanted to say hi to everyone on this forum.

Thanks,
R

 

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[jeff of pa]

Welcome R

Thanks for Joining.

And Although your Right that Indian Relics are Mostly Stone,
They also Had Guns Etc.
Not to mention Later Relics.

 

[WV Hillbilly]

Welcome & sure take your detector . Never know what might go beep beep .

 

[Rob66]

Welcome. Yes I would take my MD.Would'nt hurt.
RD

 

[TeddyMexico]

Thanks everyone. I actually just talked to my friend who owns the property, and good news...I don't have to pony up for a MD quite yet, he borrowed one from his grandfather. We were told by the previous owners of the property that it was the Miami Indians who used to occupy the land. There is a river that runs through their property that is about 8-12 feet wide and probably 4-5 feet deep at the deepest point.

We are thinking that early spring would be the best time because the vegetation wouldn't be dominant yet.

 

[Pulltab Parson]

I have learned that when ever I am going to a new spot I always take my detector cus you never know!!

HH

PTP

 

[Pepper2004]

Hi, R. Welcome to TNet. I hunt relics and I take my MD with me. One time to hunt relics is after a good rain.

HH,
Pepper

 

[sniffer]

if you can find an old atlas of that area, see how much the river has moved since the indians were there.
it probably moved quite a bit. I would take my MD. you never know what you'll find. old knives, buttons, bullets etc.

 

[TeddyMexico]

I will definitely try to find an older map of the area. Any suggestions where I might start looking? I haven't tried yet so I'm not sure how difficult it will be to track one down. I get off school tonight at 9pm and I'm going to spend a few hours doing some more research online. I'd guess that some of the city offices would have some sort of map, but I'd really like to find one online if at all possible.

Thanks again to everyone

 

[sniffer]

go to davidrumsey.com it's a great site, kind of hard to use but has great maps also try sanborn maps

Sniffer

 

[Rob66]

Warning!!! warning!!!! Do not use if you have an addictive personality.
RD

 

[deepskyal]

If I was you, I'd research the Indian tribe and discover what their habits were. Did they migrate, were they warriors or peaceful, did they barter with the whites, were they hunter /gatherers, etc. Were their villages of long houses or teepees, tight-knit group or more nomadic.

In your neck of the woods, they might have had to store food for the winter...squashes and such, in "cellars", to keep them from freezing.

This is where your research will pan out big time. Check your local library or historical society for old news papers of paintings or pics. I found that the folks at the historical society here are zealious if you ask for their assistance. It gets loney there in them buildings sometimes. They might just over load your brain with info. And I'd swear, as big as the Historical Society in Pittsburgh is, they have even the tiniest document memorized.

So yea...I'd take a detector.

And rivers run shallow in the summer...that must have bathed, did their wash, fished, met company at the river..

That sounds like a real promising site. Good luck.
Al

 

[TeddyMexico]

Thanks again for all of the great info guys. I have tracked down a couple of maps from 1867 and 1875 of the area, and looking at those has been interesting to say the least. I am now moving onto the phase like AL suggested of researching the Indians. My biggest problem is that I'm still not sure how we should actually hunt for the relics. I understand that we should scour the river and it's banks/rises. I also understand that we should sweep as much as we can with the MD.

Are there any more clues I can search for that would help me specifically pinpoint any of these places you mentioned....like the food cellar for example? Like, If i know it's there...it still doesn't really help me find it, right?
Also, in the places where the river is 5 feet or so, should I take my mask and swimming gear and search the riverbed? Guess it couldn't hurt...

 

[Tom_in_CA]

To know whether or not hunting an indian site will be worthwhile, you need to know if the indians continued to habitate there up through assimilation times. Because before that (before contact with white man), they had no refined metals on their own. I think some indians in one state had discovered crude bronze, at best.

Here in CA, we have lots of indian sites which are worthless to metal detect at, since they are prehistoric. Or to the extent that indians were living there when white man arrived, they were not in the trade areas of travel, etc... If anything, the indians left those ancestral villages, came to the missions here, etc...

But for those indians sites which historically existed up through CA mission times, and were close to contact points (w/in a days walk of missions or towns), continued to be lived in, and were on travel routes, yes, they are great places to detect. But we are not hitting them because they are "indian sites" per se, but rather that the intersect with the metal carrying European influence period. If you do find such a contact period site, they have one bonus: very little iron, when compared to sites that the white man inhabited. Reason is, homes that white man built for themselves would contain wood, beams, etc... all nailed together. But indians lived more crudely, without permanent structures, thus less iron debri. JMHO