Beads?

[SwampHunter]

Hunted Indian artifacts for close to 40 years and I have only found 2 beads. One is a bone bead about an inch long and the other is a stone bead as big around as my thumbnail. I live in an area that was mostly swamps and sand hills. We find lots of artifacts but not many people find beads. Anyone have any thoughts as to why they are so rare?

 

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[Jonzer]

I've been hunting in Illinois for 24 years and I've only found 3. They aren't rare here. Just hard to find I guess. lol.

 

[flintmel]

Not sure but hunt those sand hills overlooking the swamps! Would say you're pretty lucky to find the three you have!

 

[tmodel]

Swamp!! the name you gave in location is only good for locals, telling them where to find artifacts the rest of us need state name to help us ID or anwser ??. if you do not find bone tools i would say water got to them all. stone beads are just hard to find. Terry

 

[joshuaream]

Who said they are rare? It's about all I find on most hunts.

A couple of hours worth.

Another day digging.

About 20,000 of them from one summer.

The bowl is deeper than it looks, better than a quart of mostly small beads.

Of course I'm cheating by hunting these in South America, between Indiana, Kentucky and Florida I have about 20 beads from 30 plus years of hunting.

 

[SwampHunter]

Thanks for the replies and nice collection! Guess they are just hard to come by. I will keep on looking.

 

[Marbleguy]

I'm finding thousands of beads..

It's where I live. In the Calif Mojave Desert only a mile from an old Shoshone indian village site. All the beads I'm finding are glass. Most were made on the Island of Murano off the coast of Venice,Italy. Many of the beads came from the Catholic Church during the Spanish missionary period. The desigs and colors appear to be almost limitless. I've been going to the site and digging/sifting for beads every day for years. I'm donating all the beads to the local museum.