Going to field hunt near Mena, AR this weekend

[bigrush828]

...this site is in the Ouachita Mountains (West Central AR)...and it is around 3 or 4 miles from where the Ouachita River begins. There are TONS of Novaculite artifacts ripe for the finding! Had great luck here in the past. I usually pay the owner (of the freshly plowed field) $10 for hunting rights - a helluva bargain if you ask me. Wish me luck! I will post my finds later this week.

 

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[catherine1]

Good Luck My Friend!

 

[Bagman13]

BigRush!!! Sorry we weren't able to make it this weekend.....Hopefully you'll come back with something that makes me really jealous

 

[scotto]

Hey Bigrush, sent you an email!

Scotto

 

[bigrush828]

I'm back and ready to post some pics...

 

[flintdigger]

Well let's see'em.

 

[bigrush828]

still trying to get these pics sized right...here is the killer Novaculite blade I found...the first pics 2 are in situ...enjoy!

 

[pickaway]

Great find and insitu congrats...

 

[bigrush828]

here is a nice little scraper...anyone know what material this is made of? I find a ton of artifacts made from it around Mena, AR. I thinks its Arkansas Whetstone (aka Novaculite), but all the Novaculite I know of is very pretty and smooth...this si course to the touch and is a dull gray, with small quartz looking grains...

 

[bigrush828]

nice little Novaculite flake knife...

 

[bigrush828]

i think this is a polishing stone, but there is a straight groove carved into it...pretty cool

 

[bigrush828]

polished slate? not too sure what this was, but it was found in the camp site area

 

[Bagman13]

Yay!! Beautiful..... I wish we could have made it now....ha. U didn't tell me about the little scraper....very nice man!!

 

[bigrush828]

this thing is a monster...looks like a nutting groove was polished on the back..anyone have a clue on this one? also found in the camp site area

 

[bigrush828]

various partials and pieces of Novaculite...did I mention I love Novaculite? :-)

 

[bigrush828]

nice red polishing stone

 

[bigrush828]

cutting tool or scraper...knapped on both sides and fits the hand perfectly...

 

[bigrush828]

Yay!! Beautiful..... I wish we could have made it now....ha. U didn't tell me about the little scraper....very nice man!!

yeah, I found quite a bit...the field was plowed 3 weeks ago...prime for the picking...too bad the heat got to me...only stayed 2 hours...not bad for that amount of time though!

 

[Neanderthal]

here is a nice little scraper...anyone know what material this is made of? I find a ton of artifacts made from it around Mena, AR. I thinks its Arkansas Whetstone (aka Novaculite), but all the Novaculite I know of is very pretty and smooth...this si course to the touch and is a dull gray, with small quartz looking grains...

That's Ouachita Quartzite (named for the mountains), and a very common material in western Ark and Eastern OK. For some strange reason it's also a favored material of many early Dalton knappers. Some of the largest Vian Creek, Hemphill and other Daltons I have seen in this area were made of Ouachita.

 

[scotto]

Wow, you did great, and nice pics!!