I need help with searching

[MineralsAndThings]

I'm doing research on my property and area. I need help in noticing signs that native Americans have been in the area in the past. I found some maps and they could have been but I'm not 100% sure and I love history greatly so I wan't to learn more.

These are the questions I have right now:

What maps do I look at?
What do I look for in the land such as hills or markings?
What records should I look at?
Who should I ask?
Did they bury the dead anywhere other then a designated area? I mean when traveling people do die and you choose a spot usually.
Did they bury them near camp? On the top of hills?

There is a burial ground near my aunts house a few miles away from me. (Perhaps 4-5 miles away) This is why I am interested in knowing.
I live near West Chester and Westtown Pennsylvania.

Any tips or help is welcome,
Thanks
-I put this in another post but have gotten only one person answering so far so trying my luck here also if that is alright.

 

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[Charl]

Native Americans have been in Pa. for better then 12,000 years. In fact, the Meadowcroft Rockshelter site indicates a pre-Clovis occupation. Maybe >15,000 years ago.

There are many ways to go about this. I'll just focus on agricultural fields. Do you know of any? If so, is there a source of fresh water nearby or bordering the field or fields? If so, get permission to walk those fields when you can see the ground, see the dirt. Walk it after one or more heavy rains.

Basically, you're going to find artifacts near just about any source of drinking water. Field hunting after heavy rains is probably the most common method used by surface hunters everywhere. So, if you're using maps, find fresh water, be it stream/River, lake, spring, etc. Get permission to walk adjacent land if that land is turned over periodically to plant or to plow a crop under.

Next is recognition. What is natural, what is man made? Only experience eventually settles that matter. You can, and should, visit museums, go to artifact shows, etc. to get familiar with artifacts from your area, lithic materials commonly used, etc.

 

[Charl]

Reading your comments again, if this is only about researching your own land, look for the conditions I described. If you've got a source of fresh water, you can be fairly certain there were at least temporary camps. Over thousands of years, bound to be.

Burial practices varied with time and culture. Usually higher ground, but the same is true of most camps. Never in a flood zone for the living or the dead. Yes, burial grounds could be near main camps. I have a site where the burials are on a higher terrace adjacent the large village. In mound country, they may be interred in burial mounds. In some cultures, cremation was the norm, followed by secondary burials.

 

[MineralsAndThings]

You have been so helpful thank you. This does help me as I live on a hill and then it flattens out farther down in my neighborhood and there is a bridge over a stream near the small park closer to one of the exits. I will look in that park and the small forest. There was also a house there long ago near the park and it looks like there would be bottles in that area also because of the house being there.
In regards to the flood zone though. There is a soccer field near me also a few miles away. It does flood out but my Dad told me he has seen someone there walking around sometimes or something like that. Could I look there for arrowheads?

 

[Charl]

If your dad means he sees people looking for artifacts in the soccer field, I guess you can look. I would not look anywhere posted or on public land, as public property is usually off limits to surface hunting or digging. Basically you want to look where the ground has been turned over. You need dirt, not grass, not the floor of woods/forest. I don't know how good hunting stream beds is in Pa. But, as I mentioned, your best bet is something like a plowed corn field after heavy rains. You always need the rains to wash the rocks off, so a field has what collectors call "good visibility". Before heavy rains, a turned over field has rocks that just blend right in with the dirt, and next to impossible to find artifacts in such "poor visibility".

Here are a couple of in-situ shots from a corn field. See the white quartz? All showing in one case, and a shot with the point in hand. And another poking out of the ground. Without rain, dust would hide these points. But the field has been rained on, and quartz is ready to spot. Learn what lithic materials they used in your area, find dirt near water, get permission, and hunt. It takes time, but you should find something if you follow my advice....

 

[RGINN]

A reliable source of water was where two creeks ran together, so if you got that, look above the second terrace beyond the creek. If they were an agricultural society, the fields would be below that along the creek bottom. What's your interest in burial locations?

 

[MineralsAndThings]

A reliable source of water was where two creeks ran together, so if you got that, look above the second terrace beyond the creek. If they were an agricultural society, the fields would be below that along the creek bottom. What's your interest in burial locations?

Burial locations would indicate some activity in the area and that is all really other then me having a love for history and doing research.

 

[RGINN]

I wouldn't worry too much about burial locations. If you are interested, I can direct you to one American Indian burial ground in Oklahoma, but the living descendants will not care for you being there, and it could get ugly. All that aside, here is a good tip. Learn the geology of an area. What types of rock are present there. Study the type of material favored by Indians for making tools, and where it was obtained. When looking over your area, look for rocks that don't belong there.

 

[MineralsAndThings]

I wouldn't worry too much about burial locations. If you are interested, I can direct you to one American Indian burial ground in Oklahoma, but the living descendants will not care for you being there, and it could get ugly. All that aside, here is a good tip. Learn the geology of an area. What types of rock are present there. Study the type of material favored by Indians for making tools, and where it was obtained. When looking over your area, look for rocks that don't belong there.

I would rather not go near a burial ground to be honest due to it being disrespectful of those there unless I was lost and found one that way or intended to pay my respects.
Thank you so much for the info you have shared with me it does help.

 

[1320]

If you have any cliffs aka rock shelters, you're in business.