DeadInTheBasement
Newbie
I have hunted rock shelters for fossils, arrowheads, and similar relics for years but it wasnt until recently I was made aware people actually dig the dirt in rock shelters!
I have always been very interested in rock shelters as there are plenty of them where I live and grew up using them as club houses and hide outs.
My finds have always been on the upper shelves or on top of the soil but now I would like to see what I could find from a little digging.
After I learned about this I went to a smallish rock shelter in the forest of my back yard and dug a hole about 8 inches deep and found what I believe was charcoal and that was when I stopped and came home to build a strainer and now here I am online trying to learn more before I continue.
I live in a very rural area in a dead coal mining town about 40 miles in the middle of nowhere so I doubt anyone has ever dug them. I am aware of a few very large ones that I found while hunting for caves and assume those have also never been dug and doubt anyone other than loggers(if even them) has even seen them in modern times considering they are nowhere near any roads or human trail other than abandoned logging roads from a decade ago.
I have a few photos i would like to share and get some opinions.
This first set is of the rock shelter in my backyard that I found the possible charcoal.
It sits in the side of a hill overlooking 3 small mountain creeks that are dry for most of the year.
I have always assumed my father or uncle built the fire pit in their childhood but other than family no one has been there in atleast 40 years.
Now this is one of the larger shelters I have found while hunting for caves and fossils. It was about 30ft wide and went back about 15ft. Plus a small hole that leads to a second chamber that I had hoped was a cave entrance but wasnt....at least not anymore.
I cant imagine it ever being dug because it is very difficult to get to and is very well hidden about 1-2 miles up an extremely steep hillside/mountain.
Now while I am looking at this year old photo I am wondering if that black circle on the ceiling is a smoke stain?
Here is a photo from the inside.
I have always been very interested in rock shelters as there are plenty of them where I live and grew up using them as club houses and hide outs.
My finds have always been on the upper shelves or on top of the soil but now I would like to see what I could find from a little digging.
After I learned about this I went to a smallish rock shelter in the forest of my back yard and dug a hole about 8 inches deep and found what I believe was charcoal and that was when I stopped and came home to build a strainer and now here I am online trying to learn more before I continue.
I live in a very rural area in a dead coal mining town about 40 miles in the middle of nowhere so I doubt anyone has ever dug them. I am aware of a few very large ones that I found while hunting for caves and assume those have also never been dug and doubt anyone other than loggers(if even them) has even seen them in modern times considering they are nowhere near any roads or human trail other than abandoned logging roads from a decade ago.
I have a few photos i would like to share and get some opinions.
This first set is of the rock shelter in my backyard that I found the possible charcoal.
It sits in the side of a hill overlooking 3 small mountain creeks that are dry for most of the year.
I have always assumed my father or uncle built the fire pit in their childhood but other than family no one has been there in atleast 40 years.
Now this is one of the larger shelters I have found while hunting for caves and fossils. It was about 30ft wide and went back about 15ft. Plus a small hole that leads to a second chamber that I had hoped was a cave entrance but wasnt....at least not anymore.
I cant imagine it ever being dug because it is very difficult to get to and is very well hidden about 1-2 miles up an extremely steep hillside/mountain.
Now while I am looking at this year old photo I am wondering if that black circle on the ceiling is a smoke stain?
Here is a photo from the inside.
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