Why cant I find an arrowhead?

[RW]

Why can't I find an arrowhead?

Why can't I find an arrowhead? Is there some giant flintknapper conspiracy going on? Knap it, bury it, find it, yippee! Some of my earliest memories are finding treasure. I have found just about everything (including stone tools while detecting) but never an arrowhead. And it's not for lack of trying. Research till cross-eyed, drive for miles, hunt until neck goes numb, searching for hours, years, wife and I both, coming up with not so much as a flake of anything resembling an arrowhead. Watched the videos, bought the books, found fossils, bottles, coins, jewelry, you name it all while trying to find one arrowhead. Searched east Texas (Trinity/Buffalo/Indian Shores!), central Texas (San Marcos/Blanco/Austin Etc), north Texas (Brazos River/Benbrook/Village Creek!), south Texas (South Padre), west Texas (Eagle Pass/El Indo along the Rio Grande/Garner/Frio), and dozens of places more over 40 years. Last weekend searched the Nolan River near Lake Whitney and the usual nada.Considering dropping arrowhead hunting for unicorn hunting or something with a remote chance of success. Any words of wisdom, sage advice, tips, pointers, locations south or west of Fort Worth appreciated. Even an extremely specific location related to the giant flintknapper conspiracy would do!

 

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[CoilyGirl]

The only arrowhead I found was a beautiful atlatl(sp?) and it was buried a foot or so underneath a shiny modern day shower head I had targeted. We knew Indians were camped near the little creek but didn't think much about an arrowhead being so deep or even finding one. I hope you do find one some day.

 

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[RW]

Pay to dig site is open tomorrow, 7 days a week from 7 to 7, easy to remember. The owner seems pretty confident that if the two of us dig for 6 hours that we should at least find something. Fingers crossed but not expecting much. In-situ pics to follow should the planets align...

 

[firemac]

Sounds promising, give me a shout if you ever need company hunting. HH

 

[Charl]

Pay to dig site is open tomorrow, 7 days a week from 7 to 7, easy to remember. The owner seems pretty confident that if the two of us dig for 6 hours that we should at least find something. Fingers crossed but not expecting much. In-situ pics to follow should the planets align...

I'll go out on a limb and say you can't miss. 7 day pay to dig wouldn't be in business for very long otherwise.

 

[RW]

I'll go out on a limb and say you can't miss. 7 day pay to dig wouldn't be in business for very long otherwise.

Found out earlier they have been in business for 30 years. Why I never heard about them, who knows? A guy on another forum gave me some tips on where to begin, supposed to be a pretty big place. As many coins and junk as I have found over the years, I think I can identify an authentically buried over time artifact from an alien knapper burial, so I got that going for me. Still, preparing myself for disappointment always seems to bring luck.

 

[captain redbeard]

I started hunting native american artifacts late in the spring last year. I had never seen or held one in my palm, yet knew they had to be around as they pounded these rocks for thousands of years and were nomadic. I stumbled upon a LARGE field that happened to have a giant oak tree on one edge of it way out. Now this field wasn't quite ON water, but it wasn't far from water, but what stuck out to me was this giant oak tree that stood out from the rest of the surrounding trees. I got permission from the land owner and within the first 20 minutes of walking this field I found a celt not far from the oak. Went back a week later after a good rain and found handfuls of flakes and eventually a couple points all around this oak tree and the surrounding area. The 3rd time I went to this field I ran into a guy that had been walking this field for 20 years...we hit it off and he pointed out to me that the edge(s) of this field were ANCIENT river bank.
I walked 15ft into the woods from the edge of this field and what do you know, following the edge of this field is a bank. He pointed out the high spots in the field (surprise surprise they were on the edge) and what do you know...flakes and points. Once I knew what flint looked like in the dirt (we don't have the nice bright pretty flint up here in the northeast) I was able to kind of "fine tune" my eyes for it and never left that field without some kind of artifact made of flint even though I knew this guy had walked this field for years as well as the first farmers of this field back in the early 1900's and almost got the impression that it was "searched out". Thats all I have for finding them, also, looking at a screen or listening for beeps won't help you fine tune your eyes for flint. It strains my eyes everytime, but well worth the headache and neck pain afterwords.


I have yet to find pottery though...good luck.

 

[captain redbeard]

Also like to add that the guy that has been walking this field has never found a celt yet...I'm on celt #5 from this field.

 

[Hot diggity]

Hey Redbeard! We have a doppelganger experience in NA! I started the same time & around an old large oak near a river. Celt nearby too! Funny. I'm Ontario though. Can't wait to get back out! Try a sifter too RW. Not at the pay to dig place. They might not like that. It's the best way to find smaller cool stuff like beads & ARROWHEADS. Can make a mess though if not done respectfully. I make it look like I was never there.

 

[captain redbeard]

That's awesome Hot diggity! I knew someone had to have had a feeling about them big old oaks besides me I haven't dug for artifacts yet so can't really comment on that (still want to try ant hills...). Flint has a waxy surface. water "sticks" to it or repels, why its nice to go very soon after a good rain and before the dirt dries up. Flint flakes, has sharp jagged edges. Look for shape as well, some points I've found weren't necessarily flint, but I've found just by the shape (tip/base/notch). This is based off of my experience.

 

[Hot diggity]

One difference is I had no problem finding pottery last year. My digging bud pointed the way to a great area. Dude has the other half of my 2015 pottery now though! Can't piece nothing together! Speaking of pottery, it makes a distinctive kind of hollow, thudding sound when struck. A long, narrow, hollow aluminum tube is great for probing. Find their pottery & you should find their stone too RW.

 

[Jon Stewart]

I hunt desert areas much like you described in your post. I was taught by folks that have been hunting points since the 70's. They told me to walk into the sun in the early mornings as chips or points will shine like a new penny in a parking lot and they did. Most of the time they were chips from knapping but every once in awhile that point would be there. I have always found that I did better on the eastern side of an out cropping near an arroyo as well.


I have a spot that I go to that many beads have been found. I tell myself to slow way down because beads are harder to find. I spotted a bead one time and as always I photo my find before I recover it and as I knelt down to get a good zoom in photo of the bead I noticed the small 1/2" long grey arrowhead in the camera lens that I did not see when looking at the bead.

Don't leave your detector home as some have suggested. I bring mine with me about half the time. It slows me down when looking and I find metal stuff once in awhile.

 

[RW]

Exhausted. What a day. 80 degrees in February. Wore out. Place was literally littered with flint chips. Had to be at least 2000 acres with lots of creeks, canyons and fields. Maybe half a dozen verified long term campsites on the property, all of which looked like a war zone. I shoveled, used a pick ax, rock hammer, lesche, screened gravel and shuffled through a lot of creekbeds. Might have found a preform arrowhead and maybe a preform drill. At least my wife did manage to find a small (possibly bird point) arrowhead with the tip broken off on her birthday. Found that pretty early and figured we were in for a bag full of points but it wasn't in the cards. We moved a lot of dirt and gravel, got plenty dirty and scratched up but didn't find anything spectacular. If a big gully washer comes through that place we may go back. Time to eat and rest will post pics tomorrow. Loads of fun!

 

[Peyton Manning]

up here in indiana you want tilled ( hardly ever find actual plowed land anymore) farmland. let it rain good a couple times then have at it

 

[RW]

Thought I would post these pics before heading out for another day of adventure in the creek, fields, jail... wherever journey leads.
She did a damn good job spotting this one. About the size of a guitar pick and was covered on limestone dust like surrounding rocks. Strange this was there were hundreds of pics of finds from the ranch but didn't see any this size and color. Quick glance though book has me thinking Zephyr or Marcos but no idea really what type of point it is.

 

[RW]

Not much luck today but here are some group shots of what we found yesterday. Hoping for a light rain tomorrow and check out some new home construction pads close by.

 

[dts52]

Nice finds, Ron. I'd be thrilled with that. Sounds like you're developing a good sense of what to look for. And don't feel bad about the wife out-hunting you. Happens to me all the time. I think it's karma. Mine has a knack for finding more "household" artifacts like mortal and pestles, scrapers, etc.
HH

 

[monsterrack]

Your on a good start, it's just a matter of time now.

 

[monsterrack]

At the pay to dig spot , you just need to remember that just last year one of the best Clovis sites in Tx. was found just yards down from a pay to dig site. The site you went to, if it looked like a war zone then that tells me someone is finding something. Try this out and see what you find , dig from hole to hole. If folks are finding anything in the holes that have already been dug, then they missed something in between the holes. Also try digging in the creek banks.

 

[rock]

When I walk a creek the first thing I do is look at the gravel as what type of rock is offered for them to of used to make something. When I know the material and colors they had to choose from that is what I look for. Next time look in the creek first and go from there. At least you gave it a go. Maybe ask the pay dig person which direction you should go to if they give you the rite info. Ive never done a dig but MR has.

 

[RGINN]

My goodness, RW, glad you came up with something. Some tips I can give you: We always looked for rocks that didn't belong. Most of the material used for tool making where I grew up came from Texas, so looked different than the native rock. (Locally obtained Oglalla quartz was used, but it was mostly heat treated, so you would look for rocks with a shiny appearance.) Find that material, then check for points. Keep your eyes open for pieces of mussel shell scattered around in a place far away from the waterway. Usually a dead on indicator of a camp. If you do find a site in a plowed field, always walk the fence row. Sometimes those farmers would drag large rocks out of the field and these may turn out to be grinding basins or anvil stones. Best of luck.