Shell Midden Finds

[River Rat]

Had a cold Northern wind blow through here over the weekend pushing all the tide water out. Monday, being a holiday, many folks were on the river fishing, but not me. We, (the boss & I) headed down river towards the lake to check out the shell middens. We both waded in water along the edge of the river trying to sight some Indian artifacts, I did find a few flakes. But, the highlight is heading into a man made canal where years ago, cut right into the middle of a midden. So all this dirt & shells are piled high on the banks, during hurricanes the wind & water washes into the banks and the pottery just falls out. Some you have to dig out. This is what we found...

I love finding the ones with designs.

Another design

Fat lip like a flower pot

Another design

Turtle shell - found buried deep in the clay bank

I was finding these in the water, if you wasn't careful walking you would go for a slide. I had no clue what they were until I picked up one and it dawned on me cause I've seen em in the museum.

This ball is perfectly round, it was in a huge clod of packed dirt. Is it a cooking ball or a game ball? I'm taking it to the museum to find out.

Great finds!!

More great finds!
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[Americus]

You hit the jackpot. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Cappy Z.]

You are a lucky lady. I am jealous. Here in Florida the govt has all these laws that 'protect' history. I'm not certain I am allowed to collect along rivers.
Regardless...very nice finds. Do the pottery shards have any monetary value?

Thanks for posting the pics.

 

[Charmin]

Dang, that's a lot of pottery!
Wouldn't it be cool to find a whole pot, River Rat?!?!
Did you do any sifting or was all that just on top of the ground?



Carmon

 

[River Rat]

Wouldn't it be cool to find a whole pot, River Rat?!?!
Did you do any sifting or was all that just on top of the ground?

Carmon

It would be cool to find one...I did find the base of one. I'm pretty sure the owner of the museum might have a whole one in the museum. He's the one who told me to check this midden area.

I had my sifter, but this is basically packed clay.

The base of a bowl

Museum's partial collection
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The man made dredged canal, it dead ends further down. They drilled for oil back there, that the only reason it was made.​

 

[T Witko]

Nice finds, I like to see bits of pottery and all the different but also similar designs. I thought of this piece I found here in ND about a week ago when I saw your first two photos.

 

[fossis]

Nice assortment of pottery.
What did the item turn out to be that you found?
I heard of a guy in Ar bulldozing into a mound & finding balls he couldn't identify, he broke one open & it was baked bread, still edible after all those years. (encased in clay).

Fossis.............

 

[1320]

Looks like an ear of corn was used to create the design in your first photo? I'd love to find some pieces with that marking, very nice!

 

[River Rat]

Nice assortment of pottery.
What did the item turn out to be that you found?
I heard of a guy in Ar bulldozing into a mound & finding balls he couldn't identify, he broke one open & it was baked bread, still edible after all those years. (encased in clay).

Fossis............

Thanks, Fossis! I'm pretty sure they're cooking balls (made of clay)...got to remember we don't rocks down here in the swamps. I'm not about to break anything open, bread or no bread Awaiting the weekend for when the museum is opened, then I will be able to see what is on display and have these officially identified.

 

[River Rat]

Looks like an ear of corn was used to create the design in your first photo? I'd love to find some pieces with that marking, very nice!

It does!! Makes you wonder what they used to make those designs. This midden is about 9 miles by water from my house, and when you're heading up river our property is the highest ground. I've found many artifacts here and the newest ground was plowed up the last week in Nov and we still have not had any rain to help with finding much.

I've been doing some research on these clay cooking balls, here's an excellent article... http://www.jimmausartifacts.com/clay-cooking-balls/