Brazos River, Texas - Artifacts, Fossils, Geofacts

texasriverdigger2.0

Jr. Member
Mar 20, 2017
39
21
Freeport Texas
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
When I was 16yr old, I found a porcelain fossil (stag horn base) on the Brazos river. I was told by the old timer that owned the land, it might possibly have been used as a flint knapping tool because he had found arrowheads in the same place. It was the coolest thing. And that find, started a boy on a life long hunt for treasure.

The stag base has faint cut marks where the tines was removed. It has wear marks on the sides of the small tine stub. It fits a man's hand just fine.

As the years passed, I eventually started finding other fossilized bones frags, bone and stone tools, arrowheads, burnt rock, burnt bone and possible clay pottery fragments around what I believe to be a old 10-20 acre hearth site, on a 150 acres of high ground on the Brazos river.

The bone and wood tools are possibly a knapping tool, pendant, sabre tooth bone awl. The razor thin awl was sharpened on both sides, a large broken wooden handle with pine pitch or asphaltum stains, a bone shaft tool, it also fits a man's hands just fine, and a broken antler or wooden spoon.....

If you look at the bison bone closely, you can see what looks to be cuts, hack marks, scratches or teeth marks on the bone.

I also found little geofacts...ie... A small gray geode baby's rattle? A small hand ground pink jasper snake head effigy? (I also found more rough gold and pink jasper rock and possibly more ground jasper effigies or tools) And a few other odd bone and stone things, I'm not sure about.

The old timers have all died that allowed me to treasure hunt for a couple decades. Today, the family dont want me digging anymore. I hadn't been back to that site in 10yrs. So I continue to work the Brazos river banks for treasure.

Yes, I admit it, I'm a bone hoarder.....

I still have stones and bones from that site to go thru. I'm trying to catch up and catalog it all. Before my wife, for 34 blissful years, dumps it all back in the river..... cheeeese


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crj1968

Hero Member
Feb 16, 2014
810
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Very cool and interesting stuff....That last bone is definitely cut on a lot...I wonder why....

I hope to see more. And don't let the wife toss it !
 

arrow86

Silver Member
May 6, 2014
3,374
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Eastern Shore Maryland
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Some nice points .... I don't know anything about bone artifacts but I'm sure somebody will chime in. Good luck hunting the rest of the area
 

Jon Stewart

Bronze Member
Jan 11, 2011
1,029
931
Great finds. I also wonder why the cut marks on the bone?

We just got back from Texas two weeks ago. Because the state is mostly private I did not get any hunting in but I did lug out a couple hundred pounds of rock off the pedernales for knapping.
 

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texasriverdigger2.0

Jr. Member
Mar 20, 2017
39
21
Freeport Texas
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Thanks y'all....

Holding the bone and pondering. I've even thought maybe it was used like a hammer. Even if it was just someone or a kid, sitting and beating on the edge of a sharp rock with it. Either or.... I also think there are a few smaller scavenger marks too.
 

mn9000

Full Member
Oct 10, 2016
199
248
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
My aunt Kevin is a bone hoarder
 

bsloan

Sr. Member
Jul 3, 2010
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The heart of Aggieland
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I've seen a lot of people digging in the banks of the Brazos in Brazos county. They would rope down the banks and load 5 gal buckets of fossils. If you lost you hunting spot, the natural banks are open to the public.

Best of luck in the future,
Bill
 

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texasriverdigger2.0

Jr. Member
Mar 20, 2017
39
21
Freeport Texas
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
I've seen a lot of people digging in the banks of the Brazos in Brazos county. They would rope down the banks and load 5 gal buckets of fossils. If you lost you hunting spot, the natural banks are open to the public.

Best of luck in the future,
Bill

It was probably me you seen hanging by a rope on the high banks of the Brazos river. I've been known to camp out in down pours just waiting for a high bank to erode or collapse. I use to wear a safety harness and rope tied to a jet ski so if the high bank collapsed my buddy could quickly drag me into the water or at least be able to recover my bones if I got buried.

Im to old (56) to do that anymore tho......lol
 

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