An Unexpected Find

[monsterrack]

I got a call Friday from a buddy that lives close to a creek and it also is a site of a French Camp that I found some years ago and he told me that a section of bank about 35' long and 3' thick had slid off in the creek bottom. I didn't think much of it, but something just told me to go look at it. I wasn't thinking about finding anything , but my buddy had been watching out for me so I thought it was the least I could do, since he took the time to tell me. Thank God for good friends, I walked to the edge of the slide and looked down on just a pile of dirt and thought I would get a better look. As I was climbing down the slope I got a view that made my heart jump. What I saw was a line of glass trade beads in the dirt, so I picked up what I could and then made a wild dash to the house for my screen and shovel, I found a few more but not many more than what was laying in the open. We call the white beads peanut beads due to their shape, but I have never found any peanut beads of color the dark blue and the light blue are real rare and the one with the brown stripes I have seen before, but then there is a translucent green bead with white stripes , I'm not sure what it is yet, but my best find to me is the long peanut shape one with blue stripes. The single bead in my hand with blue stripes and is barrel shape I have found this type before, all these are French Trade beads that where traded to the Natchez Indians in the 1700s and you can see from the single white one in my hand how they got their name.

 

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[monsterrack]

So lets talk dirt. You say the dirt changes color what color would it be if it was a burial area?

Rock it all depends on the soil type and color of the soil. When in red soil like the photo in Unclemacs post it shows up real good if you go down in the soil like you are suppose to do, but if you go straight down you will miss it unless you know what to look for . In the soil that is around me, it is brown and the trace of bone will be a light white color that is mixed with the soil. Most of the time it is such a small change you will not see it like Unclemac said. If the soil is of a high acid content bones won't last very long, but in some soils with low acid content they can last 1000s of years and there is no doubt what you have found. I have seen some civil war battlefield graves in this part of the world, where the bones had already turned to a chalk. I have had to give up hunting some spots because of what I found, like the front part of the lower chin bone with flat teeth still in it. When this happens STOP and let someone with the state come take a look, even if it is destroyed by farming it is still a burial. In my state the only way they say it's not a burial any more is if it is completely unearthed and moved around by machines, it is to late then. The only thing that can be done is contact some tribe that might want to relocate any remains that are left.

 

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[unclemac]

you said...I saw was a line of glass trade beads in the dirt.... now I wouldn't have had the patience, (too excited), but it sure would have been cool to take a picture of it first so that the actual necklace could have been restrung as it had been!...

 

[monsterrack]

you said...I saw was a line of glass trade beads in the dirt.... now I wouldn't have had the patience, (too excited), but it sure would have been cool to take a picture of it first so that the actual necklace could have been restrung as it had been!...

Yes they were in a line down the bank the way the dirt slide off and yes I was to excited to think of a photo and I had my phone on my side. They where spread out about 3ft so I think the bank gave way right at where they were laying in the ground. We are getting some hard rain now, so I'm going back to look it over again, just in case I missed something.

 

[unclemac]

you need a sifter!

 

[Jon Phillips]

Too cool!

I would be sifting that site like it was my job!

 

[monsterrack]

Too cool!

I would be sifting that site like it was my job!

Working on that, already did a little.

 

[monsterrack]

you need a sifter!

I have a bunch and fixing to build me a small sifting table rocker.