Digging Artifacts With The Help Of A Construction Company.

[garren]

It's good to have friends in the earth moving business who are also interested in artifacts. I had gone to a friends in Fredericksburg to do some metal detecting and while I was there he got a call from his construction company buddies. They said that they had just dug through some burned rock and ashy dirt with several broken points coming up. We dropped metal detecting all together and dug in the construction site for the last two days. I wish I could have stayed longer. They will be covering this dirt up in a few days. If we would have had more notice we could've invited ALL of you to help dig. There was so much artifact laden soil to go through and it's sickening that we can't have more time to thoroughly sift it.

The project was a drainage ditch and you could plainly see the use layer about 12-16" down. The track hoe operator would skim this layer off and spread it out for us on one side of the ditch and put all of the sterile dirt on the other side.

The first pic is what I raked up in the two days I was there. I'm also posting a pic of my friend with an intact Kinney he picked up and one of the workers picked up a long thin blade. Not sure what it is?
In my stuff I can recognize the Perds and a broken Kinney tip but what is the bottom row 2nd from left? and bottom row 4th from left?

Not pictured is all of the points another friend picked up and the track hoe operator found a nice drill that we didn't get a photo of.

 

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[crj1968]

Can't help you with any of your questions but what a bunch of great finds !

I always wondered about guys in my area digging away at the foothills for new housing developments and what stuff they find.

 

[NCPeaches]

Amazing! I would be upset if they were covering it up and I wanted to hunt it. Is that a bone in the first pic? If it is a bone and a human one then in NC they would have to stop so it could be investigated to see if it's a burial site. Great finds!

 

[garren]

Is that a bone in the first pic?

I'm pretty sure it's just a geofact. I kept it coz it looked like a bone. LOL

 

[arrow86]

Nice finds do you think a lot of them are broke from the excavator digging them or old damage ?

 

[garren]

Nice finds do you think a lot of them are broke from the excavator digging them or old damage ?

It appeared that all breaks were old. We were wondering if the excavator was breaking them so we checked a bunch of them.

 

[fishstick]

No proper benching on that ditch, where's OSHA when you need them LOL..... GREAT finds!!!!! CONGRATZ....

 

[garren]

No proper benching on that ditch, where's OSHA when you need them LOL..... GREAT finds!!!!! CONGRATZ....

We found out that the walls of the ditch will be tapered back to a point where the property owner will be able to mow it with a riding mower. Is that benching? When they start that phase I think it will get crazy with artifacts. In anticipation of that, my friend has started working on a large mechanized sifter that can be loaded with a skid-steer. I don't know how all of this will work out but I'm sure it will be an adventure.

 

[garren]

It's been raining there since a I left so there hasn't been much work done. I've gathered up some pics of the other stuff that was found when I was there last week.
These are pics of the other guys stuff.

 

[Tradertom]

Looks like they uncovered a gold mine of artifacts! Just be ready to sift through all you can.

 

[Mrdigz]

Congrats on finding such a great spot! I have a feeling you'll be uncovering many more keepers!
Thats a pretty cool sifter! You might be doing this as I write but I would put bumpers on the inside and use the rubber mesh liner for tool boxes across the base to avoid any unwanted chips.HH!!

 

[ptsofnc]

It appeared that all breaks were old. We were wondering if the excavator was breaking them so we checked a bunch of them.

I've been searching a 50 acre timber cut area all year. The land is being prepared to be replanted in pines next Feb. Between the massive tree cutting equipment, backhoes, and dozers, I've found probably 40 points (a lot damaged by the recent work...sad), and three work areas (flake debitage areas). However if not for the disturbed ground by the equipment, I wouldn't have found anything. You have a great site and opportunity!

 

[creekhunter]

I always wonder about the construction sites, we never find much but I would think that the diggers all have a buddy that's into the hobby.

 

[Mrdigz]

I always wonder about the construction sites, we never find much but I would think that the diggers all have a buddy that's into the hobby.

I own a construction company and have found some pretty cool things. Some people that use the really big toys find amazing stuff. A friend of mine found a mastodon skeleton and other ridiculous artifacts while digging. Its really amazing how much history is still out there!! HH

 

[Tnmountains]

Garren do not stop hunting that place. Those are some amazing pieces. That is one of the nicest drills I have ever seen its base is like a scrapper. That shaker box on springs is ingenious. If you can get water and a hose you can recover a lot of things fast. Do not let the mini tools and worked pieces get away until you have a chance to study them. I would work a deal with the landowner if possible and you might end up with more than you ever expected.
Please keep sharing the adventure!

 

[garren]

Here's an update on the sifter my friend is building...He just sent me these two video clips in a txt message last night. I chained them together and put them on YouTube so you guys could see. Its a three point tractor hook up and powered by the PTO...

 

[garren]

Garren do not stop hunting that place. Those are some amazing pieces. That is one of the nicest drills I have ever seen its base is like a scrapper. That shaker box on springs is ingenious. If you can get water and a hose you can recover a lot of things fast. Do not let the mini tools and worked pieces get away until you have a chance to study them. I would work a deal with the landowner if possible and you might end up with more than you ever expected.
Please keep sharing the adventure!

I think we're in good with the owner. I get the impression he will let us hunt whenever we want.

The construction company has a water truck if we can talk him into bringing it.

My big problem is that this place is 3.5 hours from my house. At least my friend lives 5 minutes from the site and he should be able to recover a lot of artifacts before the dirt gets dumped in another ditch and covered up.
I'm going to try and get back up there as soon as it dries out for the trial run of the sifter.

 

[rock]

Guess Im late to this but what a good looking bunch of finds. Sounds like you had a blast.

 

[Tnmountains]

That shaker Rocks! It looks like it is running off the PTO on the tractor? Be curious of the connection. I have a top of a hill we want to sift but will have water and a loader so ours wont be to complicated. Right now I am in deer season though. THat shaker table works good you might be able to come up with ther spots also. I used to live on the Brazos but did not hunt much then. Good luck and keep this thread going.

 

[garren]

That shaker Rocks! It looks like it is running off the PTO on the tractor? Be curious of the connection. I have a top of a hill we want to sift but will have water and a loader so ours wont be to complicated. Right now I am in deer season though. THat shaker table works good you might be able to come up with ther spots also. I used to live on the Brazos but did not hunt much then. Good luck and keep this thread going.

Yes it's running on the PTO...He's pretty crafty so I can't imagine how he made the connections. Can't wait to see it up close. He said it's still too muddy to use up there.