Flaked axe head...and other goodies

[Zeke]

Ever since I saw the other axe head post Ive been meaning to post up some pics of my stone artifacts.

I found this flaked axe head in a skidder trail on some land that was being logged off. The tomahawk/hatchet head below it was on the same land....different area.

And the 2 adzes' came out of a field out behind the house. Ive also found quite a few arrowheads in the yard that date to several different time periods. I guess this was an area that the natives liked very well.

 

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[nicknyc]

cool beans!

do you know who's territory that was? when do those date to?

 

[Zeke]

Not sure of the tribe that was in the area.....Central NC. I do know that the Cherokee are in western NC and the Lumbee are not too far away to the east...over towards Fayetteville.

The "ground" (smooth) axe that gdblaney posted? is more recent than the flaked axes. Im thinking maybe the flaked axe and the adze heads might go back to the Paleo period and the hatchet probally dates to the Woodland period.

I need to get out and do some arrowhead hunting again.......but since I got the detector bug....its a hard decision as to which to do. Detecting usually wins

 

[Mona Lisa]

You need an arrowhead detector! Wouldn't that be a great invention?

 

[Zeke]

You know......back when I was heavy into hunting arrowheads....I would be walking along, way out in the middle of a field and thinking.....sure would be nice to have a detector programmed with the different shapes of arrowheads. Like if only the tip or base was sticking out of the ground, you had to look hard to see the flaked edges and realize it was an arrowhead.

Now they have the ground penetrating radar.......hummmmm.....maybe if we could downsize one of those into a handheld.

 

[deepfloat]

Not an expert here in PA. but my buddy that is an archioligist showed me some of his easy secrets.
mostly open feilds, flat areas near or at the top of a hill, near water. look for rounded rocks in plowed feilds, best in spring when rain cleans dirt off materials close to the top.
the round rock were brought there from the river areas as tools in the camps, comcetrate your searches near and around the rounded rocks.
my 2 cents , good luck.....jeff,Also in PA

 

[searcher]

deepfloat has the right idea. i have it easy, in my area there are alot of midden mounds. most of the land owners have already exploited them though. i still can find the occasional "virgin" mound. you can't just dig into one though, ya have to know how to go about it the right way or you'll destroy most of the good stuff. some of the guys i know use backhoes and huge stand up sreening stands!! most of my best points i found just walking out in the brush. an old point hunter told me the best thing to do is train your eyes to recognize the right shapes, and then it's just foot work.
H.pointH. searcher (barefoot so i can feel the points in case i don't see 'em)

 

[Zeke]

Hey Zeke, Nice finds!
I hate to sound dumb, but how do you hunt for arrow heads? Just walk along & look? Or do you dig in places that you have researched? I have seen alot of posting lately that talk about also finding arrow heads when they were MDing & I think it would be cool to find one myself but don't know the trick of doing it if there is one. I have a small lot in Henderson NC on Kerr lake that I have been MDing lately & thought maybe this would be a good spot for me to look?
I find alot of sharks teeth when I am MDing in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay So I guess finding arrow heads when MDing on land would be just as cool!

Anywhere that there is exposed dirt you could find an arrowhead or other artifacts. But plowed fields as stated are the best. Or it could be in a cow pasture....on a cow trail.....where the cows have wore the grass down to the dirt. Best places are field bottoms beside of a river or stream.

You usually just look on top of the ground and keep an eye out for the shape of the arrowheads. When you get good you will start to notice plain old flint rocks that have the "worked" edges.....ie...knapped..as in flintknapped. If you can find pieces of flint....they call it debutage(sp?) usually you can find arrowheads.

Best times are after a hard rain......or when it is raining. The flint will stand out better when wet......usually alot shinier...<<<<is that a word lol....... than regular rocks.

There is a book.......I think its called Overstreets Price Guide of arrowheads that shows the different styles from different areas, how to grade them and what they are worth. Some can bring hefty amounts if perfect........thin, symetrical, not chipped or broken, and the age of it.

Most of the time arrowheads are actually spearheads. Only the smaller variety from the woodland period were actually used on arrows shot from a bow. The larger ones were thrown as a spear from an atayl.<<<<<I think thats how you spell it.

 

[kenb]

I've always been told to search the roots and surounding area of blown down trees, the larger the better. And I've been lucky doing so, no flint though. Quartz seems to have been the choice of local indians in my area. I have only come across one piece of flint and was told a glacier probably dropped it.

kenb

P.S. dose anyone else have trouble using spell check through a modem? it works fine @ my office (cable hookup) but not from home (modem)?