Hit our new 1640s land patent site today

[Bill D. (VA)]

My partner Dan and I were pretty stoked about checking this site out while the hunters were taking a break. Multiple research sources seemed to confirm a small 1649 land patent site on a small peninsula near the confluence of 2 creeks. The only high ground was a nice cut soybean field, and we were certain some killer finds would be made. But even though this was a textbook example in every way, we could not find a single homesite in this field, the adjacent woods, or in a couple of nearby fields that were also included in other early patents. We did manage to make a few random finds, and almost all of them were post-1700. My best and earliest find was an intact double loop asymmetrical buckle dating anywhere from 1575-1700 according to the perfect match I found in my buckle book. Other than that and a nice little decorated tombac my finds were pretty sparse for a half day hunt. Dan made the find of the day (for the 2nd hunt in a row!), and did it in the strangest way you can imagine. I'll let him fill you in on the details of that "recovery". Even though I believe reading the lay of the land is the best method for putting yourself onto a great site, I'm still going to continue to utilize these early patents to provide an additional tool that I can use to my advantage .

 

[matt092079]

Nice finds, bill. I have found the exact buckle before. That field sure does look nice!

 

[metalev4]

Nice buckle Bill, havent seen that one often. These early sites are bound to produce a once in a lifetime find in the near future.
-Evan

 

[DMN]

Do you think you may hit the riverbeds? Or the shore line? Might be some good potential.......

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Do you think you may hit the riverbeds? Or the shore line? Might be some good potential.......

This site is a high finger of land that severely slopes off on 3 sides down to 2 marshy and silted creeks. Not really any opportunities to hunt down near the water with those conditions. Could be a few random finds in the woods along the slopes, but doubt there was much activity there.

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Great looking site, and a Stellar Tombac button Bill