How Old Is That?

sdcfia · Feb 27, 2018

Just for information purposes re weathering of wooden artifacts. This 4x4 wooden post was erected on a mining claim in 1912 in the New Mexico mountains at 7,250' elevation. As you can see, the post is still intact - and the carvings on it somewhat decipherable - after 106 years of snow, rain and hot dry summers. The bottom of the post in contact with the ground was rotted. Might help you try to ID stuff you find.

dog the treasure hunter · Feb 27, 2018

sdcfia said:
Just for information purposes re weathering of wooden artifacts. This 4x4 wooden post was erected on a mining claim in 1912 in the New Mexico mountains at 7,250' elevation. As you can see, the post is still intact - and the carvings on it somewhat decipherable - after 106 years of snow, rain and hot dry summers. The bottom of the post in contact with the ground was rotted. Might help you try to ID stuff you find.

View attachment 1556597

Thanks for posting that sdcfia, It held up well. The one marker of stone you posted, when you and your buddy where doing some volunteer work,with the 1912 carved in it was really amazing to me. If you hadn't said it was done in 1912, I would have never thought that. It looked like it was done today.
It really made me think about the age of some of the stones in the field with the patina on the carvings.

Quinoa · Feb 28, 2018

I'd like to know more about Lichenometry :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichenometry

I have some specific dated monuments with heavy lichen. And some non specific ones with "shaped" or "manipulated" lichen on them.

Quinoa · Feb 28, 2018

Here, it was overlooked and written off pretty quik by the masses in the other thread, but the skull image is made primarily with lichen and looks right up the hillside at a mine. Right on the side of the main trail up the canyon, Very easy to see it, stupidly easy in the field and it looked right at it, took me like 2 seconds to see it. Several other markers pointing the mine out by the trail. I posted the actual covered mine in one of Prospector Mikels threads. A bunch of ore laying around in the trench up to it. Not that hard to figure out that it's a mine, all though many are more difficult to find as they will hide the tailings. I just don't get why people would question some of this stuff that is so obvious. Paredolia my ...
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/victorio-peak/440556-willie-l-douthit-29.html

sdcfia · Mar 1, 2018

You need to post a link to the correct post, dude - nobody's going to wade through 498 posts to try to ferret out what you're talking about. Or, you could provide the number and/or the date of the post. Better still, simply repost your photo.

If there was indeed a "bunch of ore laying around in the trench up to it", the mine certainly doesn't sound like it was "hidden" to me, unless the "hiders" were grossly incompetent. Depending upon what you determined to be "ore", it sounds more likely that the mine may have been simply a prospect trench showing marginal mineralized rock in the bottom, or at best, an abandoned workings of some sort. Hundreds if not thousands of these have been remediated all over the west since the 1970s-80s due to legal liability issues.

sdcfia · Mar 1, 2018

dog said:
Thanks for posting that sdcfia, It held up well. The one marker of stone you posted, when you and your buddy where doing some volunteer work,with the 1912 carved in it was really amazing to me. If you hadn't said it was done in 1912, I would have never thought that. It looked like it was done today.
It really made me think about the age of some of the stones in the field with the patina on the carvings.

Dating petroglyphs is a controversial subject - one that hasn't come to a method that most or all interested parties agree is at all accurate. The patina theories ("desert varnish") are widely touted, but just as widely discarded as being very unreliable. The cultural context theories try to tie symbols and styles to certain historical ages, but these can easily be forged. Extreme weathering of carved symbols on hard rock leads one to believe great age - and to me is a good tell - but these can be clever forgeries too.

Some specific types of rock contain microscopic crystals that deteriorate when released to the environment when the stone is chiseled. Scott Wolter, a geologist, used this technique to prove that the Kensington Runestone was not a modern fake, but likely a genuine artifact. Yes, that carved Mineral Survey corner I posted a photo of weeks ago was easy to date, but for the most part, dating rock carvings is a crapshoot.

Maverick1 · Mar 1, 2018

View attachment 1557718

Maverick1 · Mar 1, 2018

Any overall thoughts, please.
Must say it's a heck of a hike.

Please look on the right lower quadrant. (mostly)

(Personally, I will not dispute any view point)

A picture's worth 1k words, please enjoy.

dog the treasure hunter · Mar 1, 2018

Its Genghis Khan from Sicily. View attachment 1557726 View attachment 1557727with a komodo dragon. View attachment 1557730

Maverick1 · Mar 1, 2018

dog said:
Its Genghis Khan from Sicily. View attachment 1557726 View attachment 1557727with a komodo dragon. View attachment 1557730

That would make it (him) just like Vlad Draculea, the son of The Dragon ...

(https://todayinhistory.blog/tag/son-of-the-dragon/)

Quinoa · Mar 1, 2018

sdcfia said:
You need to post a link to the correct post, dude - nobody's going to wade through 498 posts to try to ferret out what you're talking about. Or, you could provide the number and/or the date of the post. Better still, simply repost your photo.

If there was indeed a "bunch of ore laying around in the trench up to it", the mine certainly doesn't sound like it was "hidden" to me, unless the "hiders" were grossly incompetent. Depending upon what you determined to be "ore", it sounds more likely that the mine may have been simply a prospect trench showing marginal mineralized rock in the bottom, or at best, an abandoned workings of some sort. Hundreds if not thousands of these have been remediated all over the west since the 1970s-80s due to legal liability issues.

Odd, the link works fine for me , it goes right to my post with the skull made with with lichen and moss.

The mine was actually "hidden", but the canyon burnt out recently , it was choked full of poison ivy, the most I have seen in any canyon. You couldn't find a place to step without touching it. Those trenches like that get filled with 6 foot stalks of the stuff . The stuff is just growing back again. Otherwise I wouldn't be caught dead in that miserable canyon, I got it once before (poison ivy) from there many years ago before I ever treasure hunted and vowed I 'd never go back. But just happened to be driving in the area and checked it out a few months ago. it'll all be over grown with it in a couple years again.

dog the treasure hunter · Mar 1, 2018

Maverick1 said:
Any overall thoughts, please.
Must say it's a heck of a hike.

Please look on the right lower quadrant. (mostly)

(Personally, I will not dispute any view point)

A picture's worth 1k words, please enjoy.

Mirror that for the cache spot. :laughing7:

Lots of good stuff in there. I have seen a lot of that same stuff out my way. I really liked the other photo to that you posted a week or so ago. Lots of goodies in that one to.

Maverick1 · Mar 1, 2018

dog said:
Mirror that for the cache spot. Lots of good stuff in there. I have seen a lot of that same stuff out my way. I really liked the other photo to that you posted a week or so ago. Lots of goodies in that one to.

I would need Steve's permission to post more goodies (out of context of age relation). If you saw those, ,,you also saw the "welcome wagon"
that had me remove them. If any, I could send them (and the story) in email, but would be a missing piece for other TH's

orangeman · Mar 1, 2018

Maverick1 said:
Any overall thoughts, please.
Must say it's a heck of a hike.

Please look on the right lower quadrant. (mostly)

(Personally, I will not dispute any view point)

A picture's worth 1k words, please enjoy.

See a face & heart just looking through it. Cool picture.

dog the treasure hunter · Mar 1, 2018

Maverick1 said:
I would need Steve's permission to post more goodies (out of context of age relation). If you saw those, ,,you also saw the "welcome wagon"
that had me remove them. If any, I could send them (and the story) in email, but would be a missing piece for other TH's

Thats what happens when you dont follow the rule book. Iam starting to think it might be the Russians, they got there hands in everything over here.View attachment 1557977Just let me know if you want this deleted Maverick1.

Chadeaux · Mar 2, 2018

Quinoa said:
Odd, the link works fine for me

Works perfectly for me as well. Thanks.

Quinoa · Mar 2, 2018

I've been labeling the guys with the pointed helmets and beards like that in Mav's picture "the celts". I see the black knight head image in the lower right Quadrant. I suppose they could be called priests as well.

Maverick1 · Mar 2, 2018

Quinoa said:
I've been labeling the guys with the pointed helmets and beards like that in Mav's picture "the celts". I see the black knight head image in the lower right Quadrant. I suppose they could be called priests as well.

good eye Q.

Maverick1 · Mar 2, 2018

dog said:
Thats what happens when you dont follow the rule book. Iam starting to think it might be the Russians, they got there hands in everything over here.View attachment 1557977Just let me know if you want this deleted Maverick1.