Iron Indian arrowheads found!

[TejasDigger]

After Thanksgiving I always go deer hunting on my land south of Sanderson, Texas close to Mexico. I've always found flint arrowheads near an Indian camp site we have, so I decided to take the metal detector this time and I found some iron pieces all in a pretty close proximity to the middens that we have. I know the iron I found came from the Indians because it was right near their camp. When I ventured off I would only get signals from our bullet fragments over the last five years and nothing else. Here is the pictures with my finds:
Here is a pic of the shelters the Indians used. There are artifacts and ancient charcoal in the shelters.

A pic of one of the middens

Nothing special, but here is the flint

A scraper with beveling on the edge

A perforator, I think

A broken mano used to grind food

Here is the iron I found. The one on the left is missing the barbs and the one on the right is missing one I think the one in the middle is complete and was used as a knife.

I'm not sure what this is, but it was close to their camp also and it has a hole drilled into it

I also found this screw in the camp

The horseshoe was found on the surface pretty far from the camp

And last the miscellaneous iron was found near the camp and the coins were found at a park near Sanderson. Two wheats 1941s, 1949 and a 1945 cinco centavos.

 

[kuger]

Great post thanks for sharing!!!You should also post in the Indian Artifact section of this forum!!!

 

[Tnmountains]

Wow looks like you found some of everything. Nice artifacts all the way around. I bet you could shake a snake or two out of those Shelters
Thanks for sharin
TnMtns

 

[tymcmurray]

I miss the deserts out there.
Great hunt and fantastic recoveries!!!!!

 

[Nashoba]

Land of huge whitetails AND cool digs...You are a lucky man to have such a spot.
Very cool stuff

hh
~Nash~

 

[TejasDigger]

Great post thanks for sharing!!!You should also post in the Indian Artifact section of this forum!!!

You're probably right thanks.

Wow looks like you found some of everything. Nice artifacts all the way around. I bet you could shake a snake or two out of those Shelters
Thanks for sharin
TnMtns

Thanks, I know, the shelters do look scary as far as seeing snakes.

I miss the deserts out there.
Great hunt and fantastic recoveries!!!!!

Thanks Ty.

Land of huge whitetails AND cool digs...You are a lucky man to have such a spot.
Very cool stuff

hh
~Nash~

Thanks Nash.

 

[lostlake88]

very nice. don't need plowed fields where u live!

 

[allen]

congrats on all of those sweet artifacts !!!

 

[TejasDigger]

very nice. don't need plowed fields where u live!

Thanks, but I don't live there. The ground is pretty hard and I didn't have to dig very deep to find the iron.

congrats on all of those sweet artifacts !!!

Thanks Allen.

 

[Brian(upstateNY-Central Fla.)]

I love the pictures the most but great points too

 

[Produce Guy]

Are those mnts.,the woodhollow's or the glass mountains.I love this part of Texas.

 

[seger98]

Wow, some terrific finds!

 

[tymcmurray]

very nice. don't need plowed fields where u live!

But they sure would be easier. Wouldn't they, Tejas?!

 

[TejasDigger]

Are those mnts.,the woodhollow's or the glass mountains.I love this part of Texas.

They are mountains in Mexico. More west of here would be Big Bend National park.

Wow, some terrific finds!

Thanks Seger.

very nice. don't need plowed fields where u live!

But they sure would be easier. Wouldn't they, Tejas?!

Yeah, it would be nice. I'm afraid I'm going to break the points when I dig them the ground is so hard.

 

[capndan151]

Those are some very cool treasures. That scenery is awesome

 

[Curious The George]

That T shape piece with the hole drilled in it is part of a muzzle loading rifle. Usually called a barrel loop. It fits into a dovetail slot on the bottom of a rifle barrel. The hole is where a pin went through the stock and then through the hole and it held the stock on the barrel, or visa versa. A half stock rifle usually had one on it and a full stock rifle had three.

They were called barrel loops because originally they were made of a round piece of steel that was bent like a staple. Two holes drilled in the barrel and the ends were swaged into the holes. That created a loop on the barrel. That style of barrel loop had a wedge that passed through a slot in the stock, through the loop and through the other side of the stock.

When the T shape style came into use the name barrel loop stuck with it.

 

[TejasDigger]

That T shape piece with the hole drilled in it is part of a muzzle loading rifle. Usually called a barrel loop. It fits into a dovetail slot on the bottom of a rifle barrel. The hole is where a pin went through the stock and then through the hole and it held the stock on the barrel, or visa versa. A half stock rifle usually had one on it and a full stock rifle had three.

They were called barrel loops because originally they were made of a round piece of steel that was bent like a staple. Two holes drilled in the barrel and the ends were swaged into the holes. That created a loop on the barrel. That style of barrel loop had a wedge that passed through a slot in the stock, through the loop and through the other side of the stock.

When the T shape style came into use the name barrel loop stuck with it.

Wow! I wouldn't have thought anybody would have known what that was. Thanks for the info!

 

[Curious The George]

Here are photos of two modern types. One, installed on a barrel is the wedge type. The other, not installed is for the pin type. The pin type is like yours.

To install the pin type hole is drilled through the stock and the tang of the loop with the barrel in place on the stock. Then a steel pin is tapped through the hole and finished off even with the surface of the stock. To remove the barrel from the stock you unscrew the tang screw or screws, tap out the pins and lift the barrel from the stock. You need to keep track of what pin goes in what barrel loop cause they are fitted to each position on the stock.

You usually will see little brass plates or escutcheons at each barrel pin or wedge spot on the forearm of the stock. Look at some photos of muzzle loaders and you'll see what I mean.

 

[TejasDigger]

Do you know the time frame of when the one I have was used?

 

[dneyedli@res1.mts.net]

Nice digs and beautiful pictures!
Your iron arrow heads could also be knife blade tips, which doesn't matter because after the knife broke, the Natives would utilize the blade fragments. Most iron points that I find were made from barrel hoop.
I am excited to see what else you may pull out of there! Dig every signal and you will see that practically every piece of metal was used for some purpose. Just imagine all the stone tools, flakes, etc. that were replaced by metal. Even a small piece of scrap iron may have been used as a thumbnail scraper. A historic Native site is one of the few places in the world that "Garbage" had a useful purpose. It will be exciting to investigate every piece. Just to give you an example, I have dug say a broken file and noticed after cleaning, one end was hammered out and made into a hide scraper. Even nails were made into awls, carving tools, and screw drivers for their musket guns.
I'll be waiting for your next post!
Dave.