Less History

[RGINN]

Above where we camped at Arboles Point CO is an archaeological site from the time Chimney Rock was occupied. At one time, you could not walk without stepping on a piece of pottery. I would see pieces as big as my hand, a lot had painted designs. Took a lot of pics of those and left them. Gets less every time I'm there. This time, nothing with painted designs, nothing bigger than the size of a silver dollar, and people have gathered what remains into piles. Lots of rocks could be manos, but I believe these two actually are, cause you can see the abrasion from use on them. And a broken piece of a metate in the pic. I turned over a lot of rocks to find these. Are these worth money or something, and that's why people are scavenging them? There's a circular depression in the area that is probably where a pit house was, but I guess they haven't figured that out yet. Down towards the lake there was half of a metate and a couple of manos I noticed and they're gone now. One thing the scavengers missed were these two rim pieces with the three ring style. It's a style popular down in Chaco Canyon, and connects Arboles with that area.

 

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[newnan man]

None of that is worth anything much, they collect it because they can for souvenirs I suppose. Shame.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Thanks for sharing this unfortunate information with us Ginn.
I have to admit though, I'm not much different then the scavengers who hit your site.

I too pick up pottery and porcelain fragments from the farm fields I'm detecting.
Dave

 

[RGINN]

I guess I don't have a problem with it, Dave. And I'm pretty sure you don't go out and desecrate graves looking for pots like goes on up here sometimes. I do kinda wish they wouldn't gather things up in piles, as it confuses the layout of a site. I used to pick up so many potsherds in Oklahoma and take them home that I finally decided I wasn't going to have enough space to keep them, so I'm happy with pics of the unique pieces. There's a couple of pretty cool spots at Arboles that I won't mention. I'll keep checking them over the years to see if they get disturbed.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I guess I don't have a problem with it, Dave. And I'm pretty sure you don't go out and desecrate graves looking for pots like goes on up here sometimes. I do kinda wish they wouldn't gather things up in piles, as it confuses the layout of a site. I used to pick up so many potsherds in Oklahoma and take them home that I finally decided I wasn't going to have enough space to keep them, so I'm happy with pics of the unique pieces. There's a couple of pretty cool spots at Arboles that I won't mention. I'll keep checking them over the years to see if they get disturbed.

Ginn, I don't think either of us have done anything wrong in picking up these fragments, especially if they're not in a designated National Park or as you mentioned, on a grave site.

I primarily use the fragments I recover to tell me how old the site is and possibly where and when the piece was made. I look closely at the medium of the clay or porcelain knowing the colour and the glaze used will help determine the age of the piece and possibly the name of the company who made it. Archaeologists have long dated sites by the visual appearance of pottery fragments found around the site.

Canadian & US Federal laws protect archaeological sites and artifacts on federal lands. “You may not dig, collect artifacts, use metal detectors, or deface rock images in National Parks.”

- Dave

 

[billb]

Thanks again for sharing this

 

[newnan man]

There is so much pottery along the freshwater rivers here in Florida I don't even pick it up. I've got a few boxes full and some piles in the yard. If it's a big sherd with a nice design I'll keep it. Points are another matter altogether.