All of these are field finds. Back in the late 1980s, I got permission to dig trash pits on a site. I walked the fresh plowed field in a thunderstorm {dummy} and spotted 46 exposed trash pits. Dark black circles with broken pottery, bones, periwinkle shells. I spent most of one fall digging pits that averaged 4 ft deep by 3 to 4 feet wide with a trowel, sifting everything. I dug 55 pits on that field. The field had been dug by archys in the early 70s and dated 1100AD. I got three pots together in one pit that were laying on their sides and crushed. One still had carbonized corn kernels in it. Unfortunately the plow had carried away most of the upward facing sides of the pots. I dug every obvious pit and then started probing for more. I started into one that I thought was a trash pit to find it was actually a storage pit full of acorns that had all carbonized. You could still peel the hull off and the insides would come apart in 2 pieces. I still have some acorns and corn kernels. One of the side benefits was that when tree planting season started on December first, I was in fantastic shape. Normally, the first 2 weeks of tree planting is a horribly painful experience. Everyone else on the crew suffered while I pounded in trees. Imagine carry a waist pack with 50 pounds of seedlings, swinging a hoedad into the ground , bending over to put the seedling in the hole, packing the hole with the hoedad blade, then heeling in the hole and doing it again every 8 to 10 feet for 3500 times in a day at an almost running pace. All while scanning 10 feet on either side for relics fossils and crystals. Some times I would come back in with more weight in rocks and relics in my bag than when I left with trees.
Yakker
