My Visit To The Infamous Mandan Village In North Dakota!

old digger · Jul 21, 2013

First of all I want to thank John (The owner of the property), and I want to thank my very good friend Steve (Larson 1951) for inviting me and allowing me the great privilege of searching this historical site. Thank You my friend Steve, and Thank You Very Much John! :notworthy:

Here are some of the artifacts that we found. There are so many objects to check out that have been worked that you need to see if they are a keeper or not. As what has been mentioned in prior posts, this site has been nicknamed ''Scraper City'', there are so many thumbscrapers that after a while you get tired of picking them up.

Some Thumbscrapers

Some Points

1st Photo; Bangle, Copper Trade Point, Fish Hook, and Preferators.
2nd Photo; Awls.

1st Photo; Knives.
2nd Photo; Abraders.

1st Photo; End of Scapula Hoe, and possible paddle for making pottery.
2nd Photo; Quill flatteners.

Some oyster shell pieces that have been worked.

Thanks for viewing. We had a wonderful and special time, Steve and John were Very Kind to us and I want to Thank them for giving my wife Karen and I this special honor.
THANK YOU! :notworthy:

larson1951 · Jul 22, 2013

hey hey old digger you just posted about 70 pieces you and Karen did good
glad you could come
you woulda found way way more if we woulda got some good rain

where is the other stuff that you found in the back of my pigup?

we are glad you diggers had a good peaceful fun time here.......you diggers are great and deserve it
love ya my good friends

steve
larson1951

rock · Jul 22, 2013

Scraper City sounds like a great nick name for it. Looks like you nailed that hunt I bet your back was hurting after picking up all of that, lol. Probably one of the best hunts in your hobby career. Thanks for sharing it with us, rock

flintdigger · Jul 22, 2013

Great finds, Fantastic !!! :hello2:

unclemac · Jul 22, 2013

Easter in July! ...great hunt

Tnmountains · Jul 22, 2013

Wow. What an honor to hunt with Steve and the guys on the site. I know that you all had the best of times and it looks like you got a good sampling. I like seeing that copper and am betting there could be much of it there. Great post!

Sheperdess · Jul 22, 2013

Drool!!!

bsit1361 · Jul 22, 2013

Sounds like a blast. One day ill come knocking on Steve's door.

larson1951 · Jul 22, 2013

bsit1361 said:
Sounds like a blast. One day ill come knocking on Steve's door.

ok ben we will sometime

old digger · Jul 22, 2013

Thank You all for your wonderful comments, it was an exhilarating experience to search a site with such potential. Yesterday afternoon we had to quit early because a storm forced us off the field. There was a real gully washer that pounded that field and the surrounding area. If there was ever an opportunity to walk that field, tomorrow or Wednesday would be the most opportune time to walk that field. Kind of wished that good rain shower came several days earlier.
I will post some photos of the pottery shards that we found after I get them cleaned up. The soil on the site appears to be saturated/blended with ashes from all the years of habitation. I learned quite a bit from Steve and John on how the Mandan Indians lived. From what I saw, and heard from Steve and John, the Mandan Indians were well established and self sustaining. From my observation they had plenty of food sources in the immediate area. Besides the abundance of buffalo bones, we found deer bones, and a lot of freshwater clam shells.

old digger · Jul 22, 2013

rock said:
Scraper City sounds like a great nick name for it. Looks like you nailed that hunt I bet your back was hurting after picking up all of that, lol. Probably one of the best hunts in your hobby career. Thanks for sharing it with us, rock

Yes, Your right, my back was starting to get a bit sore.

old digger · Jul 22, 2013

Tnmountains said:
Wow. What an honor to hunt with Steve and the guys on the site. I know that you all had the best of times and it looks like you got a good sampling. I like seeing that copper and am betting there could be much of it there. Great post!

There is such respect and gratefulness for being given the honor to be able to walk this site. I was told that a number of copper points were found in this one section of the site, and after being given permission to use my detector, I decided to give it a try, and to my surprise I was elated to find the copper trade point within 15 minuets of starting my search. I kind of wish I had more time to search more of the site.