On to something....or on something??

[jeramme]

Hey all,
I live close to the Mississippi river up here in MN...wondering if it is a valid theory to look near the top of the river valley bluffs for paleo...the theory being that that might have been the rivers edge at one time? Or, would the edge have eroded away long ago? Any help would be awesome!

thanks & all the best!

 

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[GatorBoy]

High points of land near water have always been good spots for paleo artifacts.
Assuming the same water was still there it would have served as a vantage point to spot game for a long distance coming into the open to drink and eat the greens along the river.
It would have been the perfect spot to recon.,gear up,knapp,camp..ect.
Those places also erode quickly.
Also..some places that are water now may have been low grass land then...it pays to research the area.
A high vantage point would allow them to track herd movement.
Personally .. I would stick to areas of the river bank that collect material and rock bars.
Water movement and gravity has been working that area for a very long time.. the numbers are bound to be higher there and statisticaly you should have a better chance.
There are some very old rivers in Florida that have areas with a rock bottom that has not changed all that much in a very long time..these areas are shallow compared to the water on either side... large numbers of paleo artifacts have been recovered in these places.
Its believed they were used by wild game as an area to cross the river and that was taken advantage of by the Natives.
They would ambush the game once in the water probably from both sides...and basically unload on them.
These places are called "kill sites".
You might want to research that term ever being used to describe a section of river near you.

 

[monsterrack]

I'm not sure of the type of soil in your area, if it is loose soil you will have a lot of erosion, if it is rock bluffs not so much. Check wash outs in the bluff areas at the bottom you may find sign there. Here the Ms. river is in some places over 1mi. wide, less than 100mi. north people find all types of fossils and stone artifacts on the gravel bars in the river when it gets real low.

 

[Tnmountains]

From that time frame to now that river has changed course many times. Possible that a good site may not be near or on the river anymore or maybe washed away. But a high spring near a river with rock shelters can be golden. Like most rivers one side is the old side and the other side is the one that gets cut out. It goes back and forth from one side to the other on big rivers. Sometimes the cut side is dumping stuff other times the old side will hold things in place. Not so much on small rocky creeks though.
If you get into the older points your chances increase. A good site was often used over and over again.Paleo was a traveling on the hoof kinda guy. Elusive unless you find a shelter. Get permission : )
You ask a question we all wish we had a good answer for but do not.
There once was a guy on here named uniface he has studied the tools for years.
Good luck and lots of miles!

 

[jamey]

i like too go were i think they would of lost a point or two while hunting,thats were there best points are i think

 

[GatorBoy]

Alot has changed in around ten thousand years.. compared to what you see now.

 

[jamey]

yea all except us humans