Shelter and overhang questions...

[archer66]

I was looking at the other thread on shelters and Treefrogs pics made me realize I may be overlooking some on some of my places.

What is the smallest "shelter" you have ever found evidence of use in? Is a two foot high overhang that only goes back a few feet worth digging around? There are a few VERY large caves in my area...two of them only a couple miles from where I do most of my artifact hunting so I always assumed those would be the shelters that received the most inhabitation. But what about the little overhangs on hillsides. I've rummaged around in the nooks and crannies in several them but haven't found anything hid away but since I'm finding artifacts in the creeks should I be trying harder around these overhangs?

 

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[oldgoat]

Archer, are you finding any chips or debitage around the smaller overhangs? That would make the decision of dig or not to dig easier....another thing I look for is smoke residue on the roof of a shelter. Most of the folks I know will sink a test hole to bedrock and see what if anything turns up...goat

 

[archer66]

There are numerous flint chips around these limestone outcrops and boulders but the only thing I've found on the farm that shows OBVIOUS signs of knapping has been in the creeks nearby. None of the smaller overhangs I am talking about is what I would think is tall enough for a fire but I suppose it's possible they have filled in with dirt over the years and they might have been more roomy all those years ago. Like I said there are numerous flint chips everywhere...most no larger than a half dollar and NO large flint outcrops which would mean the flint present there was either deposited naturally or carried in by people??

 

[Treefrog]

archer, just because it is 2 feet deep today doesn't mean it wasn't 12 foot 5000 yrs ago or more. The place Im digging around has only about 3 feet headroom or less in most of the shelters I see. But I really think that they were much deeper and have filled in over time. they only go back deep into the hillside to about 20 feet or so.
So far though I have not spent any time inside the overhangs digging much. Everything Im finding is out front of the shelters.

Not decided if I want to spend the time inside yet. Haven't determined if its been dug too much for me to spend that much time digging through another persons discard piles.

Tree

 

[SOHIO]

Archer I would dig if you have the time . Nothing to lose. It's hard to say whether or not the flint is natural or not without knowing the area myself, I have some sites on hilltops that have outcroppings around. As for shelter size I believe they were most comfortable in ones that were medium sized say 30 to 40 ft wide and 12 to 20 ft deep. Thats not saying they didn't use smaller ones or bigger ones ( because they did) but I believe that the more easy to heat shelters were utilized most. Also important is to look at how dry the shelter is, and if there is a water source flowing nearby. Very nearby. Thats how it is here in adena land anyway.......I've walked in many of the footsteps of adena and have determined that (at least in my area) that they had at one point and time crossed through in some way, whether it had been hunting, looking for natural resources like flint or medicinal plants, on trade journeys etc., over every spec of land around here from chillicothe to the ohio river How many times throughout that time and even back to paleo and up to the delawares did some band of hunters get held up for weeks at a time in a shelter because of a blizzard or etc.. I've been in sites where you can just tell they were living hard. Whenever someone says where can I find arrowheads or where do you look for arrowheads I say anywhere you can see dirt showing or that you can dig and make dirt show.