Shelter dig

[NC field hunter]

Some of you may recall my mention of going on a shelter dig over the weekend. It was raining so hard, it turned out to be a shelter scratch around. Thought I'd share the pics I got of the shelter and the bone and pottery I found.































I was not sure I'd be able to find the shelter. We found it, so hopefully I'll post more finds from this spot. These shelters are rare around here and I do not think many people know of its existence. If so, it would have graffiti all over it. The only sign of modern man that we found were liquor bottles from the 50's and shine making equipment. Old porcelain pots and such.

 

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[bci101tractors]

Ya, I remember your post, I was watching it closely.
Glad you found it, shining equip, pottery, great finds.
If you make it back, let us know!!

 

[NC field hunter]

Ya, I remember your post, I was watching it closely.
Glad you found it, shining equip, pottery, great finds.
If you make it back, let us know!!

BCI, do the shelters you dig have dirt floors or stone, this one is a stone bottom. The rain really put the hour glass on my venture. Hopefully this coming weekend will be nice, with nice finds.

 

[bci101tractors]

They are stone and rock hard dirt...tuf digg'n for sure.

 

[rock]

Nice pics! Seeing the floor is stone I would look outside in the area where the trail to the entrance would of been. I saw on a site where they dug the entrance about 2-3 ft deep and were finding allot of points and tools. I was wondering if the rain hit you or not. We got 4 inches Sunday.

 

[NC field hunter]

Nice pics! Seeing the floor is stone I would look outside in the area where the trail to the entrance would of been. I saw on a site where they dug the entrance about 2-3 ft deep and were finding allot of points and tools. I was wondering if the rain hit you or not. We got 4 inches Sunday.

Damn near drown. It rained like crazy. Yeah, looking inside the shelter was only a 30 second hunt. Their are some other overhangs on the same shelter. I found the bone and pottery under that overhang. This is foreign hunting to me.

 

[catherine1]

Nice pottery, and bone artifacts from that shelter. The modern stuff makes it a popular area!! Check below that stuff.

 

[rock]

So how did you know there wasnt a bear in there? I bet you made the other guy go in first

 

[NC field hunter]

Nice pottery, and bone artifacts from that shelter. The modern stuff makes it a popular area!! Check below that stuff.

I don't think many of the young whipper-snappers know about this place. They would have painted Hank-N-Suzy 4 Eva. And crap like that all over it by now. The bottles dated to the 50's. believe me, the guys that brought the bottles up, well, they didn't advertise the place. Lol!

 

[jeff741972]

You should dig the front of shelter as mentioned before, good luck!

 

[NC field hunter]

You should dig the front of shelter as mentioned before, good luck!

Yes, that's going to be a focal point. How far out front should I start? This shelter is directly where a creek feeds into the river. Look to the left, you are looking at a creek. Looking toward your right you Are looking at the river. I bet that creek has hidden caches in it.

 

[NC field hunter]

So how did you know there wasnt a bear in there? I bet you made the other guy go in first

You better believe chayote crossed my mind first and bear second. I saw no droppings from wild animals.

 

[1320]

Try to image how much overhang has eroded over thousands of years. In the sandstone shelters that I've visited, some overhangs have eroded as much as twenty feet. As the overhang erodes, the "floor" of the shelter becomes part of the hill that you have to climb to gain entrance to the shelter. It's possible that artifacts could be scattered from top to bottom and all points in between.

 

[NC field hunter]

Try to image how much overhang has eroded over thousands of years. In the sandstone shelters that I've visited, some overhangs have eroded as much as twenty feet. As the overhang erodes, the "floor" of the shelter becomes part of the hill that you have to climb to gain entrance to the shelter. It's possible that artifacts could be scattered from top to bottom and all points in between.

Thanks for the advice. This shelter is about 75 yards off of a creek/river. The creek meets the river directly in front of the shelter. On top of the shelter is a moonshine shack that has fallen down. I'll post some pics from the top in a second. You may be able to better advise me, if you do not mind, with those pics.

 

[NC field hunter]

 

[1320]

Looks like a millstone in your last image! I'd drag that home for sure. I'd search the area with my detector first....hoping that I might bring up some flint while digging for metal. I'd do some test digs around the entrance and at the bottom of the shelter. You have pottery so you're not too far away from stone tools in my opinion.

 

[Twitch]

Ah, there's the millstone you mentioned. I missed it the first time. Let me know if you want a hand. Lifting heavy things is one my core competencies.

 

[Brandiwine]

Ah, there's the millstone you mentioned. I missed it the first time. Let me know if you want a hand. Lifting heavy things is one my core competencies.

Me too. Very competent. I'll help you carry it to my truck.

 

[jeff741972]

Yes, that's going to be a focal point. How far out front should I start? This shelter is directly where a creek feeds into the river. Look to the left, you are looking at a creek. Looking toward your right you Are looking at the river. I bet that creek has hidden caches in it.

I would do a test hole about 4 foot around 18 inches or so deep off to the one side and work towards the opening while getting wider as I went. Im not familiar with how things lay in your area, but when I had dug in the nountains usually after a foot there wasnt much because of errosion. You certanly want to dig deep enough to be sure you dont miss anything paleo that may be there. To dig it right will take quite a bit of time.