What are best resources to learn about the hobby?
I’m best just getting hands on, I started out taking home every strange rock and looking them up, the more you handle the stuff the easier it is to understand it. Personally I like the overstreet book, but it seems up to the latest edition it’s been flawed. Lastly if you take up flint knapping it will help a ton to understand what is going on. And this site! Check the posts here and don’t be afraid to post finds and ask questions
Are indian artifacts hard to find?
They can be it’s all about what you have access to, I only look on the family land and I do ok but I only come up with complete points every so many months, others on this forum can go out and top my finds for a year in an afternoon.
Is it hard to identify an Indian artifact?
Practice! You just have to handle as many as you can it becomes fairly easy after some time
Can I make $ in this hobby?
Unless you get on a special site with certain points I’d say you’d be looking at 5$ a complete point so unless you could pull in volume I’d doubt you’d find the hobby lucrative
How common is it to find one on the surface. Lots of people find them on the surface it’s just a Matter of finding a spot and checking often. Sites will change after a good rain and new material is always coming up, also surface collecting is less destructive or invasive and a little better accepted wether it’s with land owners or archaeologists
is digging necessary?
It is not but it can be more productive if you know where to dig, but it gets tricky when you dig that’s when you kind of get into state laws and potentially run people the wrong way… I’ll dig a bit on my own property but even then I feel guilty because with an archeology background I know I’m destroying information by not excavating properly Are there a lot of fakes out there?
Yes especially with high dollar points and points made in India that show up time to time on this site
Where do I go looking for artifacts?
That’s the whole trick it’s hard to say just think of attractive places to set up, near a water source or high spots are good.
Are there any laws I should be aware of local laws about ownership, nagpra, and be careful if you encounter bone, you are required to call the law if you find what could be human remains, not sure what the penalty for not doing so is but if I ever find human bones I don’t intend to find out.
But I’m with the others all my finds are for the love of history and adding pieces to the puzzle of the history of the local area, mine are definitely not for sale I consider them family history in a way since I only hunt family land.
