Thousand year dirt nap for this copper knife

[mk4125]

I headed along the Lake Michigan bluff in search for some Native American artifacts. The hunt was going slow. I found a lot of bullets, shell casings, bottle caps and was about to call it a day and THEN hit a perfect 86 signal a foot down. A hit like that rarely comes through my AT Pro headphones...I found myself going over it from various angles just to make sure it wasn't a blasted 22 shell or something stupid. Nope. 86. No rust. 86. Copper. It had to be copper.

Now a foot down is not typically a problem say..at the beach. I the dense wooded bluffs it's a problem. I had to make a hole big enough for a hot tub. I had to hack away a zillion roots. The disappointing part was that my pinpointer wasn't even picking it up yet! More hacking. More swearing. 30 minutes later she sees the light of day again.

 

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[Sue_Doanim]

That's an absolutely beautiful find. How do you figure its age?

 

[A2coins]

good job getting all those really old relicd

 

[Greastart]

That's a great find!

Now, don't take offense at this, it's simply an observation and in no way is meant as criticism. Using a dime for scale is awesome. But why'd ya have to go an' monkey up the photo with a CLAD dime? Ya coulda at least thrown some ol' Roosey up there!

Mostly I'm jokin'. Just how my crazy head works.

Again, an awesome find! Probably banner worthy but I don't know nuffin! Shoot, I'm still a rookie with only one Merc under my belt. Congratz

 

[hunting deer]

That far down in undisturbed ground. I'd be excited too. Old copper plus found in the Great Lakes region. Looks old!

 

[Whyme]

That is awesome! Nice find!

 

[Kray Gelder]

That's a very nice find! Well worth the effort. Congrats.

 

[CRUSADER]

 

[mk4125]

That's an absolutely beautiful find. How do you figure its age?

Actually I was being a bit conservative on the age...the actual age is somewhere between 3,000 - 1,500 B.C.. See https://www.mpm.edu/research-collections/anthropology/online-collections-research/old-copper-culture.

 

[mk4125]

. The copper items found over the last 20 years.

 

[Reanm8er]

This is a great find and your box of copper finds is impressive too! I've read that some folks believe that the Etruscans came to the great lakes to mine copper. That's a wild notion but who can say.
I'm saying banner also!

 

[PetesPockets55]

View attachment 1637626. The copper items found over the last 20 years.

Whoooo-eeee. Those are some nice finds. Congratulations.

Especially like the knife blade with the ring on the handle (even though it didn't keep the original owner from losing it.
That fishhook with the offset shank for attaching to the "line" is so well made and uniform.

 

[Plumbata]

Great find! If I had my way I'd focus specifically on hunting for OCC artifacts, in my opinion they are by far the most interesting metal artifacts to be found in this whole continent.

Love that rare socketed knife in the case BTW, it may take years but I'll get me one of them some way or another!

 

[Relicific]

That’s a great find

 

[sprailroad]

It's things like that that cause me to wonder about the last person who held it before being found by you, it's another one of those, "If only it could talk and tell it's story" type of thing.

 

[mcmich]

Great find (s). I did not know that copper artifacts, in any quantity like you have collected, could be found in the lower. Thought most were had in the upper. I have always wanted to take a detecting trip up to the U.P. for a try. Those finds are the real deal. Nice work!

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Congratualtions on the fantastic piece of history!

 

[mlutz]

Wow that is a really great find. If it is as old as you think it may be I would vote banner as well!

 

[mk4125]

Great find (s). I did not know that copper artifacts, in any quantity like you have collected, could be found in the lower. Thought most were had in the upper. I have always wanted to take a detecting trip up to the U.P. for a try. Those finds are the real deal. Nice work!

I have found on the NW side and the NE side (many pieces Northern Presque Isle county. The ground where I find seems to be consistent no matter which side. Look for rocks and then look for eroded areas.

 

[mcmich]

Never been up to that area, looking at the map its very remote. Thanks for the tips!