Village or Campsite Question (Pictures)

[lady di]

Here are a few finds I have gathered from Franklin County OH. I am trying to determine if this site was used as a village.

 

[creek astronaut]

it would be impossible to determine if you are on a village site from what few artifacts you have found at this site.I am assuming that is all that you have found in the pic??if you are on a village site you will be finding alot of artifacts and you will find a wide variety of artifacts most likely.it will take you some time to figure out if you are on a village site,and village sites are not easy to find.good luck.

 

[lady di]

We have found more pcs then that dont have them my friend that i hunt with has them. What do think about the rock that looks like a bead. have a couple of scapers not in the pics. We are finding more tools then we are points. Just thought i would ask. This forum seems to have people that know what there talking about.

 

[creek astronaut]

typically you would be finding hundreds of artifacts if it were a village site.i cant tell about the bead from that pic.the round stone is interesting,could be a game piece or just a geofact.you are correct,there are alot of knowledgable people on this forum.goodluck at your site,thx for sharing the pic &keep us updated on your finds.

 

[DemonCatSpaceStar]

The round ball looks like a game ball to me.
Does the hole in the other piece go all they way through? If it does it looks like a bead!

8)
Phil

 

[RGINN]

In Oklahoma finding a lot of pottery pieces is a good indication of a more permanent site. Generally, it has been my experience that if I found a lot of artifiacts in an area, it was occupied for quite a while. If we found only a few flakes or points, it was a temporary camp or a kill site, as in the Domebo Canyon kill site. Of course in Oklahoma there were who knows how many villages along the waterways at any given time. I have found only two spots I would call temporary. They are on the south east sides of hillls and contain only flakes, shatter, and points. This would be a warm place in the winter for men to sit and make tools away from the main camp. Especially since I figure the wife would not appreciate you littering the floor of the house with razor sharp flint flakes.

 

[The Grim Reaper]

lady di, it's really hard to assess your site from just the few things you posted, but I'll give it a shot. The round item is a Clay Marble and is a historic piece, which means there was white contact on your site or possibly and old house at one time. The point is side notched and if it has grinding on the base it would be an Archaic type and if there is no grinding it would a Woodland type and probably a Jacks Reef. Does the hole go all the way through the piece you are calling a Bead? If it doesn't, then it's not a Bead and if it does it just might be.

We really need to see more pictures of the artifacts coming from this site, but from what you have shown so far it doesn't look like a village site to me.

 

[lady di]

The rock with the hole does not go though I know about the clay marble. I find alot of scrapers the one is a thumbnail scraper. the red and white pcs is also a scraper. I thought that thoses kind of pcs. would be at a village site did not think they carried these pcs around with them.

 

[creek astronaut]

just because its not a village site does not mean that ancient man did not live at your site,ancient man moved around alot and had temporary campsites depending on the seasons,game migration/movement etc...so finding scrapers only indicates they were there and left some tools behind.so usually most of the time the sites you find will be campsites.

 

[SoIll]

I believe that point to be archaic. In archaic time there were no villages per se. Instead there were seasonal camps. Hunter/gatherers society doesn't rely on farming so animal and plant foods are eventually depleted.

 

[uniface]

It really depends, LD.

If it's a well-known site and there have been a lot of hunters hitting it for years, the plough zone may be just about played out -- especially if it's no-tilled. Some of the folks here report finding more points in a few hours than I used to in a month hunting big sites in Pennsylvania 10+ hours a week. The stuff that had come from those sites 50 years ago was awesome in both quantity and quality. But by the time I got there and they weren't deep-ploughing any more, it was pretty slim pickins.

 

[lady di]

I live across the street from this field And nobody in 30years has walked this field the farmer no-till for the last 20 years hard hunting but finding pcs will post new finds later got 2 inches of rain here, will be hunting all weekend will update eveybody later. Thanks for all the info

 

[OH SurfaceHunter]

LD...
Lets get in a little creek hunting.....

 

[Jonnyreb]

Like the guy in Oklahoma said, pottery is a good indicator of a village site. Looking at what you've shown here, I'd say that the spot was somewhat temporary, but, most "campsites" were used over and over again over a period of hundreds and thousands of years, here in N.E. Texas for example, most sites will produce points from Paleo and Early Archaic times, right up through Late Caddoan (1700's).
Farther west, of course, its mostly temporary camps, but they were used over and over again, and produce a wealth of artifacts.
Dont be surprised if yall dont stumble across a potsherd or two, or maybe an arrowpoint.
Hope this helps.