What the Arkies Missed

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I looked at the weather forecast at 5am this morning and noticed that I had a 3-hour window to detect before the rains would come. I decided to head back to the c1840 site to see what the archeologists had missed last summer. This site is planned for a new housing development later this year, so time is of the essence here. The arkies spent almost 3 months digging and sifting here last summer, but there’s no way that they can save everything. Let me clarify this statement by saying, that archeology provides an invaluable service when it comes to the in-depth research of a site. My only complaint is that arkies don’t tell anyone the story of a site, but we as metal detectorists do! This is probably why I love recovering and bringing home the pottery and glass fragments, as they assist in telling the story of the sites I detect.

My first find was an ‘Acorn’ horse harness bell, this was followed by two more crotal bells. On what I decided was going to be my last pass of the morning (mainly because it was starting to snow) I finally found a coin. It was an 1842 Canada Half Penny Token - “During the first half of the 19th century there was a chronic shortage of small coins in Lower Canada. In 1835, following a government decision to remove all the lightweight pieces from circulation, the shortage became acute. No official coins were issued, but the Bank of Montreal, the Quebec Bank, the City Bank and La Banque du Peuple were given authority to issue penny and halfpenny tokens of a weight similar to that of British copper coins.”

My last few finds were a large animal bell, a complete medicine bottle, a toe-tap, a lady’s sash buckle and half a crotal bell.

Thanks very much for looking!
Dave

 

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[creskol]

NICE! I really like those bells! Don't you love it when they leave all this great stuff behind!

 

[Aureus]

Great finds, congratulations!

 

[Digger RJ]

Nice!!! Congrats!!!

 

[Johncoho]

Nice recoveries, Antiquarian. I like the bank token and the crotal bells

 

[boogeyman]

" Don't you love it when they leave all this great stuff behind!"

Hey ya gotta give them credit. But there's only so much you can do with a masonry trowel and paint brush.................. Lucky for you!!

Always wonder why they don't hire some relic hunters to at the least do a preliminary search to locate & mark. You got archies that go out in the filed once or twice a year compared to relic hunters who spend all their spare time in the field. Book knowledge vs. boots on the ground? Just my opinion here, but I've seen more knowledge & expertise from people here than I've seen in all the archies I've run across except one!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

NICE! I really like those bells! Don't you love it when they leave all this great stuff behind!

Thanks for your post creskol.
These folks obviously had livestock here, but what kind?
Take care buddy,
Dave

Great finds, congratulations!

Merci Anton!
Hope you're having another great year so far,
Dave

Nice!!! Congrats!!!

Thanks Randy!
Dave

Nice recoveries, Antiquarian. I like the bank token and the crotal bells

Thank you John.
This site was a dairy farm from the 1880s to approx. 1980, this was a grazing field for the cows.
This is why the token is in such a poor state... darn cow urine.

Best of luck to you in Martinsburg,
Dave

"Don't you love it when they leave all this great stuff behind!"

Hey ya gotta give them credit. But there's only so much you can do with a masonry trowel and paint brush.................. Lucky for you!!

Always wonder why they don't hire some relic hunters to at the least do a preliminary search to locate & mark. You got archies that go out in the filed once or twice a year compared to relic hunters who spend all their spare time in the field. Book knowledge vs. boots on the ground? Just my opinion here, but I've seen more knowledge & expertise from people here than I've seen in all the archies I've run across except one!

Thanks for your post boogeyman.
Years ago, I walked onto an archeological dig site here in Ontario to chat with the lead archie.
I'm a big fan of the BBC show Time Team, the archeologists in the UK use detectorists frequently to find what they've missed in the spoil piles.

I made the mistake of telling him that I was a metal detectorist and offered him my services on a volunteer basis.
Well, this archie proceeded to call me a 'Thief of History' and asked me to leave his dig site.

Needless to say, I now leave the archies to their work and simply follow behind when they're done to 'Hoover' up the relics they miss.

Best of luck to you Sir,
Dave

 

[RVRoamer74]

Very nice MD'ing. Some very nice saves you have there, I like them all. Thanks for the pics and sharing your finds. Congrats to ya!!

 

[Whyme]

Awesome finds! Those crotal bells are awesome! Congrats!

 

[Reanm8er]

Great hunt Dave and congrats! Thanks for the post and the history!

I like the bells too. They may all be sleigh bells. You know they had a strap of crotal bells that went around the girth, but they also had a set of bells that looked like your odd one that were mounted to a thin metal arch. They attached to the tops of the haimes and were really active as the horse moved it's neck. Must have really been noisy with both sets.

Best wishes and happy returns!

 

[xcopperstax]

Great finds I can't believe that an intact bottle survived in a farm field through the freezing, the plowing and the time! Nice crotal bells too and the history on the bank of Canada coins was nice to hear!

 

[Geobound]

Dave you always post thorough and informative posts, and love the research that you put into your locations and finds. This is just another example of all that hard work, so you deserve all these great finds.

Glad to see that bell come out in one piece.

Huge bonus that you finally scored a token on this site, now get back out there and find more!!

 

[RelicMaster777]

Great hunt and finds. I have yet to find my crotal bell. Yesterday I dug one of your half penny tokens, a 1844 here on Long Island n.y. It's the 4th one I've dug here in my town in 2 years. My earliest being a 1813. Must of been a lot of Canadian tourist down here back then.You can see it in my post from yesterday.

 

[Steve in PA]

Nice haul Dave. That's a lot of bells for one hunt.

 

[dirtlooter]

great pics and great bells etc. love the background info as well, brings even more character to everything

 

[screwynewy]

Great job cleaning up after the arkies. I'm curious if there was some significance to the site? I can't see why the arkies would be interested in an 1840's site unless they were training little arkies?

 

[BLK HOLE]

Great Saves! Those are some very nice bells

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Great job cleaning up after the arkies. I'm curious if there was some significance to the site? I can't see why the arkies would be interested in an 1840's site unless they were training little arkies?

Likely development permit triggered studies. They will study dredger tailings if it's paid for by someone else.
Many times the MO is to work at a regulatory agency...get these extensive study requirements embedded into the process...then hang their own shingle...reaping the benefit of their past (government) work experience.

 

[Relicific]

Nice saves

 

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

Great hunt! Nice assortment of quality bells and a very cool token. Congrats!!