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What to look for when finding artifacts

WIDirtFishing

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I am totally clueless to what you look for when you are looking for artifacts. Does anyone know of any sites or can you fill me in on what to look for. How to tell a tool from a regular rock. Or good places to look for points? Any info would be really appreciated. Thanks

_TrevoR_
 
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At the risk of being a wise *ss, you look where they dropped and discarded stuff. Which usually means, where they lived :laughing7:

Find where they lived and you're set to start finding what they lost/threw away.
 
What to look for is a worked edge, look for chipping and flaking scars. Once you can distinguish a worked edge from a natural rock, you can find things pretty easily. A plowed field after a good rain is always a good place to look, really anywhere dirt is being moved can be good. I have found some nice stuff on construction sites.
 
The best way is to have some one show how and where they hunt, but that might not be likely if you don't have a family member or friend that hunts.

The tried and true method many that people have used is to find a couple acres of plowed field relatively close to water, and flip over most of the rocks you see... Do it in a couple of stages. Mentally mark off an area, walk it lenthwise slowly looking for artifacts laying out flat (you might get lucky), if you see something, look at it on the ground from different angles. Then walk it crosswise (at a 90 degree angle from the first direction), again look all the rocks carefully. Flip them over, look for chips, sharp edges, notches, etc. Also, many flints and cherts look different than regular field rocks. A flipping stick (a walking stick you can poke into the ground) might be helpful.

Creeks can be harder to hunt if you don't have experience, although many collectors find them more rewarding.
 
joshuaream said:
The best way is to have some one show how and where they hunt, but that might not be likely if you don't have a family member or friend that hunts.

The tried and true method many that people have used is to find a couple acres of plowed field relatively close to water, and flip over most of the rocks you see... Do it in a couple of stages. Mentally mark off an area, walk it lenthwise slowly looking for artifacts laying out flat (you might get lucky), if you see something, look at it on the ground from different angles. Then walk it crosswise (at a 90 degree angle from the first direction), again look all the rocks carefully. Flip them over, look for chips, sharp edges, notches, etc. Also, many flints and cherts look different than regular field rocks. A flipping stick (a walking stick you can poke into the ground) might be helpful.

Creeks can be harder to hunt if you don't have experience, although many collectors find them more ((rewarding)).
Creeks can be harder to hunt if you don't have experience, although many collectors find them more rewarding.? ;D
 

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