Where Have All The Artifacts Gone....Long Time Passing

[jeramme]

Hey all, I hope you are well!

Hoping you can help with a question. There is a site I have been searching that is a known habitation site and at the confluence of two rivers. Historical records even indicate that there were large burial mounds that were leveled to make Main Street less that a 1/4 mile away. However, I have never found any artifacts indicating habitation while searching the river banks and shore in the area. Doesn't make sense to me...but maybe you can shed some light on it?

Thank you for your insight! Also, thank you all for your posts!

 

[Aurora1959]

I have a couple of questions - are you experienced in spotting flint, and is the site bare dirt/plowed? I have searched fields and come up empty, not even a chip or flake, and then the next year, with just very light cultivation, chert everywhere.

 

[Garscale]

Get off the river bank and look for a gentle hump close enough to the river to carry water.

 

[Force_of_Iron]

Rule #1 Check if Garscale was there before you
Rule #2 If so go somewhere else

 

[Garscale]

Rule #1 Check if Garscale was there before you
Rule #2 If so go somewhere else

Lol! True though.

 

[joshuaream]

A couple of observations.

How close to the confluence and high ground? If there is flooding, the main site or sites might not be down on the flood plain.

If they bulldozed and filled the site stuff could just be buried. And the vast majority of mounds in the Midwest are just piles of dirt. There might have been burials at one point, but not all of them were filled with artifacts.

 

[jeramme]

Thanks all for your insight and observations, I appreciate it! I think I have a decent eye...lol...I can spot agates or glass a mile away. It is definitely on a flood plain, so didn't really expect to find any actual habitation sites, unless a small summer camp or something...but thought that there had to be some projectile points etc that would have washed out of the river banks.