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I have a small farm that we have been finding arrow heads and other items on for the past few years. I was wondering if anyone new of a way to "mine" for them. The area borders a river and I can't help but to think it would produce some items.
I was watching a gold mining show and wondered if anyone has ever tried or built equipment for Indian artifacts. Ant info would be appreciated.
Chuck
Gotta be careful disrupting the soil as digging with shovel or other could damage arrow heads. I always head out looking for them after fields have been disked although I find more broken pieces than whole. During the winter I check the run off gullies that run into the river as you can usually spot them as part of it will be sticking out. I also pick up all broken pieces and haul them out of the fields as not to pick them up again. Have panned for them at the gravel bars. Mining for them would be a different story. Curious to see what others comments are.
[QUOTE=coombro;477067]Gotta be careful disrupting the soil as digging with shovel or other could damage arrow heads. I always head out looking for them after fields have been disked although I find more broken pieces than whole. During the winter I check the run off gullies that run into the river as you can usually spot them as part of it will be sticking out. [/QUOTE]
My thoughts as well. Granddad and I used to find a lot of them back when I was a kid.
Also, islands on the lake are good locations to find them as well. I was duck hunting on an island one day, and a guy just appeared out of no where and said he was searching for arrowheads. Said he paid for the majority of his son's college tuition with the arrowheads he had found out there....is there really that big of a market for them? I found that hard to believe.
Your best bet is surface collecting fields. Make sure you have permission of the landowner. If digging, you'll destroy any scientific value of the materials. In addition, if you hit graves, stop, put everything back, and cover it up. There are federal/state laws concerning desecration of graves (doesn't matter if they are prehistoric or modern). If collecting around a lake, be sure it is not on Federal property. It is against the law to collect materials from federal land without a permit. Same goes for state/federal parks.
Andrew
[QUOTE=apb;477199] If collecting around a lake, be sure it is not on Federal property. It is against the law to collect materials from federal land without a permit. Same goes for state/federal parks.[/QUOTE]
I hadn't even thought of that one - the guy that was collecting on the island while I was hunting probably was in violation then? It was Barkley Lake, which is a Corps. of Engineers lake.
There is a dirt road that goes around three sides of our family estate. Many people have told me that the best time to find arrow heads along that road (and two creeks) is right after a heavy rain. The water washes the dirt off of them and makes them easy to find. Also look where water runs off the road into a ditch. One guy found a beautiful large arrowhead that he sold to a museum for some serious cash.
I wish you success.
[QUOTE=artcarney_agr;477202]I hadn't even thought of that one - the guy that was collecting on the island while I was hunting probably was in violation then? It was Barkley Lake, which is a Corps. of Engineers lake.[/QUOTE]
Yep, he was in violation. I know folks collect around a number of the lakes that have a winter draw down. That is within Corps juristication and not legal to collect.
Andrew
[QUOTE=bassin_bug;477207]There is a dirt road that goes around three sides of our family estate. Many people have told me that the best time to find arrow heads along that road (and two creeks) is right after a heavy rain. The water washes the dirt off of them and makes them easy to find. Also look where water runs off the road into a ditch. One guy found a beautiful large arrowhead that he sold to a museum for some serious cash.
I wish you success.[/QUOTE]
No doubt about the rains will bring them out. Also look to where fence rows have been dozed over as these land company"s by the larger farms and are quick to bring in a dozer.
This thread brings back some memories. My brother used to live right by the Elk River in Maryland, and we could walk up and down the bank and find arrowheads, especially after big storms. Farms are also great places, especially right after the fields are plowed, and some farmers didn't mind giving permission for people to go look for them. My dad found the most perfect arrowhead I've ever seen behind my brother's house. It looks just perfect, with notches on the side of base, just like the emblem on a boy scout's uniform! And not a chip on it, which is rare, especially on a big flint one like that. A lot of the ones we found were "bird points," smaller, triangular arrowheads, not much more than an inch on a side. We actually found a few of those that were made of quartz. I can't think of any way you could safely "mine" for them. They're mostly made of flint, and are quite delicate. A lot of the ones we found were broken already, at least at the tip. It's a real treasure to find a complete one. Even just digging for them, you're likely to put a shovel right through one before you know it.
You said your land borders a river? Like Coombro said, "the rains will bring them out." Check the sandy or pebbly banks, especially right after a good storm has stirred things up. That's how we found a lot of them back in MD. Good luck!