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"Transitional Artifacts" thread?
One category that might be of interest to some of you – call it “transitional artifacts –
would be for the European artifacts found mixed in with Native American ones in the same location, artifacts that were either used by Native Americans or were left by Europeans, who lived in the same place. In my neck of the woods like so many across the nation that are close to rivers or large bodies of water (not made by man), there was a mixing of cultures for a few hundred years (early 1600’s through the 1800’s – though in our area the native Americans were largely gone by 1825). Further north in Lakota Sioux country this period extends into the late 1800’s.
In our first successful artifact hunt we found European artifacts mixed with Native American ones in an area where Europeans came through beginning in the early 1700’s (some think even much earlier). The glass, pottery, and metal items we found are quite old, though I am reasonably certain they are not from the 1700’s. I got to thinking, however, about these types of artifacts and it made me wonder about ones that were actually deposited by Native Americans. I realize that in many cases the items were deposited long after the Native Americans left, but not in all cases, as the Native Americans were quick to trade for tools and weapons of the Europeans when they began to inhabit America in the 1500’s (with the Spanish). Not only that, but archeological digs have found that many different Native American cultures inhabited the same sites, depositing on top of each other through time, which included ones that were present when they began to trade with Europeans.
In any case, artifacts are found that are part of American history during this transitional phase. I am sure many of you have found all kinds of European artifacts in the areas where you have also found ones from Native Americans. I suppose there are forums dedicated to these types of artifacts, though I am not aware them, but I thought this category could be an interesting one to compliment the many others dedicated to Native American artifacts.
would be for the European artifacts found mixed in with Native American ones in the same location, artifacts that were either used by Native Americans or were left by Europeans, who lived in the same place. In my neck of the woods like so many across the nation that are close to rivers or large bodies of water (not made by man), there was a mixing of cultures for a few hundred years (early 1600’s through the 1800’s – though in our area the native Americans were largely gone by 1825). Further north in Lakota Sioux country this period extends into the late 1800’s.
In our first successful artifact hunt we found European artifacts mixed with Native American ones in an area where Europeans came through beginning in the early 1700’s (some think even much earlier). The glass, pottery, and metal items we found are quite old, though I am reasonably certain they are not from the 1700’s. I got to thinking, however, about these types of artifacts and it made me wonder about ones that were actually deposited by Native Americans. I realize that in many cases the items were deposited long after the Native Americans left, but not in all cases, as the Native Americans were quick to trade for tools and weapons of the Europeans when they began to inhabit America in the 1500’s (with the Spanish). Not only that, but archeological digs have found that many different Native American cultures inhabited the same sites, depositing on top of each other through time, which included ones that were present when they began to trade with Europeans.
In any case, artifacts are found that are part of American history during this transitional phase. I am sure many of you have found all kinds of European artifacts in the areas where you have also found ones from Native Americans. I suppose there are forums dedicated to these types of artifacts, though I am not aware them, but I thought this category could be an interesting one to compliment the many others dedicated to Native American artifacts.
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