Why so many?

[rvdave]

As I was drifting off to sleep last night a very strange thought came thru my head.
Why are so many points, tools and all found? I am a bow hunter and have been for 20 years. I have lost no more then 6 arrows in that time. Now I know I aint hunting to feed my community but why did so many get lost? Was it easier to make a new one then spend a hour or so looking for a lost one?

[sneakygroundbuzzard]

really youve only lost 6 arrows in 20 yrs?
i too bow hunt,and have had seasons where i have lost that many
i hunt from a ground blind so when i miss arrows will burrow under the grass and disappear
but ever since i have switched to a pink arrow shaft i havent lost one, and yes i still miss lol
well if i were to spend an hour looking for a missed shot,in that same hour i could produce one good usable stone head
thats my average time to make a stone point when i sit down and knapp
i think there are so many for a few simple reasons
1. they have been produced for thousands of years
2. when they missed with the first shot,they would go for a follow up right away and then track the animal and not worry about reclaiming the lost arrow or atlatl dart fore shaft
3. when making stone tools was one of your primary daily activities loosing one wasnt that big of a deal as you had many of them(i know i do lol )
just my thoughts on it

[sailorjoe]

Dave: Think about your question by considering over how much time a particular site may have been used. Some sites may have been good habitation sites over a period of several thousand years. There are some sites that were particularly favorable by a great many different cultures from Paleo thru historic times. Some of these sites may have been used seasonally by one culture and year around by others, etc. Say for example one site may cover an area of area as small as a few hundred square feet to many, many acres and inhabited by varying numbers of people at any one time. It would take only one tool being lost or discarded once a year over a period of five thousand years to result in 5000 tools that would available for finding years later. Anyhow that is one possible explanation.

[cgode]

Having seen the good knappers bang out a point from scratch and it takes 15 minutes for them (they definitely have skill and make that task look exceptionally easy) coupled with ten thousand years of occupation multiplied by the average population and the numbers of stone tools required have to be pretty substantial. I would think it would be around.....oh, I don't know.....a lot!
Of course the Lithic availability comes into play as well, crappy brittle Lithics would require more in numbers due to a lack of durability. Good Lithic material, and they are just pretty...so why not make more! Lol

[rvdave]

In my part of Texas there is almost no good Lithic only a little jasper and some petrified wood so it would have been a chore to travel and or trade. So i would have assumed a good stone point would be very valuable and care would be taken to keep it.
yes i have lost no more then 6 arrows. I have used white fetching forever and only take perfect shots. Never lost a animal bow hunting lost several deer and lots of pigs with a gun.

[rvdave]

I think i just answered my own question.  They didn'ttake only pperfect shots

[sneakygroundbuzzard]

i never lost an animal while hunting either
when i miss its always a clean miss
usually caused by something stupid, like a bow limb hitting my blind,or me dropping my bow arm right as i release the arrow etc
you know,all the stupid things that shouldnt happen but do happen lol
ive tried the white fletching too, but here in minnesota there can be snow on the ground during spring and fall turkey season and during deer bow season,especially since most of my deer bow season is done in the late part of the season. then there is always snow on the ground.
but like i said,since i have switched to pink arrow shafts i havent lost a single one
i get a lot of crap from friends about my choice in shaft color,but it beats loosing them. plus for each shaft the company donates a dollar to the breast cancer research fund. dont know about you but i am ll for saving the boobies

[chase]

rvdave wrote:

I think i just answered my own question.  They didn'ttake only pperfect shots

Really most said points were utilitarian.  Think about a knife and the use it  would have gotten over a year ..Now think about steel vs stone. when you resharpen stone You have many factors both weight ratio for actual use in killing animals to knife use for butchering to using it at  a pry bar. We now have tools. that need to be used by everyone. Now you take into the fact that people lose things break things  and make it that you have say only 10,000 people for 10,000 years and do the math with 20 artifacts.your looking at 20,0000,000. and thats conservative

[cgode]

Hmmm......white fletchings you say....and pink???? I knew I was doing something wrong....every color fletching I've ever used has just ripped right off......course, it could be the 7mm size and 3400 fps is just too small and fast I guess???? :rolf:

[sneakygroundbuzzard]

cgode, maybe you had the wrong twist to your fletch for the twist in the barrel and that was ripping the fletch off of your bullets  :rolf:

[rvdave]

sneakygroundbuzzard wrote:

i never lost an animal while hunting either
when i miss its always a clean miss
usually caused by something stupid, like a bow limb hitting my blind,or me dropping my bow arm right as i release the arrow etc
you know,all the stupid things that shouldnt happen but do happen lol
ive tried the white fletching too, but here in minnesota there can be snow on the ground during spring and fall turkey season and during deer bow season,especially since most of my deer bow season is done in the late part of the season. then there is always snow on the ground.
but like i said,since i have switched to pink arrow shafts i havent lost a single one
i get a lot of crap from friends about my choice in shaft color,but it beats loosing them. plus for each shaft the company donates a dollar to the breast cancer research fund. dont know about you but i am ll for saving the boobies

archery season is in October the whole month I might add, it can be over 90 degrees

[rvdave]

cgode wrote:

Hmmm......white fletchings you say....and pink???? I knew I was doing something wrong....every color fletching I've ever used has just ripped right off......course, it could be the 7mm size and 3400 fps is just too small and fast I guess???? :rolf:

yep that will do it lol. We have lots and lots of pigs 7mag too small and too fast and a wounded pig ain't much fun. I have a 20ga slug gun for that reason, it only takes one oh crap moment to make you a little wary of them.
I'm not knocking your choice of gun please don't take it that way

[cgode]

L
[QUOTE]rvdave wrote:

Hmmm......white fletchings you say....and pink???? I knew I was doing something wrong....every color fletching I've ever used has just ripped right off......course, it could be the 7mm size and 3400 fps is just too small and fast I guess???? :rolf:

yep that will do it lol. We have lots and lots of pigs 7mag too small and too fast and a wounded pig ain't much fun. I have a 20ga slug gun for that reason, it only takes one oh crap moment to make you a little wary of them.
I'm not knocking your choice of gun please don't take it that way
No worries Dave, I wouldn't use that 7mm on a hog! Not enough kinetic energy gets transferred to that type of animal. I've only shot two hogs in my life...and you may think I'm crazy... I took it as a challenge and used a black powder .50 cal. .....yeah, you only get one shot with those ..... But that makes you keenly aware of the proximity of climbable trees!!

[Hoss]

I agree with Sailor Joe That is if only one was lost a year for 5,000 years . Here is another scenario.  Do you have a catchall drawer? Do you put change in the little cup holder of your car? is there a certain place you stash all your jack knives? Your hunting gear? you might have only lost 6 arrows but do you have a stash of more than that? what happens to all your stuff if if tomorrow there is a natural disaster and you must pick up and leave. Your only choice is to grab the wife kids and a bug out bag and head for the high country? Stuff like that happened all the time people were displaced for many reasons over the past 12,000 years. Many times they had to leave in a hurry and bring only what they could carry.  All the rest left behind

[orari]

I would also add that many of the pp/ks and tools we find are intentionally thrown away items that had seen the ends of their useful lives.  Think lithic garbage.