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  • Fake Arrowheads Being Planted

    Hello everyone, I have several qestons. So I am worried that half the artifacts that I find could be fake because of how much work people put into making fakes and tossing them in creeks. Would someone really go to every creek or river in there area, tossing fake arrowheads in it too try to fool collectors? Could someone really fake the chipping style, the weathering, the patina, the broken hinge fractures, and the over all look too where an highly trusted authenticator would truly think it is genuine? Even under a microscope? It is just something I worry about because it's not like fossil hunting to where youknow what you find is real all the time. I just hope that what I find is real and it was not planted to be a fake. Please do not think that this post is a troll post please I've had other people say that I am trolling in other groups but I am truly not and I am just genuinely worried about finding fakes.

  • #2
    I wouldn't worry about it. I don't know of anyone doing something like that.
    NW Georgia,

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    • #3
      I agree, I wouldn't worry about it. The only fakes that you've going to find are on ebay.
      🐜 🎤 SW Georgia

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      • #4
        I think you only have to worry about it if you find something like a 9" Clovis in a creek in Kentucky.

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        • Kentucky point
          Kentucky point commented
          Editing a comment
          Maybe not in a creek, but maybe in one of our caves...

      • #5
        I know of a couple of specific cases of fake artifacts being planted, and they were always for a particular person to find. In one case the big fake dovetail wasn't there when they returned to hunt the field, so there is someone who found a fake and thinks it was his lucky day.

        Realistically speaking, the only way that I think it might happen is that a knapper is collecting material from a source and they choose to reduce the weight by making quarry blanks. If it's plentiful material they might discard broken or thick pieces at the outcropping, but you'd typically be finding big blanks vs finished tools. You'd probably also find a pile of fresh flakes. That could happen in Texas and a couple of other areas, but isn't common because most of the time knappers want more rock than they are carrying in a backpack so they use a truck or an ATV and don't do too much clean up work at the quarry. I'm sure every knapper has a workspace in their backyard that has a lot of broken material and flakes, but you'd probably know you weren't hunting in a normal spot.

        Overall though, I wouldn't worry about it. Most of us will find a lot of brokens and common pieces (like the cool Washita/Harrell point in your profile picture) for every great relic. If someone only finds g-10s from exotic material, and no common items then it might be questionable.

        If you find these, be worried. They are the only thing cheap enough to buy and toss in creeks.
        Spear point avg 3" long 1" wide. You will receive similar looking points. They look 10x better in person. Small points avg 1-1.5" long. 5-.7" wide. Collection Of 32 Arrowheads I send invoices each morning.
        Hong Kong, but from Indiana/Florida

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        • Ron Kelley
          Ron Kelley commented
          Editing a comment
          A few years back I paid five bucks for a hundred of those. I wanted to study them.

      • #6
        A real point will always look real, fakes will always look fake to an experience authenticator, but beware of the fake COA situation that exists in the collector world...what clovisoid said about a particular person is true, especially among jokers..
        Floridaboy.

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        • #7
          The chance of someone finding a modern made arrowhead that was tossed in a creek or River is very slim. Definitely nothing you should worry about. Just post your finds and some of the folks around here could tell you if it’s real. Good luck on your hunt.
          SE ARKANSAS

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          • #8
            Clovisoid hit the nail on the head when he said jokesters. Fake points are usually meant for a specific person as a prank, when planted.
            "The education of a man is never completed until he dies." Robert E. Lee

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            • #9
              I believe one property owner I have that invites me to look on his farm might be throwing some for me to find. I haven't been to his place in a year but every once in a while he will call me to come by for a walk. I think he either has a collection or is buying some. Now they have been real so far but its not as much fun finding a tossed one than finding one that hasn't been touched for a thousand years or more. But I'm aware of it I just don't say anything. He knows I will take care of his beauties.
              NW Georgia,

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              • Hal Gorges
                Hal Gorges commented
                Editing a comment
                I dunno, I found a killer drill some joker planted, and for a couple of seconds I had the thrill of a lifetime.lol.... P.S. I know what you mean though..

              • SurfaceHunter
                SurfaceHunter commented
                Editing a comment
                I don't go there to often anyway due to last time one of his bulls cornered me. They are like dogs if you feed them they love you. If they don't know you then its different.

            • #10
              Pretty unlikely but if in doubt post pictures to the forum and folks here will help you get an idea if real or fake.
              Searching the fields of NW Indiana and SW Michigan

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              • #11
                Click image for larger version

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ID:	468800 I hunted a walking site for over 20 years almost every week and sometimes more than once per week. I have found over a hundred points there. One day after a storm (muhaha) I came across a KILLER white coral point, then another. Then my buddy found two! We're thinking CACHE BABY!!...and I find another one. During that short time I also found two other points. WOW a 5 point day for me!! I was already thinking something was up... and looking at these more I was thinking jeez I haven't found this glossy white coral there before...and these points were all made of the same material. The work on them did not look right, not typical for the point type. I collect Florida.... this material looked out of place and familiar for material further north. By the time I got back home I was convinced they were fake. WHAT!?!?! My site!!!??? I spread the net wide for info about this and a while later I was told that a local had company from Germany and wanted them to find a point on that beach site. It had stormed after they were salted the company didn't find any....but we found them all LOLOL. Material can be traded and come from far away but you can often see initially that some material is not "right" for the site....and of course when you look at the work on them there are signs of fakery. My point (lol) is just keep looking and collecting. You will be able to see if a piece was intentionally salted. It won't be "right". On another dig site a fool brought a home-chipped paleo point to salt and the guy that found it in his wall, after jumping in joy, was so pissed he punched the salter. What a day......
                Professor Shellman
                Tampa Bay

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                • Hal Gorges
                  Hal Gorges commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Hey, I remember those days Tom, over a couple of years one guy was hit over the head with a shovel, another was stabbed with a trowel,,, I refer to them days as the wild Wild West,, what a time,!...Good to see you posting.

                • tomclark
                  tomclark commented
                  Editing a comment
                  LOL, Hal!!!!! I am well versed in these incidents hahahahaha!!!!! OMG

              • #12
                Post pics, Shane!
                Professor Shellman
                Tampa Bay

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                • Lindenmeier-Man
                  Lindenmeier-Man commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Where you been Santa ? Not seen you post in awhile !

                • tomclark
                  tomclark commented
                  Editing a comment
                  hunkered boom...

              • #13
                It has and continues to happen in Canada. Not thrown in creeks but rivers that slow in winter. Made to form, and located in pooling areas. Some are lost forever, some harvested the next few years. I knew of salted digs in Tx. The salter was caught. Most probably your not going to find a site/ creek that has been salted, it will be on private land and they won’t let a collector enter or search . It’s all about money.
                Lubbock County Tx

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                • #14
                  Just give Beltsville in Maryland a wide berth though:

                  https://forums.arrowheads.com/index....and-arrowheads
                  I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.

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                  • Hal Gorges
                    Hal Gorges commented
                    Editing a comment
                    That’s an enterprising fella...We had a sand box at a rock show for the kids, and we put all kinds of real points, and fossil, in, we had a small screen, the kids had a great time.

                • #15
                  Seeing this post about fake arrowheads reminded me of something that at the time I wasn't aware of but eventually I think I figured it out. We heard of a person who supposedly found a perfect Eden point at a place were many artifacts had been found near here but I had never heard of a Eden point being found there. We contacted the individual and asked if we could see it. It definitely looked like it should but the material looked strange to me. Sometime later I stumbled on a site that was advertising how they cast artifacts to look exactly like originals and they looked very familiar. I got a few pictures of the supposed Eden. They aren't very good pictures but was all I could get. Click image for larger version

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                  Wyoming

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