10/25 after work dig finds

[HBird]

Was able to get a short hour and fifteen minutes of digging in before it got dark after work today. Came home with a couple more decent ones. Thanks for looking

[smbore]

those are cool.

[HBird]

Thanks smbore

[Mattern]

Looks like black Chalcedony. Nice ones Bird. K

[HBird]

Yes sir definitely black chalcedony and thank you Kim

[SurfaceHunter]

You’re in a hot spot

[HBird]

Definitely been a good spot

[willjo]

First one likes one found on 10/22, nice

[HBird]

Looks pretty close in shape but quite a bit smaller

[Narrow Way Knapper]

An Oreo point, cool!

[HBird]

👍

[Jethro355]

Excellent finds!!

[HBird]

Thanks Jethro

[redrocks]

Good scores Bird!

[HBird]

Thanks Red I appreciate it

[sailorjoe]

Congratulations. Some dandy points for sure. I haven't followed your digging adventures. Are these from a bluff shelter?

[HBird]

Sorry i took so long to reply back to you. I’m inclined to think this spot was possibly a seasonal fish camp or something like that. It’s a slightly elevated sandy, flat level area that’s only about 15 feet above the Delaware River. So still being a newbie at this stuff my seasonal fish camp theory may be wrong. But here’s my reasoning for thinking that and I would love to hear yours or anyone else’s thoughts or opinions. I’m thinking since it’s so close to the water and I’ve seen the river completely cover this spot probably 10 times in the last 15 years there’s no way they would have made a permanent camp there.If you go about a 1/8 of a mile up river and down river there is much higher ground that’s all farmland and have given up lots of artifacts for a lot of people so I’m inclined to think that’s where they had their permanent larger camps. 🤷🏻♂️ Again that’s just my uneducated thoughts

[sailorjoe]

Thanks for getting back to me. Your idea as to a seasonal or periodic camp makes sense to me. However, one needs to consider other factors such as the type point and hence knowing the general time period it was made. From that one can make intelligent guesses as to whether these people that made these particular points were hunters/gatherers or farmers, etc. Even when they were farmers they would have seasonal hunting and fishing camps. The Delaware River likely had large spawning runs of Atlantic shad and striped bass and perhaps other species. They would want to camp near where they put out their nets and traps. If your points pre-date agriculture then the site could still be used seasonally. The general climate of the Era also has a bearing on the potential uses as certain periods were much dryer or wetter than others so your experience with flooding may or may not be helpful when considering these particular points. Comparing the types of points one finds on the higher elevation less flood prone fields to what you are finding on this dig may be helpful. If you are digging and recording the depths at which each point is found and noting it in a record then you are doing a good job and may learn something. If not, then you are doing a poor job and may learn something or nothing at all. I hope you are able to learn something. If you don't know the types of your points perhaps you could ask in the "What did I find" section and show some good photos of both sides laying flat (not in your hand) of each point with a coin beside it. (a quarter is 1 inch in diameter). Maybe some of the folks who collect in the northeast could help in the ID.

[HBird]

Thank you for the input it’s greatly appreciated. I only have 3-4 years invested in searching for American Indian artifacts but I do take it seriously. I actually have 4 different notebooks that I’ve been keeping. One for each of the three dig sites I have and the other one I use for documenting all of my surface finds. I am trying my best to to do this the right way with detailed documentation. Hell I have even been going as far as keeping daily notes of how many rocks I found while digging at the one site because there’s not many rocks in this spot. Not sure if it has any relevance yet or not but come this winter I will start analyzing my notes and see.

[sailorjoe]

Your response is what I hoped I would see. Good job!

[GreatMarsh]

When you try to “psyche out” what type of habitation you have, one of the first things to do is determine the age of the artifacts. That way you can factor in what the topography was like during the habitation. It’s easy to forget how much land and water features change over millennia. The geology (topography) of my site on Cape Cod was very different during the various occupations that began as long ago as 4500 years BP…maybe longer.

[SGT.Digger]

Nice finds ! Just something I would like to share I’ve noticed in east Texas that every high sandy spot near any water source usually contains artifacts. Even sandy areas away from water were preferred to camp on rather than the black gumbo(clay) soils . My dad had a place about a mile off the navasota river and a half mile from a large creek but he had one high spot near a small drainage area only a wet weather area and there was multiple occupations just on the small sandy area(surrounded by black gumbo). It’s amazing but they sought out sandy areas. They also utilized sand/grit for their pottery in that area too and would have been another reason for their camping there. Also your river area may have been dry historically too considering all the dams and erosion/sediment deposits from agriculture and deforestation/clearing of brush and grasses so keep that in mind. With that said there are always those generational floods or hundred year floods that can cover even some prime spots near water you would think were safe. The rocks your finding may be associated with a family sized hearth/individual cooking pit and possibly lined with larger flat stones. Keep up the hunt .