Camp fire talk

[Tam]

I came up with this after reading a what did I find from someone and did not understand the terminology being used . This axe would have been beveled .. wait what and it wasn't an axe I don't know the name for it .
You know how knowledge is passed down from
elders and this would not be cronological but
years of knowledge . You can only get so much from a book without a professor and discussion .
It shocks me the knowledge that is on this site and what everyone has found .
So with that if one Mentor or person of knowledge
could make a read not a thread every month we would have 12 valuable pieces of information at the end of the year . If Ron could make a read about scrapers what to look for how they are made
I would have my eyes to the ground in a different way not to mention does anyone really want to see anymore rocks from me !Joe , Josh , Hoss Deb , Greg wow Jethro ...
I don't know everyone's name but to pass down
some knowledge to us newbies like the old days .
I just called it campfire talk because that's when
people would tell their tales .
just a thought .

[tomclark]

I have a story of collecting knowledge from back in the Day.... At shows there used to be BOXES of stemmed end scrapers, thumbnails, turtlebacks, flake knives and tools of all sorts for sale real cheap. You could pick up things like that for a buck...... You could get bone pins similarly for 5-10 bucks all day long.

During those same days I would pick up all tools and a lot of "good" debitage at sites I'd visit. Around spoil piles and holes, especially near bases of big trees LOL, there would invariably be a load of this great stuff that they just left as they were just wanting and looking for the points. You throw the stuff up to the tree when diggin lolol. Always dig to hardpan and then a few inches more..... wOI! Always check gopher tortoise spoil piles hahaha a good friend picked up a KILLER that way and I've found more than a few artifacts that way. Check anywhere they are putting in a new power pole hahaha one of my best points was found just feet off the interstate in the rain. They have sites now with satellites using maps using FLIR etc that can show where you have never thought of going. Other sites with infrared imaging and other neat things.
I know a well known archae-artist who was digging and left his hole open not far from where I was....MEH.. well he came back and returned to that hole and shortly came over and sat by my hole for a short time. Big blue buzzing fat flies were hovering around him. He was wearing shorts. He'd pooped his hole, then popped back into it hahahahaha. Moral: Don't poop your hole and don't wear shorts. Bring large, thick pad of rubber made out of a huge truck tire to sit on while diggin.

[Jethro355]

You comment about never over looking a new power post hole reminded me of something from many years gone by. There is a very famous Quapaw cemetery site in west Mississippi, no mounds, no campsite, no house flooring, nothing except burials that were discovered on a very low sand ridge, maybe 2-3 feet high, a long time ago by accident(someone at a church digging a grave for a modern funeral.). What made me think of this was in the sixties and seventies when there was a lot of pot hunting still going on, this place was hit hard and often by everyone from pot hunters to archaeologists to curious locals wondering what the fuss was all about. After years of digging, everybody assumed they had "mapped out the extent of the cemetery," and general consensus was that it had all been pillaged. Many years later(early/mid 80's) a guy approached a collector I know with a very unique polychrome water bottle, and there was a distinct "slice". taken out of one side. It didn't take much imagination to see it was cut by a posthole digger. The guy wouldn't say where he had found it, but we knew who who he worked for, and that guy had been having fence replaced on some of his pasture that crossed this same sand ridge, almost a mile away. With a little questioning, he got the info out of him as to the location. I don't know what ever became of that pot. I know the farmer that has the pasture also owns the cotton ground where the modern cemetery/church sit, as well as the ancient one.
This is why I cringe every time I see the soil being turned in some of that farmland. I know what's down there and I know and have seen how easily and quickly it can be lost.

[Tam]

Good point lol .
good toliet seat
Yes and my husband is all about the power
lines looking for bucks . He wants to put up
a stand well ya can't it's private property but man I am going to go walk one now . Seeeee a campfire story .
Good one Tom. They are making bridge and I am
just dieing knowing how many points are around that dug up soil .

[Tam]

Spelling again .

[Kyflintguy]

I'm trying to get a clear idea of what it is your suggesting Tam? You would like to be provided with more material from our membership to help you learn? I don't think you were suggesting we tell actual campfire stories or stories that one might tell round a campfire i.e. "Once many moons ago there lived an evil hermit...!"
What do you mean by a "read" exactly? Like an article about a specific topic? That's what magazines and paid writers do. There are plenty of those if you look in the resources section though...

http://www.arrowheads.com/index.php/artifact-resources

Our Admins/Moderators/Mentors spend lots of there own free time adding to different parts of our forum, helping new folks and passing on there own knowledge to others and everything that they have provided or shared is available to you for free if you just take time to find it within the forum. Thousands of old threads plus info on any kind of artifact imaginable in the info center... Other than that I'm not sure exactly what to recommend to you. I certainly don't see us asking folks to dedicate themselves to writing an article a month for anyone's viewing pleasure, that just wouldn't be practical. If its knowledge you seek just stick around and be like a sponge. That's what I do.

[Kyflintguy]

If I misread your post and you mean just good ol stories with a moral to learn then I think that would be a good idea...

[Havenhunter]

Yes, I'm confused as well. This forum is a wealth of knowledge comprised of personal experiences, articles, downloads, photos & detailed explanations of regional typologies. Then there are the other subject matters that are outside of artifact hunting that are of interests to others.
If you are looking for a monthly mentor to take you under their wing, I think that is impractical. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[SDhunter]

I find it easier to have smaller bits of knowledge coming in all the time, then to read great long expositions. I can't seem to find enough time to read long discussions, but there are always bits of useful info in the shorter comments that seem to arrive daily. That's just me though.

[Tam]

What I ment was maybe since Ron is an expert
in scrapers he writes a small article about scrapers . Maybe 2- 3 different styles . Knapping styles what to look for so we stop hauling home rocks .
The next month who ever has an expertise they share that .
There are many amazing reads and sites to go to on this site no doubt .
But I thought one monthly experts knowledge passed down would be a wonderful way to pass
it to us ... the unknolwgeable .
The knowledge you people have on knapping styles to eras is valuable . Like a father passing down somthing to his son.
Example Ron responded to a turtle back scraper I found and said I can tell it was used on a hard surface because of the wear ... wow I had to google the heck out of that response .
See it's that type of knowledge I don't find in
books . I am only using his name because this would become a book if I named you all . Like I said just a thought . I know it's more work but I enjoy your personal knowledge .. I can't be the only one .

[Tam]

Yeah Gary I agree maybe I just get excited by everyone's knowledge .
it could be a 4 sentence blast .

[SDhunter]

If you were still wondering about Ron's comments about use wear on scrapers, I believe he must have been referring to the small fractures on the end, called step fractures. The more chipped up the end was, the more likely it was used on hard surfaces like bone.

[chase]

Tam I have been on the forum for a few years and been in many states and there are different cultures and time periods the way a forum works best is read a post and if you have a question ask then let the membership answer it

[chase]

Also if you think of something you question make a post and let the membership answer

[Tam]

Ok got it