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Digging surface hunting sites ?

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  • Digging surface hunting sites ?

    On our ranch in South Texas Duval county we find points on the surface all over some spots produce more than others. My question is would it pay to dig these areas or after a few inches would I be just digging a hole?

  • #2
    If I lived down there I would be like a super big groundhog scratchin up points all I could. I am not sure if it would do any good to dig those sites, but I would think so. Unfortunatey I live in the Peoples Republic of Illinois where it isn't legal to dig for artifacts even on your own property. So there fore I would love to dig but can only do it in other states that allow it where other friends invite me. I own land that have sites on them and am left to waiting for strong storms to blow over trees so I can look through root wads! I hope you find some goodies and send some great pics. I would have to be proved wrong by striking out and acting on my instinct. If it is legal I would go for it.

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    • #3
      Posted by [GarScale]:

      You will be amazed whats down there. Dig all the way to hard pan whether its solid clay or rock. It may be 6 inches or ten feet.  If you are finding them on the surface, there are many, many more in the dirt. I just finished excavating about 2 acres. Sifted every inch of dirt and found well over 20,000 points.

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      • #4
        Posted by [GarScale]:

        Stexas you won't know till your try.Paleokurt don't you have a foundation you need to put In? Or at the very least some irrigation tiles or maybe some cable.Man there is another law I would not be able to obey.Seems the list is getting bigger.......mjm

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        • #5
          Dug a test hole yesterday about 1'x1'x2'deep. Found a broken tortuga and another small base. Haha agree with mainejman, is it illegal to dig up good soil for a flower bed and sift the rocks out of it?

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          • #6
            Stexas75 wrote:

            Dug a test hole yesterday about 1'x1'x2'deep. Found a broken tortuga and another small base. Haha agree with mainejman, is it illegal to dig up good soil for a flower bed and sift the rocks out of it?
               :laugh: Better be careful if you have to crap in the woods: Only wild animals are allowed to do that. :woohoo:
            Michigan Yooper
            If You Don’t Stand for Something, You’ll Fall for Anything

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            • #7
              Posted by [GarScale]:

              Sounds like a pretty good test hole.Let me warn you now.First a test hole then you'll be trying to figure out which end to put the diving board....... B) .......mjm

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              • #8
                Then there's the issue of beach collecting. It's now illegal to dig anywhere in New Jersey, but surface finds are okay. On the beaches I frequent on Delaware Bay the artifacts could come from anywhere--wash down the river from PA or NY, old campsites under the bay, creeks along the shoreline, or just erode up out of the beach itself--it's anybody's guess. All periods and typologies, from early Archaic to Woodland (have a couple with small flutes but no bonafide Paleos, yet). And since the next tide could very well whisk these pieces out to the Continental Shelf (the fabled Davy Jones Locker), never to be seen again, I feel I'm actually rescuing these relics from oblivion. I keep a database of my finds (place, time, tide, etc.) for myself, but since there's no site, there is, of course, no real scientific value save for, perhaps, finding a lithic not native to the area and obviously traded for.
                Just to illustrate what dedicated avocational archaeologists have contributed, I cite the efforts of the gentlemen who founded the Woodruff Museum in Bridgeton, NJ. There you'll see hundreds of meticulously restored pots from shards excavated at sites in the Pinelands over the years. It's an  amazing sight! I don't know of any professional archeologist who would have the time (or inclination) to embark on such a chore.
                Unfortunately, as always, the few ruin it for the many. There were a lot of greedmongers out there who started digging and picking stuff up to turn over for a quick $$ on the internet...without attaching any hint of site or region to it. That hurt the hobby a lot and helped to get these laws passed. You can always tell who these guys are on the beaches, because they have an attitude like you're invading their territory, not friendly at all. I just shrug and think, "Well, the beach and Indian spirits won't be walking with you." Perhaps the process of authentication before sales has slowed the greed factor, but they're still out there.
                North Wildwood, New Jersey (Cape May county)

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                • #9
                  Keep up the good work David I am with you,

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                  • #10
                    paleo kurt wrote:

                    If I lived down there I would be like a super big groundhog scratchin up points all I could. I am not sure if it would do any good to dig those sites, but I would think so. Unfortunatey I live in the Peoples Republic of Illinois where it isn't legal to dig for artifacts even on your own property. So there fore I would love to dig but can only do it in other states that allow it where other friends invite me. I own land that have sites on them and am left to waiting for strong storms to blow over trees so I can look through root wads! I hope you find some goodies and send some great pics. I would have to be proved wrong by striking out and acting on my instinct. If it is legal I would go for it.
                    What if you were digging for (let's say) worms, and found a few relics!

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                    • #11
                      Hey, if I'm turning over my tomato garden and I find a point I'm keepin' it!
                      North Wildwood, New Jersey (Cape May county)

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