New Construction Site - Need Advice!

[TexAg]

I need input please, especially from those experienced in hunting construction sites. My friend, who gave me my first permission, is getting ready to start construction on another big building on his ranch. It will be only a couple hundred yards from the exposed NA camp in a pipeline ROW on the east side of the playa lake that used to have a spring before the previous owners dried it up by drilling irrigation wells for their cotton farm. So the NAs liked it. This general area has yielded 2 Clovis points (and many dart and arrow points) to my predecessors, and 4 bird points for me (including my avatar). Not to mention several manos, scrapers, blades, and hammers also for me.

Problem is the surface is now CRP grass so it has been very difficult to hunt away from the ROW. I haven't hunted the ranch in about 1/2 year because the ROW is played out until we get a rain.
The construction crew will begin Monday by scraping off the vegetation and making the surface flat, and then pour a huge slab. I plan to go out in the evenings to look the place over for artifacts which are likely to be there. But, I don’t plan to shovel and screen - too hot and too much work! Your thoughts on how to search this site. Poke through piles of scraped off dirt or just walk the surface periodically? The sandy soil is very fine and with the drought, there will be dust everywhere potentially covering the flint. I've tagged a few of you that I thought had experience with this, but everyone's thoughts and ideas on how to approach are greatly appreciated!

[clovisoid]

It would be hard for me not to dig/sift, or at least disturb the soil a bit... It's Texas and the site is about to be "permanently" covered so you might as well.

I'd walk the site, focusing on what will be covered by the slab. Even if it's a 10,000 square foot building you can cover that completely by walking rows North to South, and then East to West. A "#" with a bunch of lines completely. If you aren't seeing any rocks, maybe rake it a bit?

The areas outside of the slab will still be in play for a while. The soil that comes up with the vegetation might also be something to check out.

[TexAg]

Sage advice Clovisoid. I’ll take my rake and walk a tight grid.

[Benji]

Hey TexAg......ive spent a great deal hunting construction sites here in Tennessee....im not sure about the landscape in texas as far as soil type, but here in Tennessee, my location, we have nice brown top soil and then red clay....i see red clay, and ots a done dealnfor most part, meaning the artifacts have been demolished or relocated in dump trucks....i steer clear once the topsoil has been removed.....so learn the soul type in your location where artifacts may be present....if i am hunting a new site.....i just start walking in a straight line looking left to right, scanning the whole time....im usually walking a pretty fast pace while scanning looking for material that i know is prevalent in my area that artifacts are typically made from.....once i start seeing debitage, i slow way down and start searching that area by walking straight up lines in a grid pattern.....rain is a good thing on a site that produces and dont give up on site.....hunt it several times until it is completely destroyed by either buildings or all topsoil is removed or now grass....debitage is your best indicator, however if it doesn't exist, it doesnt mean something is lying around......if i find artifacts in a particular location, i will go back and walk the entire site that i kinda sped thru earlier.....if i walk i construction site and dont see a single flake, i might not hunt it again....depends on location typically near a water source.......from your description, sounds like you should find something.......also, clovisoid gave somengood advice too.....i dont do any sifting or digging, i just surface hunt the same site over and over at diff times when dirt is moved by construction and rain......hope this helps some and good luck

[Benji]

Also, i like to look at the small ditches, valleys, washouts that cut thru the soil after a good rain....those payoff too

[TexAg]

All good advice Benji, thanks. The soil out there is red sand on top of a hard layer of red clay. Likely at the construction site, it will be sandy for a couple feet down. They haven't started work yet, maybe today or tomorrow. At the nearby campsite, the best indicator is burned campfire rock and then debitage. And when it rains out there, the flint shines. Problem is we haven't had measurable rain since last July.