Hello from west mitten

[lakedweller]

Thanks for a great website. Lots of great information and kindly posts. I am genuinely interested in finding out more about the stones rocks and pebbles I have found in my lake. I have a bit of training in earth science and geology. None whatsoever in artifacts, never hunted for artifacts or associated with artifact hunters until I found my rocks. Went searching JSTOR, online databases and my local library coop for more info. Also signed up at arrowheadology, I have a lot of albums there...trying to upload some here. Still trying to figure that out using flickr....
JDM

[rmartin]

Welcome from Central Illinois

[gregszybala]

Welcome from a lake dweller on the south shore , good folks here and looking forward to your posts and interaction.

[lakedweller]

Thanks for the welcome! I know once the ground thaws again i'll taking more excursions into the farms and woods, around here (outside of hunting season)looking for stone stuff. Would like to wade on my neighbor's shore too but picking up stuff might attract attention.... :evil:

[lakedweller]

http://flic.kr/p/dP3tbs

well thst was easy, but took me hours to figure out :whistle:
the above link is to flickr and my summer of rock collecting during the lowest lake levels I have seen in 15 years.
the rock below i found also. fossils, neat shape nice color. What's it doing here?
I would welcome any and all comments, observations on and off the cuff . Please!
Im wearing teflon btw....

[gregszybala]

Well...... As you said, summer of "rock" collecting. Rock being the identifying word. You have a nice collection of some really great and pretty rocks. Not sure if you are really in search of Indian artifacts but if so, this is good place to start. Look thru the posts, old and new, at the top of the page, in the orange barred title area, you'll see Artifact Resources, place your cursor over that and you will see arrowhead identification, click on that and look around. Get familiar with what artifacts look like, materials they are made of and what can be found in your area.
Good luck!

[rmartin]

I have to agree with Greg. I went through most of your pics on Flicker. Some very interesting rocks but I didn't see any artifacts. They are out there, familiarize your self with what to look for.

[lakedweller]

I am a little bit familiar with the museum collections in the area. Norton Mounds I recently learned of, is a national historic landmark.
Context of my collection is from confined area (roughly 10x10)of a small inland lake, basically my back yard. it happens.
I found all of these rocks on the same area buried in sand under a few inches of water right next to my dock. Very low water levels this year provided a wide sandy beach. Last spring had installled a shoreline protection feature to prevent hillside erosion from wind and waves and wake boarders. Figures this is the year of freaky weather. The waters are now back up to near normal for this time of year, all the built up sand is clawed away from the shore again.  Well at the very least the variety is my reward after pulling up glass shards and metal detritus the last 15 yuears!
What is interesting to me is the variety, the fossils, the similarities among groups, the minerals, the assortment. Makes me go uh>?
  allot of stone shards there are it's true. identifiable points or arrowheads? nada.