Hobby Thread

[Whack9]

Anyone go arrowhead hunting? I've not really found anything myself. I own a bunch that a relative found in the past though. I wonder how many times I've passed over flakes and even arrowheads before I knew what to look for. Now that I know what locations to search in I'm going to try again.

[O Really]

It would be cool to find a real arrowhead - and remarkable that it could still be, or worked its way back to, somewhere that it could be found so many years later. Surprising that anywhere known or expected to have arrowheads isn't in some protected park or somewhere.

[Whack9]

It would be cool to find a real arrowhead - and remarkable that it could still be, or worked its way back to, somewhere that it could be found so many years later. Surprising that anywhere known or expected to have arrowheads isn't in some protected park or somewhere.

I dug up a bunch of old maps and articles from my hometown and found some known locations of old camps and villages. Some on public property back in the woods. Might have a look next time a visit

The general consensus is you first want to find a source of fresh water. Usually a large creek or something. From the creek, find a high, flat point of land that's not prone to flooding. This is where you're likely to find points, as these locations were most likely to be home to a camp or settlement. After a field's been plowed and a good downpour has occured is a good time, as the dust will then be washed away. Also you need to know the types of material used. In the SC piedmont that material is likely to be quartz. Look for that. Unfortunately quartz points aren't as impressive as other materials. It's harder to work.

It's wild how old some points are. People are still finding clovis points from the ice age.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topper_site

[O Really]

There's a walk we take that has some known settlement areas, along with some middens. Never thought to browse around for artifacts. We just had our first rain yesterday since January - maybe it would be a good time to go.

[Whack9]

Do it! Do some research on what to look out for in your area and see what you can spot.

Here in Upstate SC there used to be a lot of settlements along the Keowee river before it was damned up and and flooded. Also a lot of sites from before the Cherokee arrived in the area that were a mystery even to them.

[neoplacebo]

When I was a kid, now and then one of us would come across an arrowhead in the woods. I can only remember finding one. I just thought it was from some Indian's arrow that missed some target. But the ones I or my friends found were made from flint except for one time another guy found one that was a lighter color, probably quartz like Whack noted.

[Whack9]

Found this interesting: "Arrowhead" is sometimes a bit if a misnomer for most points found. Widespread use of the bow and arrow didn't really begin in the East until around 700-1000 AD. Prior to this, atlatls were mostly used. So a lot of the points found were used for atlatl spears. True arrowheads were actually really tiny, like the size of a fingernail. But for all intents and purposes, it's easier to just call them all arrowheads.

[O Really]

Do it! Do some research on what to look out for in your area and see what you can spot.

Here in Upstate SC there used to be a lot of settlements along the Keowee river before it was damned up and and flooded. Also a lot of sites from before the Cherokee arrived in the area that were a mystery even to them.

So we went out walking at the Batiquitos Lagoon, keeping an eye out for artifacts. We found one old small bowl, apparently representing some wares of the Tupper tribe. Other than that, the only Indian artifact we found was a casino chip. But we go there pretty often and will have a little different perspective.

The earliest pre-historic site at Batiquitos Lagoon has been dated to 8,000 years ago. Around the shoreline, nearly 200 different pre-historic sites have been recorded. There is evidence of middens (trash heaps made up of discarded shells), fire hearths, and other artifacts left by California Paleo-Indians (9000-3500 years ago) and more recently by the Kumeyaay (about 2300 years ago to about 1800 A.D.) showing that marine shellfish were harvested for thousands of years from Batiquitos Lagoon. This means the lagoon must have been open to tidal flushing at least part of the year in order to allow marine shellfish to survive in the lagoon.

[neoplacebo]

Found this interesting: "Arrowhead" is sometimes a bit if a misnomer for most points found. Widespread use of the bow and arrow didn't really begin in the East until around 700-1000 AD. Prior to this, atlatls were mostly used. So a lot of the points found were used for atlatl spears. True arrowheads were actually really tiny, like the size of a fingernail. But for all intents and purposes, it's easier to just call them all arrowheads.

All the ones we found as kids were pretty small. The length of them was about the same as the diameter of a half dollar and the width was about the same as the diameter of a nickel. None of us ever called them points.....just arrowheads.