I live close to a big river not known for gold but had to get out last weekend to play in the dirt. While digging I came across a couple pieces about the size of a quarter that looked like pottery. I thought nothing of it until I got home. I started researching the towns history and found out that back in the 1980's there was a large excavation of an ancient Indian settlement along the river. Less than a mile from where I live. I learned that some of the artifacts recovered are up to 3500 years old. While going through countless pages of info, I came across a link to a local University. They have a museum that has a collection of native artifacts so I had to go check it out. Very impressive! Not just local relics. Artifacts from all over the world and from all points in history. Funny how prospecting got my wheels turning and led me to a museum.
As the post title says, I learned 2 important lessons this week......
1. Whether you're on state, federal or private land, a little homework beyond who the property owner is could reveal a historic signifigance which can be trouble for you if you dig there.
2. When digging in an area with history like this, spend an extra few seconds looking through your classifier. It would be real easy to throw out a valuable artifact.
I took a lot of pics at the museum and this is some of the artifacts recovered from my area.
This is a trade silver brooch that was popular in the 17-1800's...
I've learned a lot in the last week. All because of a couple small clay pieces in my pan......
Comments
Went for a walk along the river yesterday and found these pieces. They look like pottery to me but have no clue about that kind of stuff. I brought a couple home to take pics of. Any ideas as to what they were a part of?
This is about 1" thick...
This is 1/4" thick and darker red...
This one has me even more puzzled. Has a black glaze on one side and orange stripes on the other...
Dont know if there is any signifigance to them or not, but still interesting finds anyways.
Watching your Classifier is a good thought I pulled a compleat arrow head out of mine last year !
true you never know what you will find ...
Thats is the fun thing about prospecting you never know what you will find. On the farm we lived at as a kid we found old pot and cups and hammers.