I've hunted arrowheads my whole life but never turned the first piece of dirt to have to find one. I have acquired permission to dig this shelter and was wondering if it looks like a good spot? It faces east and there is a creek 300 yards or so below but it's straight down. Doesn't seem to have been dug before. Any experts have advice?
Dig site
- Thread starter XCR-2
- Start date
hayden01
Well-Known Member
No expert but looks promising. Keep us posted
X2. Burn marks tells me it's been used but I've never dug so just a novice opinion
I used to surface hunt so not a digger, but I know some guys that are prolific diggers, and the depths that they find good stuff in overhangs is mind boggling, as in ten to twelve feet deep at times. I had no idea that much dirt could wash/fill in over time.
Their advice to anyone is keep going til you think you've gone deep enough, then go some more. And don't be surprised if you find out someone else has backfilled the overhang from previous digging. It's hard to find places that haven't been dug.
Hope you find some good artifacts.
Their advice to anyone is keep going til you think you've gone deep enough, then go some more. And don't be surprised if you find out someone else has backfilled the overhang from previous digging. It's hard to find places that haven't been dug.
Hope you find some good artifacts.
Tennrock
Well-Known Member
take care of that loose rock first
Yes I noticed that as soon as I saw it. We didn't get under it. But I will have to get it down
I'm thinking Josh Owens might have had something to do with that.
Super cool! Keep us posted if you make more trips
Been looking forward to a update on this, thanks for sharing!
How deep did you have to go?
Most of those were at about a foot deep. I've been back and am now down to about 3 ft but have only found one small bird point. Still lots to dig, haven't put a dent in it
rooketnhunter
Well-Known Member
That's awesome
Tennrock
Well-Known Member
Any pottery, charcoal or shells yet?
We used to find a lot of snail & freshwater shells at sites like this.
We used to find a lot of snail & freshwater shells at sites like this.
any reason as to why? Were they eating them?
Native Americans ate everything they could find to survive. Snails, mussels, periwinkles, turtles, anything that had meat. We got to civilized over the years to eat the diet they did.
Tennrock
Well-Known Member
Yes. High protein and easy to gather. They ate a lot of mussels. We also found cooked bone fragments of raccoons, opossum, snakes, fish and lots of rodent teeth.
Periwinkles were the overwhelming majority, always missing the pointed end. Looks like they were cooked, end broken off to pull meat out.
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Just look at a shell mound on the TN River. The mussel shells were a HUGE part of their diet.
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I wouldn't expect to find any pottery under a rock shelter. Those cultures were still using deer stomachs and such for "pots".
Tennrock
Well-Known Member
You would be surprised.
