Thoughts on what this could be?

[trains]

Decent day digging. I'm not sure if this is a whitetail or elk antler, very heavy mass.

 

[Shag]

WOW! Amazing site and amazing finds! As others have said, you've hit the motherload there. I've never found a fluted head. And the antlers…again, WOW! You've truly found a special place. Congratulations!

 

[trains]

Thanks

 

[KTS]

Decent day digging. I'm not sure if this is a whitetail or elk antler, very heavy mass.

Pretty sure that is a whitetail antler. I have dug up some massive whitetail antlers, most have the points broken off to be used and made into tools.
I have some antler tips that have been hollowed out so they can be mounted on a shaft and used as a projectile point.

 

[CATCHDAWG]

Awesome finds man, this is the coolest thread I have seen in while!

 

[trains]

@KTS I would like to see a picture of the antlers and tips if you don't mind sharing.

 

[KTS]

@KTS I would like to see a picture of the antlers and tips if you don't mind sharing.

This is a set of antlers I dug up several years ago, I added the yardstick in the picture to show the approximate width and size. They were split into two pieces at the skull plate, I glued them back together.
This is a frame of bone that I have found, the antler projectiles are in each lower corner and in the center of the frame.

 

[trains]

Wow that is amazing. You have found several, curious how many different locations did all this come from. I don't think I have enough yrs left to ever put something like that together, I'm getting a late start on collecting. Lol

 

[KTS]

I know what you mean, I haven't been able to dig now for around five years. I will be 82 if I make it to August.
These pieces came from several different sites over a period of
at least ten to fifteen years, probably more. Lots of digging, lol.

 

[trains]

Obviously you have been very successful on finding artifacts. I will be 58 in august and have just started digging this year back in January. It is addicting for me to say the least.

 

[trains]

This shelter just keeps on giving. This spade is in perfect condition, unfortunately I was not the one who found it. Great to see anyhow.

 

[PossumSlayer]

This shelter just keeps on giving. This spade is in perfect condition, unfortunately I was not the one who found it. Great to see anyhow.

Makes me wonder what the story is on stuff like this being left behind… a lot of work went into making this stuff!

 

[338lapuaman]

Makes me wonder what the story is on stuff like this being left behind… a lot of work went into making this stuff!

Just a quick question for you, do you carry every bullet and every gun and every tool with you when you go hunting? You don't pack the whole house every time you go on a trip? Not being a smart *** but thats the way a salty old man that got me into hunting artifacts put it to me when I started hunting native American artifacts. Some times when we would dig or hunt certain areas you were likely to turn up several what they call "pre fab or pre form" or even several seemingly just alike in one spot especially around bluff shelters and hunting grounds. You have to stop and think too how much a bag of rocks weigh versus the minimal amount of time it would take a skilled craftsman to re-create what they had made over and over again. Me and 2 of my buddies found a cache of 152 pinetree arrowheads in one spot that was in a 40ft x 60ft area. We "assumed" the person that lived there was an expert at making that style of arrowhead and then we came back the next year and found 2 more same spot that there wasn't a dimes bit of difference in any of them other than color and some were chipped or broken. This being said it didn't take them long to turn out the smaller points and the tools they made and used were made crude and rough made out of lesser material due to it not having to be as refined since they held them in their hands and dug in the dirt with them. The larger ceremonial points, jewelry and ceremonial pieces and bowls were the things they took high value in and carried with them. What is a tremendous find for people that hunt them may have been something Native Americans didn't put much value in back then due to the excessive wait and cumbersome task of carrying it all with them because they were a true nomadic people constantly on the move based on food and water sources and weather and rival tribes. "Pre fab or Pre form" are generally knapped out to size and shape without the tips or bases put on them and refined to detail for end use. The 1st one on his wrist is an example of pre form or pre fab next to the spade. Also to take into account is that "generally" the wider the point and the longer the point is the "Gen 1" of the point, much like your pocket knife or skinning knife the Native Americans "re-shaped" arrowheads much like we do with knives. They would re-use what they had or found if they thought they could. hence a lot of drill points are basically re-shaped arrowheads that couldn't be used for hunting. Not trying to sound like a "know it all" but through many years of research and many years of hunting those are just some of the things I have learned that are also things I would have never thought about on my own. If you ever get south take a trip over to Florence Alabama and visit the Indian Museum they have case after case of points found in North Alabama or Go to Savannah Tn to their River Museum on the square there is a lot of good info there from Native Americans all the way to through the civil war that was found all along the Tennessee River mostly around Savannah TN.

 

[cbhunter]

Just a quick question for you, do you carry every bullet and every gun and every tool with you when you go hunting? You don't pack the whole house every time you go on a trip? Not being a smart *** but thats the way a salty old man that got me into hunting artifacts put it to me when I started hunting native American artifacts. Some times when we would dig or hunt certain areas you were likely to turn up several what they call "pre fab or pre form" or even several seemingly just alike in one spot especially around bluff shelters and hunting grounds. You have to stop and think too how much a bag of rocks weigh versus the minimal amount of time it would take a skilled craftsman to re-create what they had made over and over again. Me and 2 of my buddies found a cache of 152 pinetree arrowheads in one spot that was in a 40ft x 60ft area. We "assumed" the person that lived there was an expert at making that style of arrowhead and then we came back the next year and found 2 more same spot that there wasn't a dimes bit of difference in any of them other than color and some were chipped or broken. This being said it didn't take them long to turn out the smaller points and the tools they made and used were made crude and rough made out of lesser material due to it not having to be as refined since they held them in their hands and dug in the dirt with them. The larger ceremonial points, jewelry and ceremonial pieces and bowls were the things they took high value in and carried with them. What is a tremendous find for people that hunt them may have been something Native Americans didn't put much value in back then due to the excessive wait and cumbersome task of carrying it all with them because they were a true nomadic people constantly on the move based on food and water sources and weather and rival tribes. "Pre fab or Pre form" are generally knapped out to size and shape without the tips or bases put on them and refined to detail for end use. The 1st one on his wrist is an example of pre form or pre fab next to the spade. Also to take into account is that "generally" the wider the point and the longer the point is the "Gen 1" of the point, much like your pocket knife or skinning knife the Native Americans "re-shaped" arrowheads much like we do with knives. They would re-use what they had or found if they thought they could. hence a lot of drill points are basically re-shaped arrowheads that couldn't be used for hunting. Not trying to sound like a "know it all" but through many years of research and many years of hunting those are just some of the things I have learned that are also things I would have never thought about on my own. If you ever get south take a trip over to Florence Alabama and visit the Indian Museum they have case after case of points found in North Alabama or Go to Savannah Tn to their River Museum on the square there is a lot of good info there from Native Americans all the way to through the civil war that was found all along the Tennessee River mostly around Savannah TN.

Pics of pine trees if you don't mind, that's awesome!

 

[Joe2Kool]

I think the OP is a rock.

But some kool finds on the others!

 

[trains]

I was digging this past weekend below a shelter and found this nutting stone and laying basically on top of the nutting stone was this white looking thin rock. I never seen anything like this and it looked very out of place as far as being natural. Does anyone know what this could be or used for if it is an artifact?

 

[jc0313]

I was digging this past weekend below a shelter and found this nutting stone and laying basically on top of the nutting stone was this white looking thin rock. I never seen anything like this and it looked very out of place as far as being natural. Does anyone know what this could be or used for if it is an artifact?

Looks like the preform to a gorget.

 

[Joe2Kool]

Nice finds. I used to find all kinds of neat stuff in the recently plowed fields of eastern NC.

 

[trains]

Have another one that I am not sure of, any thoughts?

 

[cbhunter]

Have another one that I am not sure of, any thoughts?

Interesting but no clue