Post by Sabre52 on Aug 30, 2016 19:16:52 GMT -5
Howdy folks,
Was going through some boxes the other day and found some more Amerind stuff. Some I may have posted before but most not. I was very fortunate that, working in ranching , wildlife biology and agriculture, I often had access to private ranches owned by friends and got to poke around places most folks never see, with permission of course. Anyway, I mainly liked to pick up points but sometimes other little things were of interest. Sadly, lots of my finds were in places where no collecting was allowed so those things are still there. My most memorable find in that class was when I was hiking in a national park and stumbled upon a whole village site blown from the dunes. The site actually contained manos still sitting on top of the metates and a stone anvil with partially hammered metal arrowheads sitting right by it. Very cool to see and actually gave me shivers wondering why the site was suddenly abandoned. Probably has sand blown back over it by now. Here are a couple pics....Mel
Beads: Glass trade beads, French, Spanish, Russian (the deep blue ones), Hollow bird bone beads, clamshell beads ( the tiny ones in the box are about 1/8 inch), Steatite beads ( black ones), a clay bead, and abalone and clam pendant fragments. Round one on right is a drilled fish vertebra and the long back one id fire darkened drilled bone.
Oddball stuff: Pumice shaft straightner, ancient punched olive shell paleo beads, drills )(a couple from obsidian needles), a thick obsidian triangular section knapped punch, musket and pistol balls and percussion caps and a drilled steatite pipe fragment. The one little box of beads shows the vast extent of trade routes to one village way out on the Oregon desert where it was being subdivided for homes. Trade beads from many nations including a big brown Russian (first brown one I've ever seen) and even a Dentalium ( tooth) shell from way out on the coastal mudflats. The amorphous quartz crystals are called Lake County Diamonds and pepper all the Miwok sites and are usually found on dug house pit floors. Maybe used as decorations or medicine bundle stuff. Rancher I was digging with found a point made from one on one of our digs.
Was going through some boxes the other day and found some more Amerind stuff. Some I may have posted before but most not. I was very fortunate that, working in ranching , wildlife biology and agriculture, I often had access to private ranches owned by friends and got to poke around places most folks never see, with permission of course. Anyway, I mainly liked to pick up points but sometimes other little things were of interest. Sadly, lots of my finds were in places where no collecting was allowed so those things are still there. My most memorable find in that class was when I was hiking in a national park and stumbled upon a whole village site blown from the dunes. The site actually contained manos still sitting on top of the metates and a stone anvil with partially hammered metal arrowheads sitting right by it. Very cool to see and actually gave me shivers wondering why the site was suddenly abandoned. Probably has sand blown back over it by now. Here are a couple pics....Mel
Beads: Glass trade beads, French, Spanish, Russian (the deep blue ones), Hollow bird bone beads, clamshell beads ( the tiny ones in the box are about 1/8 inch), Steatite beads ( black ones), a clay bead, and abalone and clam pendant fragments. Round one on right is a drilled fish vertebra and the long back one id fire darkened drilled bone.
Oddball stuff: Pumice shaft straightner, ancient punched olive shell paleo beads, drills )(a couple from obsidian needles), a thick obsidian triangular section knapped punch, musket and pistol balls and percussion caps and a drilled steatite pipe fragment. The one little box of beads shows the vast extent of trade routes to one village way out on the Oregon desert where it was being subdivided for homes. Trade beads from many nations including a big brown Russian (first brown one I've ever seen) and even a Dentalium ( tooth) shell from way out on the coastal mudflats. The amorphous quartz crystals are called Lake County Diamonds and pepper all the Miwok sites and are usually found on dug house pit floors. Maybe used as decorations or medicine bundle stuff. Rancher I was digging with found a point made from one on one of our digs.
