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Post by RickB on Dec 30, 2019 16:44:58 GMT -5
"Land Animals From the sea" Edisto Beach SC Here's an interesting "Regional Review" article published in 1939 about the Edisto Beach, SC area where fossils and newer remains are washing up. This is my favorite hunting area this time of year as it's milder on the coast. www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/regional_review/vol3-3b.htm |
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Post by RickB on Jan 6, 2020 14:43:01 GMT -5
Here's a recent video of the Indian shell rings here in the South Carolina low country. All but one of the rings that are shown are right here on Edisto Island SC. Rick B www.koelkerassociates.com/the-ring-peopleThe direct link to the full video will not play here but you can see it by clicking their "See it on VIMEO" link. "Forty centuries ago, ancient natives left their mark on the landscape of coastal South Carolina. Today, archaeologists from SC DNR, a dozen universities and the National Park Service search for clues to our earliest-known coastal dwellers. The story takes viewers to remote sites as scientists discover the ancient South Carolinians who built monumental rings of shell." |
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Post by RickB on Jan 9, 2020 9:09:04 GMT -5
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Jan 9, 2020 9:35:09 GMT -5
Congrats on your find! That is awesome.
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Post by knave on Jan 9, 2020 9:42:23 GMT -5
Congrats on your find! That is awesome. X2 |
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Post by rockjunquie on Jan 9, 2020 10:19:02 GMT -5
Very cool! Glad you knew what it was. I would walk right past it.
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Post by amygdule on Jan 9, 2020 13:13:10 GMT -5
That's a cool find. What are your beaches like there? Are you hounding gravel bars?
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Post by RickB on Jan 9, 2020 14:53:44 GMT -5
Very cool! Glad you knew what it was. I would walk right past it. I knew it wasn't a seashell. Just a corner of it was sticking out from the sand and water. |
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Post by RickB on Jan 9, 2020 15:13:05 GMT -5
That's a cool find. What are your beaches like there? Are you hounding gravel bars? Amygdule, unlike your gravel bars on the west coast, at Edisto we have sandy beaches with plenty of oyster and clam shells. Here's information on a fossil collecting site I go to along the South Carolina coast. Best time for me has been during the winter when it's cold and windy (cold keeps the fair weather collectors away and wind/waves stir up the shell base). I put this info together using my information and parts from several internet sources. I took the photos in (2011). Rick B Fossil Collecting at Edisto Island SC. Fossils can be found by walking northward from Edisto Beach State Park up to Jeremey Cay (this is the first small inlet). It is about a mile walk from the state park to the inlet and the best collecting is at the inlet during low tide. You can pick up fossils and shells along the way, but the highest concentration of fossils is at the inlet. It is recommended to arrive at the inlet several hours prior to low tide. There is a shallow "delta" that forms as the tide recedes. At low tide, the water is a few inches to a foot or so deep in some places and any bones and teeth contrast nicely from the sand and shells. If you cross the inlet to Eddingsville Beach, be sure to come back before the tide comes in as the inlet gets a very strong current ripping through it. The inlet is constantly changing and the strong currents wash the shell base around each tide cycle and expose the collecting area. During cold weather months I highly recommend boots for wading in the creek/inlet and a tool to reach down in the cold water to retrieve with. This site has been well known for many years and gets picked over pretty good so results will vary. I have had best results while wading the inlet during low tide The paleontological fossil site at the north end of Edisto Island at Jeremy Cay has yielded a rich assortment of Pliocene and Pleistocene fossils (1.9 million years to 10,000 years ago). These include both land, fresh water and marine creatures. The land animals include mammoth, mastodon, giant sloth, bison, horse, camel, llama, capybara, armadillo, glyptodon, deer, elk, large cats, various freshwater turtles, alligators and numerous small mammals. The marine animals include whales, dolphins, manatees, saltwater turtles, many species of Miocene sharks, rays, drum fish and numerous others. Most of the fossils are black but some are brown in color. I have found clear to amber colored calcite crystal formations inside fossil shell conglomerates - the crystals form inside the welks, oysters and olive shells, etc. www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/regional_review/vol3-3b.htmEddingsville Beach refers to the colonial town of Eddingsville, a seaside resort used by local plantation owners that was actually several hundred yards out from where Jeremy's inlet presently lies. The town was destroyed by hurricaines in the late 1800's and the barrier island wiped out. It is possible to find broken porcelain, brick, oyster shell tabby, old coins, nails, broken bottle shards and even some colonial pottery shards from the late 1700's through late 19th century there. If you are lucky, it is also possible to find Indian pottery and stone projectile points. There are so many shells and Indian pottery in the Jeremy Cay area that I suspect that there may have been a Native American shell midden at this spot. Eddingsville (South Carolina's Atlantis): www.jeremycay.com/p/History-of-Jeremy-Cay/article/Lost-But-Not-Forgotten-1916987802Savannah River Style Stemmed Point  Worm Colony  Limestone w/oysters & Brick  Shells  Bones and Fossils (quarter for size)  Directions: From Columbia SC (distance 131 miles): Traveling down I-26 East toward Charleston SC, take Exit 169A onto I-95 South. Take Walterboro Exit 57 onto SC-64 (this becomes a loop that goes through the town and heads back to the second Walterboro exit on I-95). Midway on the loop through Walterboro, take a left at the Edisto Beach sign onto highway SC-64 E (Hampton St) and go to Jacksonboro SC (appx 15 miles) At Jacksonboro, SC-64 E becomes US-17 E. Turn left on US-17 E and go (appx 7 miles) toward Charleston SC. Turn right at the Edisto Beach sign onto SC-174 and go appx 3 miles to Adams Run. Turn right to stay on SC-174 and go (appx 15 miles) to Edisto Island. When the road meets the beach/pier, you will see the state park/beach on the left. There is a $8.00 entry fee per person. Edisto Beach State Park has two camping areas - beachside camping or Live Oak Campground. Live Oak Campground (and sign-in for both camping areas) is on the right side of (SC-174). Beachside camping is on the left, near the collecting area. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Local sites to visit: A popular place to crab and fish is Steamboat Landing. It is located at the end of Steamboat Landing Rd. which is a left turn off (SC-174) 6.2 miles after you cross the big bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway. Botany Bay Plantation WMA (Wildlife Management Area) is located at the end of Botany Bay Rd, which is on the left side of the main road (SC-174) 8.6 miles after you cross the big bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway. There is a free drive thru tour of the plantation ruins and the beach can be accessed by using the causeway over the marsh (1/2 mile walk). There is no shell, fossil or artifact collecting allowed on this property but bring a camera or fishing rod along. Edisto Beach State Park has an Interpretive Center (museum), boat landing and Indian shell mound located on the park property. There is a sign (which directs you there) on the right side of the main road (SC-174) 11.1 miles after you cross the big bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway. The Interpretive Center features a video about the ACE Basin and natural attractions. It also has displays of local shells, fossils, artifacts and marine/wildlife displays. Just past the Interpretive Center is the boat landing where you can launch a boat to crab or fish. Located on the left side of the landing parking lot is a trail with directions to the creek and indian Shell Mound. No collecting is allowed around the shell mound. Note (2017): The boardwalk in front of the indian shell mound was destroyed by recent hurricanes and is now closed. Archeologists have excavated what's remaining of the mound to save artifacts and the shell mound will not be saved. It will be reclaimed by the sea as it erodes into the creek. Shell mound as it was slowly eroding back into the sea  |
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Post by amygdule on Jan 10, 2020 11:44:10 GMT -5
That looks like fun stuff to collect RickB Thank you for sharing. We find those worm colonies on the West coast too. They are called Pacific Fission Worms over here. I've found a few huge boulders of it weighing nearly 100 pounds. Happy Hunting    |
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Post by RickB on Jan 10, 2020 13:51:05 GMT -5
Yeah, I had to get two people to help me load up one of those worm tube boulders. I dragged it from the beach in a plastic cement mixing tub a few feet at a time. It's a yard rock now.
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Post by RocksInNJ on Jan 11, 2020 0:01:46 GMT -5
Those are some really cool finds. Thanks for sharing and for all the info as well.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,722 
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Post by Fossilman on Jan 12, 2020 10:23:13 GMT -5
awesome finds for sure!
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Post by RickB on Jan 20, 2020 12:54:59 GMT -5
Framed up some shark teeth last night in a 12"x 16" frame. Most were found through the years at Edisto Beach or other local locations. A few were given to me (big Meg tooth) - Sharpie for size.  Edit: adding another photo to this thread. Turtle shell scutes upper right. Camelid jaw bone with teeth.  |
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Post by 1dave on Jan 20, 2020 13:02:13 GMT -5
"Land Animals From the sea" Edisto Beach SC Here's an interesting "Regional Review" article published in 1939 about the Edisto Beach, SC area where fossils and newer remains are washing up. This is my favorite hunting area this time of year as it's milder on the coast. www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/regional_review/vol3-3b.htmThanks Rick!  |
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Post by RickB on Feb 11, 2021 11:40:31 GMT -5
As promised, here are photos of a few of the fossils I found at Edisto Beach this last trip. Didn't find very many this time as there has not been any recent storms to stir things up. Nice great white shark tooth, a horse lower leg bone, a couple unidentified teeth, vertebrae, barb and a large and heavy turtle scute.     |
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,722
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Post by Fossilman on Feb 11, 2021 12:58:44 GMT -5
Your in fossil heaven for sure!!
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Post by jasoninsd on Feb 11, 2021 17:40:50 GMT -5
Rick - thanks for resurrecting this thread! I hadn't seen it before! The fossil finds are amazing! I love the Mastodon tooth and the turtle scute! My wife loved seeing the framed shark teeth! You and amygdule showed pictures of worm colonies. I keep finding these pieces here in SD - mainly at Railroad Buttes - which have a very similar appearance. I'm now wondering if that's what these things are. They've always been found with hollow tubes, but this last time, I found a piece where there is material in the tubes...and not debris. It looks like a quartz-like material running through the tubes. |
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rockhoundoz
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2017
Posts: 135
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Post by rockhoundoz on Feb 13, 2021 17:02:47 GMT -5
What a varied array of cool finds! The mastodon tooth has such a beautiful texture & dark color, especially striking on the top surface, onyx-like 👍.
Horse leg bone/phalanx also stands out as super interesting! Would be cool to find some fossilized 'knuckle'/talus bones!
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Post by RickB on Feb 8, 2023 10:58:13 GMT -5
Had a two mile walk along Edisto Beach at 6:30am. Found a few shells, two sand dollars and a couple small fossils. At the end of my walk I found this nice fossil bison tooth right at the entrance to campground. Yesterday my brother in law found a twenty dollar bill in the surf. 
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