Ancient artifacts, West Virginia style.
We moved where we live now in November 1980. We were a young married couple with a newly built house, a 7 1/2 month old son and ancient artifacts beneath our soil. Our land was flat, which is unusual for West Virginia. They had to bulldoze our land a little so there would be a gradual slope away from the house. We kinda smoothed out our little acre and planted grass seed. This was in early November, so we never really had much grass until the following spring.
When walking around in our yard we started finding Indian points here and there. But by the following year our yard was covered with grass and we no longer were able to make any finds.
We planted a garden and that is where most of these were found. Every spring, after plowing and tilling, the artifacts would show up in the soil. You had to have a keen eye and be on the lookout, though, because most people wouldn't even notice them.
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Here are a few more
I find chips of flint all the time
I found these just this week, while walking through our garden spot. Our neighbors probably think I am crazy as they watch me slowly walk through the garden with my head down. But, that's okay. I'm prospecting.
I once had a comment on one of my blog posts about these. The commenter said I have an Ashtabula point dating at least 4000 yrs old and an Adena point around 1800 years old. He said that the notched points, with a flared out base separated by two notches are from the Archaic period which dates from 10,000 to 3000 B.P.. The points with the straight stem or base that narrows are from the Woodland period,which dates from 3000-1300 B.P.
He said that when you see a lot of flakes, it is not only possible that they knapped the arrowheads there, but they could have also processed game there. The flakes being a result of resharpening to give a sharper cutting edge to cut fat, bone and the like.
One of the best times to look for them is right after a rain.
Flint chips are interesting to me and I pick them up every time I see them, no matter how small they are.
Last summer I found quite a few points and lots and lots of flint chips!
Have you ever found any ancient artifacts?
Check out your plowed garden spot this spring and summer, and I bet you just might find some.
He said that when you see a lot of flakes, it is not only possible that they knapped the arrowheads there, but they could have also processed game there. The flakes being a result of resharpening to give a sharper cutting edge to cut fat, bone and the like.
One of the best times to look for them is right after a rain.
Flint chips are interesting to me and I pick them up every time I see them, no matter how small they are.
Last summer I found quite a few points and lots and lots of flint chips!
Have you ever found any ancient artifacts?
Check out your plowed garden spot this spring and summer, and I bet you just might find some.
Hi Janet,
ReplyDeleteYouhave a really nice collection. Guess we have this in common. The farm I was brought up on was on a river and the land had once been home to Indians. My Grandpa had a huge collection of things we would find when plowing the fields. pipes, arrow heads, skinning stones etc. Always wanted to be able to see back in time what it looked like then, you know, when the Indians were on the land. My Grandpa gave the whole collection to a local museum.
Nancy Jo
We have a small collection, things found by my husband and 2nd daughter; they have an eye for such things. He said, as a child, they found several arrow heads whenever the fields were plowed for corn. Now the fields are grassed over and cut for hay. The nice collection he had as a boy were traded to a city cousin for an old train set. City boy wanted the flints and country boy wanted a train. He can see now who got the better deal.
ReplyDeleteYep, the grandkiddos and I always find arrowheads in the creek bed when we're out hikin'.
ReplyDeleteThat's quite the collection ya have there!
I had to laugh just imaginin' your neighbors wonderin' what your doin' now! Heeeheehhe!
I never worry...I have no neighbors!
God bless ya sweet Janet and have a fantastically blessed weekend!!! :o)
What a fantastic collection you have! You must have so much fun looking for them in your garden every year. We find a few, but just a little further south from us, people fins A LOT of them. I think they are very interesting. How neat that someone commented with so much information on them!
ReplyDeleteYou have a gold mine!!
ReplyDeleteMy goodness, Janet! What a lot of great finds!
ReplyDeleteThat is a neat collection.. we have found a few over the years but not as many as you. I have a neighbor that has quite a good collection but not as many as yours..He found them on his place... We moved to our place in 1972, my son was almost a year old and we found a Silver Dollar in the back yard that was made in 71, the same year my son was born..It couldn't have been there long..It's always been a mystery as to where it came from..Our place had to be cleaned up pretty good to live on it but we never did any dozing as it didn't need it..
ReplyDeleteWhat incredible finds, Janet. I love the way you have them showcased. Beautiful. A part of our history.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to live in WV on my own land. Or better yet land owned by my ancestors. There is a piece of property still in the family and it's forest now. It's been years since I've visited.
Why is it that we are so attracted to relics from the past? Do we hope to find answers regarding our futures? All I know about it is this, I love anything that is from the past.
As you know I collect old dishes as I know you do. When I use them I always wonder what they were used for and by whom.
Blessings on a good relic season this spring.
Barb
What a lovely story. My imagination goes to work whenever I find some thing old. I have found some Aboriginal grinding stones as a kid. Not many around now. Isn't our past history a shame in the treatment of the original land owners?
ReplyDeleteLovely pictures too.
Janet, what a collection! I love finding things like this. One of my favorite things to do is hike and find old stuff.
ReplyDeleteWow! I can't believe you found all of those right in your backyard. So cool! My kids would go wild if we ever found anything like that.
ReplyDeleteWonderful! All I've ever found in our garden spot is broken glass that appears to be vintage 1988 Bud Light bottles!
ReplyDeleteJanet -- You have an amazing collection. I wonder if the man that gave you the info could recommend a book on native American arrowheads etc. Arrowheads and points can be found in my area of KY -- I have a few. -- barbara
ReplyDeleteThose are awesome finds! We live right in town so nt much room for a garden. We did find a broken pool ball in one of our flower beds which I thought was pretty random.
ReplyDeleteHi Janet! This is a wonderful post, how interesting. You have a great collection. I once found an arrowhead in the backyard of my home in California when we were doing some major digging for a new fence. I took it to a local Rancho museum and learned that the area where our tract homes were built, had once been an Indian settlement before the Spanish came. It was sure an exciting find. Have a lovely afternoon ahead! Delisa :)
ReplyDeleteWow Janet your collection if great! My brother Paul used to love to look for arrow heads-like you he'd go walking through everyones garden after it was first plowed each year. One of the girls found a good one at school of all places the other day-they were out in a field behind the school and she looked down and there it was!
ReplyDeleteI am always on the lookout for unusual finds, but never find anything. I think our farm is too far away from the river for a settlement to have been here.
ReplyDeleteMost of what I find are broken plow pieces from the years of cotton fields that were here.
What a wonderful collection! You provided some great information on them too. I love finding things of historic interest!
ReplyDelete