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Tips on finding arrow heads #6551479
06/08/19 08:02 AM
06/08/19 08:02 AM
Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 405
Michigan
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BullOx Offline OP
trapper
BullOx  Offline OP
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Joined: Jul 2016
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Michigan
Anyone have any tips on finding them? I know they're in my area because people in my area including my dad have found things left by natives but I can't find any to save my life


Trapping is easy you say? You try getting your target animal to step in a 3 inch area of its whole territory.
Re: Tips on finding arrow heads [Re: BullOx] #6551491
06/08/19 08:21 AM
06/08/19 08:21 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 21,536
Sandhills Nebraska
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Gary Benson Offline
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Sandhills Nebraska
Usually near creeks and waterways, and on elevated humps and such where Indians would put a camp or village to stay out of flood water.


Life ain't supposed to be easy.
Re: Tips on finding arrow heads [Re: BullOx] #6551494
06/08/19 08:22 AM
06/08/19 08:22 AM
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 3,716
SW Pa
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wr otis Offline
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wr otis  Offline
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SW Pa
Worked up ground after a rain, flint washes clean and sticks out like a sore thumb in the right conditions.

Re: Tips on finding arrow heads [Re: BullOx] #6551515
06/08/19 08:57 AM
06/08/19 08:57 AM
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 3,009
ohio
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tomahawker Offline
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tomahawker  Offline
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Joined: May 2009
Posts: 3,009
ohio
High ground next to water. If worked ground all the better but not necessary. Walk all gullies in these fields. As above after rain they have a shiny glassy look. You can find one anywhere, but rocks of about the same size as arrow heads on top of ground is a plus, rocks wash up in similar sizes. Any flint shards also great sign. Stop and smell the roses, many times I’ve found them just standing still. Spotted them from tractor cab as well. Primary colors are black, red, grey. But not always! Jet black is mostly around here, nothing in fields look like that but black trash bags. You’ll find more going slow than fast. Find a place with flint shards and pieces, walk slow. I’ve found more than couple while taking a whiz. Here are some broken, crude finds which is what’s mostly out there.[Linked Image]

Re: Tips on finding arrow heads [Re: BullOx] #6551518
06/08/19 09:04 AM
06/08/19 09:04 AM
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 3,009
ohio
T
tomahawker Offline
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Joined: May 2009
Posts: 3,009
ohio
Once in awhile you find a perfect one. While fishing at neighbors pond, it literally was right there at the edge under an inch of water.[Linked Image]

Re: Tips on finding arrow heads [Re: BullOx] #6551523
06/08/19 09:11 AM
06/08/19 09:11 AM
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 3,009
ohio
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tomahawker Offline
trapper
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ohio
Completely off topic, but that rich blue is the slipcase to this book. Pricey but well worth it. Tons of photos on glossy paper. Top notch read.[Linked Image]

Re: Tips on finding arrow heads [Re: BullOx] #6551529
06/08/19 09:23 AM
06/08/19 09:23 AM
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 848
Michigan
coonlove Offline
trapper
coonlove  Offline
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 848
Michigan
Learn the flint types found in your area. Also learn to recognize fire cracked rock as an indicator of settlement.
You are in Michigan so Bayport chert may be one of the types in your area depending on what part of the state.
I live a few miles from the quarry that it is found in.


"I'm the paterfamilias"
Re: Tips on finding arrow heads [Re: BullOx] #6551534
06/08/19 09:29 AM
06/08/19 09:29 AM
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 848
Michigan
coonlove Offline
trapper
coonlove  Offline
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 848
Michigan
Also if you live close to a chapter of the Michigan Archaeology Society, you can attend a meeting or 2. Obviously no one is going to give you any of their best spots, but a view of local collections would be beneficial. They sometimes have society projects that you can be involved in.


"I'm the paterfamilias"
Re: Tips on finding arrow heads [Re: BullOx] #6551544
06/08/19 09:47 AM
06/08/19 09:47 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 29,750
williamsburg ks
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danny clifton Offline
"Grumpy Old Man"
danny clifton  Offline
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Joined: Dec 2006
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williamsburg ks
[Linked Image]


I found this on a job site. Had been seeing lots of chips. Creek runs through there with clear water in it. Most of the water around here is muddy. I'm sure it was used often as a living spot. Most of the stuff I've found is in the dry country of the west. Even pastures the grass is not generally real thick. Around here artifacts are found in row crop fields and creek bottoms that are not grown up in vegetation. Pretty hard to find them when you cant see the dirt.


Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Re: Tips on finding arrow heads [Re: BullOx] #6551569
06/08/19 11:00 AM
06/08/19 11:00 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 11,165
Central NC
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traprjohn Offline
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Central NC
walk recently plowed fields shortly AFTER a rain and look for just a corner poking out of the dirt.

use a walking staff or something to dig a bit to avoid bending over 5000 times in an afternoon.


www.sevenoakstrappingsupplies.com for trap mods and gear
The 10 Commandments are not suggestions.
Buy a soldiers meal EVERY chance you can.

Re: Tips on finding arrow heads [Re: BullOx] #6551580
06/08/19 11:31 AM
06/08/19 11:31 AM
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 7,110
Warren, (Southeast) Texas
ETexTrapper Offline
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ETexTrapper  Offline
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Warren, (Southeast) Texas
[Linked Image]
Both of these were found in old washed out logging roads.


Jordan ADC and Trap Modification
Re: Tips on finding arrow heads [Re: BullOx] #6551583
06/08/19 11:43 AM
06/08/19 11:43 AM
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 14,800
Greene County,Virginia
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run Online sick
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run  Online Sick
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Greene County,Virginia
Nice thread. Thanks.


wanna be goat farmer.
Re: Tips on finding arrow heads [Re: BullOx] #6551598
06/08/19 12:30 PM
06/08/19 12:30 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 2,134
So. IL
pintail_drake04 Offline
trapper
pintail_drake04  Offline
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Posts: 2,134
So. IL
I find local chert and pottery shards near water. I stand in the creek/water source and look UP towards high ground. People don't till ground anymore, so waiting for a heavy rain to wash new material up helps. Knowing the types of chert available in your area, and subsequently where it is located is paramount in my opinion. If you can find where the chert was quarried at, then you can look at maps and find routes from known settlements.

I find I can make them easier than I can find them. I try to use locally sourced material to replicate the points found near me. I have found points dearly identical to the ones I make.

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

Re: Tips on finding arrow heads [Re: BullOx] #6551619
06/08/19 01:17 PM
06/08/19 01:17 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 29,750
williamsburg ks
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danny clifton Offline
"Grumpy Old Man"
danny clifton  Offline
"Grumpy Old Man"
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 29,750
williamsburg ks
wow pintail. I believe you would have been a wealthy stone age tradesman


Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Re: Tips on finding arrow heads [Re: BullOx] #6551626
06/08/19 02:16 PM
06/08/19 02:16 PM
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 316
PA
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cablejohn Offline
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PA
Very good advice above. Not much plowing anymore but when someone near a stream does ,get in there. They followed large streams and camped on high ground nearby. Most camps around me had a spring. They are usually tiled now but drain into the stream. Sometimes I walk the corn rows and the roots push them up. I really hate no till!

Re: Tips on finding arrow heads [Re: BullOx] #6551648
06/08/19 04:20 PM
06/08/19 04:20 PM
Joined: Mar 2019
Posts: 1,497
Southern NJ
maintenanceguy Offline
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maintenanceguy  Offline
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Southern NJ
My grandfather had a cigar box full of arrow heads. He started out farming with a team of horses and was standing right behind the plow watching the ground get turned up all day.


-Ryan
Re: Tips on finding arrow heads [Re: IllinoisTraps58] #6551688
06/08/19 06:21 PM
06/08/19 06:21 PM
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 5,570
Dunbar, Wisconsin
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Pike River Offline
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Joined: Oct 2018
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Dunbar, Wisconsin
Originally Posted by Horse Creek Fur

Originally Posted by Gary Benson
Usually near creeks and waterways, and on elevated humps and such where Indians would put a camp or village to stay out of flood water.

This. Also on the east side of the water where it’s the highest ground but that’s not set in stone. You’ll know you’re in the right spot when you find flint chips. If they spent any time at one spot there will be chips from knapping. Sand hills or just a very high spot could be further from water but was a good hunting spot. But if they were there for any length of time you’ll find the chips. Keep looking and good luck!

Great thread!

Why the east side?

Re: Tips on finding arrow heads [Re: BullOx] #6551694
06/08/19 06:40 PM
06/08/19 06:40 PM
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 3,852
meadowview, Virginia
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EdP Offline
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Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 3,852
meadowview, Virginia
My dad used to find them by looking in the spoils pile at a cemetery where he visited his mom's grave. When new graves were dug there was always excess soil and a place where it was dumped. That's where he looked. Like others pointed out, it is freshly turned soil.

A coworker was a collector and found bucket loads in LBL in Ky. He would walk the shores of islands in the lakes (high points) after a rain event that caused water levels to rise and fall.

Re: Tips on finding arrow heads [Re: BullOx] #6551804
06/08/19 10:53 PM
06/08/19 10:53 PM
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 3,716
SW Pa
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wr otis Offline
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Joined: Jun 2008
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SW Pa
They were all over here, high low and everywhere in between. Ten thousand plus years of occupation, they were all over. Burn up all the wood in one spot, move down the ridge a hundred feet. Also believe they moved up and down the hills with the season, where ever the temperature was most comfortable.

Re: Tips on finding arrow heads [Re: BullOx] #6551881
06/09/19 07:31 AM
06/09/19 07:31 AM
Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 405
Michigan
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BullOx Offline OP
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BullOx  Offline OP
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Michigan
Thanks for the advice everyone, I really appreciate it


Trapping is easy you say? You try getting your target animal to step in a 3 inch area of its whole territory.
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