Cool find

[AtticaFish]

With the spring temps finally getting to Ohio, my wife and kids decided to go for a walk tonight through the corn stuble field by our house. Not 100 yards from our house my wife stopped, bent over and picked this up.

Found several other smaller fragments of flint in the general area also, but this was the only finished piece. The tied on end is broken, but still pretty cool to find this so close to home and imagine the history of our area.

 

[Radtexan]

Great find...Ive done lots of hiking out here in some well inhabited Indian grounds...but have never had such luck..

 

[oldfox]

Very nice Russ...a great find!

 

[ScottV]

That's cool Russ! I've got a friend that's into Indian relics big time. We have lots of Choctaw history around here. It started with arrow heads and is ending with casinos.

 

[CrappieHappy]

nice find Russ!

 

[JSC]

Great Find for this day and time when most areas have been gone over with a fine comb.

When I was a kid they were a lot easier to find .. the only ones found now in this area are found when "Diggins" are made for new construction.

JSC

 

[jjsjigs]

very cool.

 

[hhawkins]

Attica that is a nice arrow point! So many arrow points didn't make it into the future for being broke off in the animal that was being hunted. Man, that is awsome! You either had a hunting party that based in your area or a whole village. You never know you might find other things on your property - pots, knives, pipes...etc.

 

[Jig Man]

Dad and I did a bunch of rock hunting when he was alive... Cool to find one that has been worked and think what the builder was thinking when he or she was working it. Nice find!

 

[upnort16]

Very neat piece of history you collected. I live in a historical native american area and countless artifacts are found annually. A vegetable farmer in the area accumulates "points" by the shoebox! One section was aquried by the university for an archaelogical dig, once a village is their thought. Just think of the hand work involved making that device to obtain food, oh wait you do that with fishing jigs!

 

[Hawnjigs]

Holy chert! Out my way, finding an artifact is considered a gift from the old ones. My best find was a stone adze head which I enjoyed for awhile then gifted to someone whose family went back much further than my 3 generations. Who knows, maybe the maker was one of his great great great great etc. grandpas.

However, one has to distinguish between random and burial artifacts - the latter often brings bad juju to the one that disturbs the site.

 

[AtticaFish]

It is in a (very) obscure way similar to what we are doing here. I can't stress VERY enough. ha! Jigs are not dependent on if we find food to survive, but just the thought of having to make your own tools to survive and raise your family is crazy and so simple at the same time.

Hawn - shhhhh! I don't need no bad juju... and besides - my wife touched it first.


The imediate area i live in had alot of native american activity and many schools and counties still carry their name sake.... Huron, Wyandot, Ottawa, Hopewell, Mohawk, Lakota are all names from very close by and the county i live in is Seneca County.

After finding the arrowhead, i did some internet research since i knew very little about the history of my own area. :blush: It turns out the section East of the Sandusky River (exactly where i live) was designated as a reservation in 1817 for a tribe that was thought to be affiliated with the Iroquois/Seneca tribe originaly from the Seneca Lake area of New York. Go figure, the Govt. was wrong and they were not even Seneca's, but actually a tribe of Mohawk, Wyandot, Logan and others. By 1831, the tribe ceded their land to the govt. and emigrated to SW Missouri to the Neosho River area. I also came across a site with some extensive info - Seneca County, OH - about halfway down the page there is a long article about a Col. James Smith who was captured by the indians and lived with them in the 1750's. Has some articles about how they fished, hunted and gathered back then. Lots to read though.

 

[upnort16]

Yes, making a fishing jig is not the same as an arrowhead for certain. It perhaps was not the best comparison to drive home the fact that your found artifact was painstakingly formed by hand and a crucial part of survival. Native American life, the whole way of living from what was found or made could be an entire forum by itself. Way back in my younger years, I participated in a living history group which portrayed the Ohio River Valley, Cumberland Valley longhunters. Buckskinning is what it is known as. Like making fishing lures, there is a whole group devoted to leather tanning, blacksmithing, black powder rifles and all of the accessories needed for everyday life. Every skill practiced then is re-enacted today. Items such as a knife were essential tools that were fashioned from materials and methods handed down from one generation to the next, and many exist in collections today. I commend you for researching your area and encourage you to continue, your area is rich with early american history and native american culture. I think you would be amazed at what you learn as was I.

 

[toadfrog]

Great find . Have you ever thought about trying to make one. If there are deposits of flint in your area look for the gray flint it has a glass look to it . Makes a beautiful arrow head works nicely with even flakes. Wish I had some . If you try it . wear saftey glasses and be prepared to have many nicks an abrasions from flying chips. A flint serrated knife can cut frozen meat and your palm to the very bone.

 

[AtticaFish]

Took the dog for a walk between two of the corn fields right behind the house tonight and found the top one (center) laying completely exposed on the soil. I've walked this path at least a dozen times this year and never saw it. Guessing this one could have been used as a knife rather than a projectile point since there are not any areas to tie on. The one edge is still VERY sharp. Biggest piece we have found so far.

The one on the left i found last spring, actually on our own property. Was just walking through an area that was freshly mowed and found it. The 'tie-off' on that one is pretty good, but the point is pretty much gone.

Piece in the upper right is just a piece of flint i found... have found very few larger pieces of flint in my area, but this one might be large enough to make a small head. Saved it in case you wanted it ToadFrog.

The bottom center one is the one i originally posted in this thread.

 

[CrappieHappy]

Nice collection