Archaic Toolkit Cache

[1320]

My brother and I continued our dig at the monster shelter Sunday/Monday and FINALLY hit paydirt, finding an assortment of archaic tools tucked away under a rock ledge! Five of the tools came up in one sifter load! Our next sifter revealed 2 more tools. At that point, I hurried home to get the camera to document what else might come from the hole but we only managed one more blade from the cache upon my return.

The tools came from about the five foot level. We were into a small about of debitage and trying to get down to the 5 1/2 level when I hit rock. So I moved out about a foot from the shelter wall and hit a soft spot. I was trying to locate the edge of the wall and work downward as we've had very good luck finding artifacts right against the wall. I went after the soft spot and as I leveraged the shovel up and out, I hit rock again, parallel to the shelter wall. Essentially, I had a crevice about 8 inches wide that I could dig. The first shovel fulls revealed nothing and as I continued to dig, I discovered that I could reach back underneath the rock about 12 inches and that's where the cache was located. 8 artifacts in all, from one spot...just unbelievable for my brother and I. This by far is our best dig to date.

I took the cache to a local "expert" to get his opinion and he thinks that the white blade might be gem quality. I'm not sure what that means but I must agree, it is one nice point. As pictured, a short piece of petrified wood came up with the artifacts. Is it possible that this piece of wood was a handle or shaft? I wasn't sure but I kept it as part of the cache just in case

 

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[1320]

And some more photos......

 

[1320]

The next photo is an image of the crevice where the cache came from. The sifter image shows the last artifact as it appeared in the sifter. This was the last artifact retrieved from the crevice. The last image is an attempt to show how large the shelter is, the photo is taken from the middle of the shelter looking west. Not pictured is the portion of the shelter that runs east, it's a monster!

Thought I'd throw in some "before" pics of the shelter to show just how much dirt my brother and I have moved to get down to the occupation layer.

 

[Felinepeachy]

That is absolutely incredible! Such hard work and a great score. They are in excellent condition too. The serrations are just gorgeous. Congratulations!!

 

[1320]

That is absolutely incredible! Such hard work and a great score. They are in excellent condition too. The serrations are just gorgeous. Congratulations!!

You told me I'd get mine, now I'm a believer! Thanks Peachy.

 

[olroy70]

very nice!

 

[Felinepeachy]

That is absolutely incredible! Such hard work and a great score. They are in excellent condition too. The serrations are just gorgeous. Congratulations!!

You told me I'd get mine, now I'm a believer! Thanks Peachy.

Well when you put in that kind of effort you're bound to score.

 

[artorius]

I fear a huge amount of significant archaeological information is being lost through this sifting for relics. Collecting tilled fields is one thing, but a stratified shelter like this one should be reported to the professionals, and then reserved for professional excavation.

I can say that an untouched shelter with Early Archaic material would be of enormous importance in my state (Pennsylvania).

artorius

 

[Jonzer]

Amazing finds.
What types are they? They look as sharp today as they were then.
I say Banner.

 

[bookummdano]

super cool find I'm sure that had your adrenaline running!

 

[in.rockhntr]

Nice finds there 1320. Hey if your not diggin' illegally, go for it. How many artifacts are dug up by "the pros" and just put up on a shelf some where for no one to see. Thanks for sharin'.

 

[buzzgator]

Archys r so limited as far as funding and man power even if you did report your find it would be years or maybe even never b4 they got to it and then the public such as us may never get to even see them! I say dig it all! Great saves brother and thanks for showing them to us.

 

[Th3rty7]

Wow...great finds man. You are into some killer early archaic horizon. Fanfreakingtastic stuff.

 

[ohioaxeman]

 

[tmodel]

1320!! as close as i can tell gem means as close to perfect as possable to get sound okey to you, great finds .. Terry

 

[Treasure Hounds]

Awesome points! Perfectly preserved after all those years! Love the scrapers too, and your site picture! What state are you in?
Caroline

 

[1320]

Amazing finds.
What types are they? They look as sharp today as they were then.
I say Banner.

Pine Tree?

 

[1320]

super cool find I'm sure that had your adrenaline running!

Indeed, I hit my brother with a high five that nearly knocked him out of the shelter

 

[1320]

Nice finds there 1320. Hey if your not diggin' illegally, go for it. How many artifacts are dug up by "the pros" and just put up on a shelf some where for no one to see. Thanks for sharin'.

It's a legal dig on my family's property, it's all good! I agree, if it's legal, go dig it, we get to see artifacts that we might not have otherwise laid eyes on.

 

[1320]

Archys r so limited as far as funding and man power even if you did report your find it would be years or maybe even never b4 they got to it and then the public such as us may never get to even see them! I say dig it all! Great saves brother and thanks for showing them to us.

Agree, agree, agree! Thanks gator.