My Oldest Military Surplus

[Aragorn243]

I found these last night while looking for something else.

My father was an avid collector of Native American artifacts but he never bought them. He hunted for them in fields. When I got old enough, I went along with him. His collection is very nice, he has three or four tomahawk heads and hundreds of arrow heads and dozens of spear tips. He also has several picks, small hand tools, not digging tools and one necklace stone

All these were found when I was between 8 and 18 as once I went off to college, I stopped looking for them. Plus it became very difficult to find areas to look. We always went in the spring after the farmers plowed the fields bringing new items to the surface. A rain afterwards was pretty important also so the conditions had to be just right. Half the fields where we searched are now under the waters of Lake Raystown in Pennsylvania. All these were found in Huntingdon County in Pennsylvania. The remaining fields were taken over the the US Army Corps of Engineers as part of the Federal lands of the lake. They stopped plowing and planting them decades ago.

I still get up there to hunt (deer, not arrowheads) but haven't looked for these in decades. Probably should sometime, teach the kids how to look anyway. It isn't easy, the fields are full of rocks and you have to be able to pick out the oddities.

Information

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[browningautorifle]

I live in an area rich with tribal camping areas but still have never found even one arrowhead. I know a woman that used to go out and find them every time... I have turned down a couple of collections as they were far too expensive, guys trying to get rich from something someone had given them. You have a nice group...very nice.

[Aragorn243]

The best time to go is after the field is plowed and then harrowed. Best to ask the farmers permission first and rain after harrowing is best. You have to learn what flint looks like but not all are made out of flint. You will find 10 broken ones for every whole one so patience is required. My favorite, the one on the bottom left I remember finding after being rather bored and twirling around in a circle in the field. When I stopped, I looked down and there it was, lying in the open. I wasn't very old for that one.

A lot of farmers are using no till planting now which is what hurt us.

[30Three]

Some of the local farmer's in our village have quite large collections of stone age tools, and weapons. The area was obviously a stone age settlement; with two Dolmens in the woods and also polishing stones. These stones have grooves carved in them from sharpening the stone tools. Fascinating to look at these stones; and imagine the time it would take to make these items.
I should get some photos next time we walk that way;

[Flying10uk]

Aboriginal hunting stick. It was believed to be old when my family brought back from Australia in 1914.

I believe that it had a number of uses and methods of use in hunting.

I expect someone knows the proper name which I've forgotten.

Sadly all the other native Australian items like boomerangs etc were "lost" either on the passage home or in a house move.

[dman69]

Aboriginal hunting stick. It was believed to be old when my family brought back from Australia in 1914.

I believe that it had a number of uses and methods of use in hunting.

I expect someone knows the proper name which I've forgotten.

Sadly all the other native Australian items like boomerangs etc were "lost" either on the passage home or in a house move.

Woomera?

[Doco overboard]

Where I'm at in Chesapeake bay country, if you can locate a high bank on nearly any waterway, where the tide erodes the bank one can find arrow heads/ prehistoric stone tools.
Sometimes in abundance. You get out of the boat use an e tool to turn some ground over to find the deposits.
When they dredge for oysters, sometimes those giant shark teeth even show up occasionally.
In the spring, when you walk the fields that have been disced up, if you see a rock, it would be wise to take a moment and check it out.
Evidently, when the glaciers that formed the great lakes moved eastwards, they pushed everything with them towards the east coast.
So nonetheless, those who take the time to hunt the artifacts, have some pretty impressive collections.
The eastern Indians also had a very strong presence so there are more recent examples of their woodcraft.
They made very tiny arrow heads for shooting fish in the creeks which turn up.
Ag equipment can also sometimes break and damage what makes it to the surface sometimes. Some of those tools are very finely made to begin with, and often still sharp.