Tips on looking near/on water

[JeffDNH]

Here in New England, all the natives hung out near the water, so I will be concentrating on places near water. How should one go about looking, any hints, tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jeff D.

[CMD]

Jeff, I started a thread on beach hunting in our region. Don't know much about the NH coast but what I wrote might apply where there are inlets, etc on that coast. If by water, you mean rivers and lakes, in the case of rivers, check the embankments, lakes check areas of the shore where the rocks are the size of your average point. Such lake areas won't be washed by daily tides like a marine site, but rains might turn things up. Another good way to go is to screen river bottom if the bottom is more sandy then muddy. We used to do that on property my family owned on the Pettaquamscut River in southern RI. We would find points in the garden on ocassion, so one day we took a shovel and a hand held wood framed screen, sat in the river shoveling river bottom into the screen and turned up some nice points that way.

[rockhunter]

I dont know much about your area, or what kinda hunt your going on but the first thing I'de say is dont drive yourself crazy and start crawling around at the first spot you get to or you may get discouraged. take it easy, try to cover alot of ground for now and wait till ya feel like your in a spot where you might camp or hunt. look for shapes textures and colors out of the ordinary and just try to enjoy the walk. it will come to you when you have put your time in, remember if your looking for camps you dont want to be too close to the water. tell us about what kind of hunt you plan on and you can get better advice, creeks, rivers, beach,? etc good luck

[JeffDNH]

Hey CMD & Rockhunter,

I am going to try my hand at the local lakes & ponds in my area (SE NH & N. MA) that have had an indian presence on them. Any additional tips and advice is always welcome. I do have two questions: What is texture and should I really pay attention to shape? It seems that when I pick up what I think is a point due to its shape, it usually isnt.

Thanks again.
Jeff D.

[bls2036]

I hunt small beaches along the ohio river, usually when I reach for a shape it ends up being a leaf. When you hunt an area for a while you'll start to figure out what the materials in the area are from the debitage you'll find. Like where I hunt alot it's mostly chert in tans and browns, we call it desert camo. Flint in shades of black and grey and bluish grey. but there are also whites, reds, amber, etc. But what catches my eye the most is the texture of chipping, even if just a piece of the center ridge of a point is showing sometimes you know instantly that under that sand is an arrowhead. Then you just pray its whole before you pick it up. You wont have to find to many before you start to really get the hang of it. I like to pick up all the chips and look at them sometimes i find neat little thumb scrapers or flake blades or other tools that alot of the hunters miss. My back really gets sore now after finding this site and seeing all the other artifacts that are made from bone, teeth, shell etc. , I'm checkin out about every unusual thing that catches my eye, but the thrill of the find is what its all about. Good luck hunting!