need digging advice!!!

[blancorc77]

Midland man, NE part of gaines county with the property mostly in Crp and pasture land. There is a small pocket of chert that the Indians seemed to use on a lot of their points. Seems to be a few feet of clay/sand and then u hit caliche. Thanks for the info.

[MidlandMan]

Thanks for the local. most of what I know about the archaeology/geology of the area should apply. NE Gains must be on the extreem edge of the Edwards Plat. region. I've seen nodular chert about thirty miles east of Midland. Like i stated earlier in a response on this thread burned rock is simply not part of the archaeological record for west Texas Paleo period. I've questioned Dr. Collins on it and he flatly and emphaticly maintains this is so. He states that whatever they were doing with their hearths it did not involve rock! I do know there is a very well used rock hearth that is still providing evidence on the Golondrina people living in Bakers Cave in ValVerde Co. though. There is a huge gap in the archaeological record between the Late Paleo and the Late Archaic of the Llano Estacado during which several meters of sand were more or less evenly deposited across the area making huge areas virtualy sterile for most of the prehistory of the region. I might suggest doing some fine screening to keep from missing small artifacts. I'm quite curious about what ya'll will find. As long as you see burned rock and chert you are in an area that may produce atrifacts but the elements may have them scattered thinly and over a large area. Small reduction flakes in large numbers are the places I would hit most intensly. In sand and water alike similar size and density objects tend to accumulate. Some times these are what arrowhead hunters call pockets. Dont know if any of this helps but best of luck and keep us informed on progress.

[Cluton]

Diggin is like playing the lotto, it's a gamble! just start and see where it takes you, been diggin for three nights; next to a buddy, and he hit 3 wholes in 30 minutes! I didn't find squat! but hit a good one the night before!

[west_texas_points]

blancorc77 and me are heading to the site , i will take pics and let y'all know what we find ( hopefully).

[lillyput]

Some really good information in 3 pages. Don't forget to keep us posted.

[west_texas_points]

well we didnt have too much luck today. Found some spot we did test holes and found some flint but nothing past that.heres a pic of where we are digging, hopefully some of you can tell us what we are not seeing .http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/d...7/34ae4f27.jpg

the picture is from the bank of where the water ran through and we are digging is on the hill to the north

[MidlandMan]

Thats a nice high spot alright! So where would water have been? High ground above water is a given. Whats down low may be eroding down the hillside. Theres a good chance to find something there but it would be in a secondary deposit. The Indians were paranoid of flooding so the camp sites will be on safer high ground. For sure!

[west_texas_points]

midland man, the water source i believe it flowed from the larger alkali lake and flowed west through the canyon.Theres plenty of signs they were up there plenty of flint/chert chips and burnt rock.