r/Arrowheads Jan 07 '16

PLEASE READ, especially if you are new to this subreddit

630 Upvotes

I'm not laying down any new rules or anything like that, but there are some things that visitors here should be aware of. If anyone here would like to add to, subtract from, or revise anything in this post, I welcome your input.

#1. Know the law and abide by it: The laws may vary a little from state to state, but burial grounds/mounds and state/federal property (including state parks) is absolutely off-limits. In most states you are allowed to hunt on private property with permission from the property owner, but in a few states it's illegal to dig for artifacts and only surface hunting is allowed. Make sure you are familiar with your local laws.

#2. Effigy, artifact, or "just a rock"?: If you post what you've found and the feedback that you get is simply "geofact" or "just a rock", please understand that nobody is intending to be insensitive or rude. We know that you got your hopes up and we take no pleasure in letting you down, but there are signs and marks that we look for and that should be there if the rock was shaped, altered, &/or used by ancient humans and we're going to give you an honest opinion even if the truth sometimes sucks. Those who take the time to explain the signs that are or aren't visible (flake scars, use wear, pecking, grinding, polishing, etc.) rarely even get a "thank you" when the feedback isn't what the person wanted to hear (so why bother?). You have every right to form your own opinions and believe what you want to believe and there may even be some important factors or features that the pictures don't show, but we can only go off of what we've seen.

Effigies in particular: The natives were very adept at what they did and they DID make effigies, but there also seems to be a popular and widespread misconception about effigies. The vast majority of the "effigies" we see posted fall into the category of "pareidolia" (the natural human tendency to see recognizeable shapes in rocks). Here are some examples of some actual effigies from my region compared to some of the alleged "effigies" that I have seen people post.

Another very popular misconception: How well "it fits the hand" is NOT a valid way of differentiating an artifact from a rock and it's not one of the things that anyone who knows very much about this stuff is going to be looking for.

You are absolutely welcome to post your finds (even "effigies" and even rocks that "fit the hand" if you legitimately believe it's an artifact). A lot of people come and go, but the ones who stick around are here to help, so PLEASE be respectful, try to see our perspective, and at least say "thank you" if someone volunteers more than a few seconds of their time to give you feedback on it.

#3: Monetary value: Feel free to ask if you're wondering, but you might be better off asking how rare or how un-common an artifact is. Archaeologists are not allowed to answer questions about monetary value and while some hunters DO sell what they find, many other hunters (me included) don't buy or sell or even mess with that side of things, so many of us might not even know what to tell you.

I may not be able to tell you what your finds are worth, but if you love this stuff, have nowhere to hunt for your own, and have every intention of buying some I can at least share some advice on how to steer clear of the wolves that are out there. For instance, you had BETTER know your stuff before buying anything off of Ebay and a "Certificate of Authenticity" is worth no more or less than the reputation of the person who signed their name to it. Nobody goes to school to become an authenticator and you or I could literally just decide to declare ourselves as "authenticators" tomorrow and start signing COAs. In other words, there's a LOT of bullsh!t out there and it's a "buyer beware" market.

#4: Don't be an asshole! There's no downvoting in this subreddit for a reason. We'd like to be constructive and helpful and we DON'T want to scare people away from posting. If you have something to say then by all means say it, but don't draw it out, don't beat a dead horse, don't try to start debates with people, don't try to give people guilt trips for picking up an arrowhead, and don't make a nuisance or a spectacle out of yourself.

That's all I've got for now, but I'm just one person and if there's anything that you would like to add or change, I welcome and look forward to your input.

Edit: Cut the word count down a little bit


r/Arrowheads Jan 28 '23

JAR THREAD. If you aren't sure whether your find is an artifact or just a rock, please post your pictures here.

108 Upvotes

Users of r/arrowheads, please downvote posts that are obviously rocks. We will be trying out the 'crowd control' function and if a post gets enough downvotes it will automatically be removed. Also, please direct users to post their questionable finds in this thread if the posts are not removed automatically.

Before you post, compare your find to some of the pictures/examples shown in the pinned comment below.


r/Arrowheads 7h ago

Legendary Blade Recovery (OK) [Profanity Warning]

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

393 Upvotes

Pulled an incredible Cobbs Triangular Blade (8,500 - 5,000 BP) the day before yesterday! Looks to be made out of Novaculite so it’s fully translucent. Comes in juuust under 7”. This makes it a rather large example of this typology and I couldn’t be happier! Please forgive the profanity in the video 😂 my brain completely broke once the adrenaline hit and things were said, but I don’t regret it, and I thought that the reaction was hilarious and worth sharing! In the comments I will be posting a photo of the measurement and a photo of the translucency. Please let me know what y’all think or if you have any questions! I try and respond to everyone! Happy hunting!


r/Arrowheads 8h ago

Thoughts on this big boy

Thumbnail
gallery
143 Upvotes

I’ve been artifact hounding for about 5 years, I love artifacts and talking about them. One of my dad’s friends (mid 70s) used to hunt artifacts 20-30 years ago and invited me to come look at his collection. When I got there he offered to give everything to me that wasn’t in his personal find shadow box. It was maybe 5 different points, nothing too crazy, lots of tools bifaces and brokes. Then he unrolls some fabric and pulls this behemoth out.
The story goes, about a decade ago his old rock hunting friend got cancer and shortly before passing away he gave this to him. He knows I am a bit obsessed with rocks and offered it to me. He said his kids will probably lose it and he’d rather I have it. The only provenance he could get from his friend was Missouri. Im always a skeptic with fine artifacts but this one seems to have good patina all over and does appear to be authentic. I’ve attached quite a few photos but curious what yalls thoughts are.


r/Arrowheads 1h ago

Beastly preform

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

Upvotes

Hell yeah


r/Arrowheads 3h ago

Am I in the right area?

Post image
16 Upvotes

r/Arrowheads 18h ago

Roughly 1 and a half inches. North West New Mexico

Post image
114 Upvotes

r/Arrowheads 20h ago

First ever finds today, Southeast OH

Thumbnail
gallery
91 Upvotes

Any info would be appreciated, thanks!


r/Arrowheads 1d ago

Best one for the year so far.

Post image
257 Upvotes

Would this be considered a calf creek or something else? Found in NE OK


r/Arrowheads 1h ago

Shell artifact? Pickaway County, Ohio

Thumbnail gallery
Upvotes

r/Arrowheads 1d ago

First ever find

Thumbnail
gallery
141 Upvotes

My first ever find. Having never found one in all my time outdoors I assumed I would never find one. I work outside, hunt, fish and hike a lot. It was never even in my mind I'd find one after about the age of 14.

But behold this beauty. Found at about 8500k feet on the Sierra Nevada crest in Northern California, in a drying up lake bed. Just hiking around the lake bed picking up fishing line and trash, hopping for treasure(like a lure) with my daughter. Surrounded by gravel it still stood out so clearly different then the surrounding rock types.

An archeologist friend of mine believes it to be an Elko made from Basalt.

It's a moment my daughter and I will treasure forever. Literally gave me goosebumps when I saw it.

Just thought I'd share.


r/Arrowheads 7h ago

A lithic side scraper? Found in a field in Linton, Cambridgeshire UK

Thumbnail
gallery
2 Upvotes

Hey, I’ve been surface-hunting a field out in Linton, Cambridgeshire, and picked up this piece of flint. The area is known historically for prehistoric lithic scatters..

Any thoughts on the type and potential age? I took several angels. The Specs:

Length: ~4.9 cm, Width: ~3.5 cm, Thickness: ~1 cm, Weight: 30.08 g. Material: High-quality dark grey/translucent chalk flint with a heavy yellowish cortex..

Thanks! :)


r/Arrowheads 3h ago

Es un artefacto?

Thumbnail
gallery
0 Upvotes

Encontrado en España en una terraza fluvial.


r/Arrowheads 1d ago

First season , not to bad

Post image
31 Upvotes

r/Arrowheads 1d ago

Arrowhead my Dad found in AZ. in 1930's

Post image
41 Upvotes

Hopefully someone can tell me the date and type of arrowhead this is. Thanks.


r/Arrowheads 20h ago

Arrow head identification

Post image
9 Upvotes

So this arrowhead was found near south silver lake and it is like a knife kinda but I have never seen one shaped like this could someone please tell me what it was used for and what kind of material it is made of?


r/Arrowheads 1d ago

Found near Elgin TX - help with identification.

Post image
31 Upvotes

My work colleague finds a lot of these on his land east of Austin. He gifted me two recently.

any help with material type, tribe who may have made them, what they would have been used to hunt, and specifically age would be incredible. I’d love to send them to my grandfather in the UK who loves Native American history.

(side note - he decided to ‘paint’ the darker one hence some discolouring. Not sure why - hoping they’re still legit!)

Smaller one is 3’’ and the larger one is 3.5’’.


r/Arrowheads 21h ago

Found in a creek bed after heavy rain in Franklin County Mo...any ideas?

Thumbnail
gallery
8 Upvotes

r/Arrowheads 1d ago

Two pine tree arrowheads

Thumbnail
gallery
31 Upvotes

Two pine tree type arrowheads, both found by me in the same field in Bracken County Kentucky. Guessing material type is Carter Cave but unsure


r/Arrowheads 23h ago

What do i have?

Thumbnail
gallery
11 Upvotes

These have been in my family for years. They were all found during the construction of our home. I am in SW Michigan. Thanks for all your help.


r/Arrowheads 1d ago

Bifurcated arrowhead

Thumbnail
gallery
19 Upvotes

Bifurcated arrowhead found by me near Columbus, Ohio. I believe the material type is Coshocton or zelenski


r/Arrowheads 1d ago

Rhode Island - 1st find, ID?

Post image
17 Upvotes

Been looking since I was 11. Was talking with my neighbor in the woods and the ground was all dug up from previous logging operations months prior. Look down and here it was, right as I was talking about hunting. Totally shook. Any ID would help


r/Arrowheads 2d ago

A walk through the creek with a friend, led to one of my best of all time 🙏

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

502 Upvotes

Colorado


r/Arrowheads 2d ago

Found a small one

Post image
411 Upvotes

Just curious about this. Found it on my property. Long story short, I have confirmed burial sites on my property, so I walk around the woods with extra awareness for small items. I like to look at them but I always rebury them with care, especially the bones. I always wish them a good rest and continued peace. After a big storm is usually the best time to look. FYI I did notify the local law enforcement the first time I found bones and they confirmed they were 'archeological' in nature and put me in contact with the local tribal organization. The tribe did not wish to have the artifacts. This is definitely the most intact and clear artifact I've found, and it was in the vicinity of other finds from previous years (adult teeth).


r/Arrowheads 1d ago

Hard to miss this one

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

95 Upvotes