Detecting Excavation.This photo came from a link submitted to me by Michael H. The link can be found below if you want to read more about this.
Construction crews working on a $3 million beach park project along A1A recently made a significant archaeological discovery that could date back as far as 1839.
The workers were digging a channel for a drainage pipe two weeks ago when they found several hundred artifacts, including musket balls, gold coins and some buttons off military uniforms.”The thought is maybe this has something to do with the fort we had over here back in the pre-Civil War era,” said Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler.One of the three original Fort Lauderdales was located near the site.
“The beach fort was mainly used as a staging area for what we would call marines to chase the Seminoles into the hinterlands, into the Everglades,” said Fort Lauderdale historian Susan Gillis.
Here is the link if you want to read the entire article.
http://www.local10.com/news/27858910/detail.html
Many of those who detected the Fort Lauderdale beaches in past decades knew where the old fort and inlet were and occasionally picked up musket balls and other artifacts.
This story goes along with what I was saying the other day. There is always more. Often it is just below the sand that you have passed over a hundred times in the past. Those beaches were detected heavily for decades, but all of this newly discovered stuff was just waiting under the surface.
I recently mentioned a video that showed the surf uncovering rocks and shells on the front beach. I couldn't get it uploaded at the time. I finally uploaded it to YouTube. I guess I'll make more videos for the blog in the future now I know one way to get it done.
Here is the video. Notice the rough area on the beach just in front of the water. That is where rocks and shells were being uncovered and sifted. Another important spot to look at is the little cliff that the water falls over when it recedes.
Here is the link to the YouTube video. I also embedded the video into this blog below. I'm trying to figure out which is the best way to post videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UBHSzKMOTA
The other day I was talking about hunting outside the box. One thing I thought about was Art McKee's use of a bucket with a glass bottom for viewing under water. Today I ran across an article talking about Burt Webber using a glass window inserted into a surf board. Those kinds of innovative techniques are the kind of thing I really like. They require a little thought, ingenuity and effort to implement.
Beach sifters and scoops with 30-foot extension handles also come to mind. I've used both of those for special situations.
Here is a web site that talks about the evidence of beach combing by the Indians that lived near the Texas Coast. I found several interesting pieces of information on this web site. One thing that was mentioned was the salvaging of a French boat by the Indians. I plan to research that one a little further. Here is the link if you want to check it out.
http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/coast/prehistory/images/beachcombing.html
Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.
Well it sure is summer. The wind, or should I say air, is coming from the south. We're getting that hot humid air and very calm seas. Mosquitos galore too! The surf web sites are predicting calm (1 foot) seas for about a week.
It is that time a year when conditions won't improve unless we have a storm of some sort. It doesn't take a hurricane. All it takes is a storm that churns up northeast winds for a while. We sure haven't had that for quite a while now. The storm doesn't have to come ashore as long as it churns up the waves.
It is that time of year when the water is as inviting as it will ever get. The water is a touch cooler than the air and nice and calm with pretty good visibility.
Remember, you can't detect in the water where the shipwrecks are leased. You can however, snorkel or dive and just take a look around, if that is what you want to do, but not with your detector.
Surf Video Again.
I hate to take the time to learn new computer things, but have to do it once in a while.
Remember, as they found in Fort Lauderdale, there is still tons of stuff out there.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net