Monday, April 6, 2020

4/6/20 Report - Great Finds. Thousand Year Old Atlatl Point. Lead Railroad Seal. Making History Every Day.


Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

1000 - 4000 Year-Old Atlatl Point Found on Treasure Coast Beach.
Find and Photo by Doug R.

Here is one super find that could be up to four thousand years old!  It was found by Doug R., who sent me the following message.

I’m a snowbird from CT and have come down to Sebastian for the month of February for the last 15 years. I do a little bit of metal detecting but not so much the past few years as conditions haven’t been that great. I’ve never found anything Spanish on the Treasure Coast (even that really good Saturday this year). I read your blog every day while I’m there and often when I’m not. I appreciate the work, time and effort that you put into doing the blog. It is truly outstanding. The first week of February I found this point on the beach about halfway between Wabasso Beach and Golden Sands. It was in a shell line that was 1-2 feet wide. At the time they were doing beach renourishment at that spot but the water had not reached that area at the base of the dunes yet so I’m pretty sure it didn’t come from this years renourishment sand. Could have come from previous years renourishment or the ocean?? I showed it to the guy at McClarty’s and he was extremely excited. He said it’s an atlatl point from one to four thousand years ago. It’s 4 inches long. I believe you’ve always said something to the effect “keep your eyes open at all times” so this proves your point. I never expected this.

Thanks again,
Doug R.

Congratulations Doug!  Thanks for sharing.

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Open St. Johns County beach (top) and a closed Duval County beach (bottom) on March 29.
Source:  Click here.
Now, of course, St. Johns County beaches are closed too.

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Lead Railroad Seal Find.
Photo submitted by Al C.

Al's buddy found this lead railroad seal.  Very cool!

Al also sent the following information about lead seals.



Thanks Al.

I've found some FEC seals.  Here is link to a post that shows some of those.

https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2012/09/92912-report-florida-east-coast.html

And here is a photo of the same.

Four Lead Railroad Seal Finds.

My photography wasn't as good back then.

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Most detectorists are interested in history.  We study history, but we live and create it everyday.

Yesterday I was most struck by the Palm Sunday services at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York being conducted without a congregation.  I don't know if that was the first time that happened since it opened 140 years ago, but it felt like it could have been.

There are events such as World Wars and pandemics that change the way that generations see the world. such as World Wars and pandemics.  In more recent history it was the 9/11 attacks.  In the 1960s it was the Cuban missile crisis.  You can't read a social psychology textbook without reading about JFK and the decision making process during that crisis.  It popularized the concept of groupthink.  Many people in the U.S. built bomb-shelters.  My own father built a concrete block room in our basement.

The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, the deadliest in history, infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide—about one-third of the planet’s population—and killed an estimated 20 million to 50 million victims, including some 675,000 Americans. The 1918 flu was first observed in Europe, the United States and parts of Asia before swiftly spreading around the world. At the time, there were no effective drugs or vaccines to treat this killer flu strain. Citizens were ordered to wear masks, schools, theaters and businesses were shuttered and bodies piled up in makeshift morgues before the virus ended its deadly global march...

With no cure for the flu, many doctors prescribed medication that they felt would alleviate symptoms… including aspirin which had been trademarked by Bayer in 1899—a patent that expired in 1917, meaning new companies were able to produce the drug during the Spanish Flu epidemic.
Before the spike in deaths attributed to the Spanish Flu in 1918, the U.S. Surgeon General, Navy and the Journal of the American Medical Association had all recommended the use of aspirin. Medical professionals advised patients to take up to 30 grams per day, a dose now known to be toxic...  
(https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/1918-flu-pandemic)

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The lawn service showed up at my neighbors house this morning and started mowing.  Essential service?  No!  Are they safe distancing?  No.  Big problem?  No.  Better to allow them to keep themselves financially afloat?  Probably.   That's my opinion.

All men are created equal, but some are not essential?  I saw the phrase "non-essential individuals" in one government order.  Essential to who?  I just don't like the phrase.  Seems like a very slippery slope that can end up in a very bad place.  You don't have to go back far in history to see where that can lead.

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The surf is supposed to be seven feet or so today.

Too bad so many beaches are closed.  Nice and rainy too.

Have a blessed Holy Week,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net.