10/18/18 Report - Using Nature and Finds in Treasure Displays. History, Constructs, Genetics and Humor.

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

Display and Photo by John C.

John C. sent in the above photo along with the following message.

Well, not exactly a display case, but it's the closest thing I have for now, always wanted to put together a nice display case, but I haven't gotten around to it yet, but everything in the picture is real, except of course the coins and the small piece of China, pictured are musket balls, copper spikes ,some lead sheathing and some pottery shards.  I got this big guy diving off Corrigan's some years ago, so I tried to make it look, as close as I can, to its natural environment.

Thanks John.  I like the natural look.

I think this series of posts on displays will motivate some of you to do something with your own finds so they are not just sitting in a closet in a box.  That would be too much like a lot of the stuff in our museums.

The displays that I've posted are all awesome.  John shows how a variety of things you can pick up at the beach can be used.

Here is something that might give you an idea.

Clump of Barnacles Used to Display Coin.

You could mount a clump of barnacles, concretion, or shells on a piece of drift wood and get as creative as you want.

Someday I might get around to giving some other tips on how to use found or scrap items to inexpensively create displays.

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Unlike a book or cinema, there is always more to the story.  History is never the whole story.  It doesn't end when the credits roll.  Only the simple-minded can unapologetically offer simple answers to complex problems.

Elizabeth Warren's attempt to prove her Native American ancestry didn't end up how she hoped.  Race or ethnicity is a construct.  It can not be proven.  Not even with genetic markers.  The whole discussion illustrates that.

Fact is, we are all a mixed up mess - not entirely one thing or another.  Elizabeth Warren, according to her 23 and Me test results, was determined to have anywhere from 1/64 to 1/1,024th Native American ancestry.  I won't even comment on the questionable methods used by the test to determine Native American ancestry, but why wouldn't a person claim to be of a group that they more closely match - say 90, 70 or even 50%.  It's obvious - personal gain.

A Cherokee tribal leader said that only the tribe could determine membership.  He said that you could not use genetic markers to determine that.

If you do attempt to use genetic markers to determine ancestry, as Elizabeth Warren learned, only more questions are raised.  What is the criteria for group membership?  Do you have to be 90, 70 or 50%, or can you be as little as one millionth.  If you can't define the criteria, you have a problem.

If a genetic marker crietion is used, a lot of tribal leaders will find that they no longer qualify as members.  To them such things as culture, respect and participation are more important than genetics.  For some that is indeed fortunate because otherwise they might be disqualified.

Most people in American say they are Christians.  Born again Christians might say that a majority of those who say they are Christians are not because they are not born again Christians.  Some people claim they are Christians because they observe some traditions such as Christmas, or go to church on Easter.  What is the criterion?  That is the important question.

Many Native Americans claim that their ancestors were always in America.  Many archaeologists, on the other hand, claim that Native Americans only came to North America around 30 thousand years ago.   (See http://theconversation.com/first-americans-lived-on-land-bridge-for-thousands-of-years-genetics-study-suggests-23747 for a more adequate discussion.)

History is not the whole story.  It is someone's perspective.  History takes on a different flavor or color with each telling.  It becomes something other than what it was, no matter how much we try to capture the whole truth.  Ancestry is the same.  It is the history of a family.  It is usually more fiction than fact.  That doesn't make it less important.  It has a lot to do with how people see themselves.  The only thing I object to is using it for advantage over other people.

If you are an evolutionist, we have another ancestry.  Our ancestors were relatives of the Chimpanzees or Bonobos.  Humans and chimps share 98.8 percent of their DNA, so does that mean that Elizabeth Warren is more chimpanzee than Native American?  

Roll the credits.

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Did you ever see such a long setup for a punch line?

The tides are flat, but some higher surf is expected.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

Looks like the four to six foot surf has been delayed a little.  Look for it Monday.


Keep the treasure display photos coming.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/6/17 Report - Today Is The Day! What Makes America Great. Tropical Depression Four Heading This Way.

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

Today is the Day!  That is one powerful statement.  It is perhaps the biggest treasure to come out of treasure hunting.

It is not about silver and gold.  It is about today.  It is about time - the most precious thing you have on this earth.

Today is what you have.  It is where you are.  It is the epicenter of what can be.  It is the source out of which good and evil spings.  It is where the next moment is born. It is where the next moment is shaped and formed.  It is now.

Someday there will be no tomorrows - at least not on this earth.  That applies to everyone. There is a final chapter.  The book slams shut.  Your earthly story comes to an end.

You write your story every day.  How does it read so far?  How do you want it to end?

You are the author.  You can't go back and change the beginning.  What has been written won't be erased, but you can change what comes next.

Everyone is the main character in their story.  Every story revolves around the main character.  The main character writes his own lines and determines what he will become.

You might wish to change the setting or the other characters, but the setting was formed in days gone by and the other characters write their own lines.  You are the author of your own story, and that is the way it should be.

You can be a part of other stories.  You can't be the main character in someone else's story, but you can change their story.  You might not realize your power or impact on others.  They can't change what you do.  They can only choose how to react to what you do.

Like it or not - realize it or not - you are writing your own story now.  Each and every decision is your choice - no matter what situation you face.

Each and every decision can send the story in a different direction.  Today is the day.  Today is where it all happens.

Now is the time to consider how you want your story to end.

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A Barna Research poll found out what Americans think makes America great.  Here are some of the results.

Source: www.barna.com

The young and old have different opinions on this, as do liberals and conservatives.  You can find all of that at Barna.com.

Interviews with U.S. adults included 1015 web-based surveys conducted among a representative sample of adults over the age of 18 in each of the 50 United States. The survey was conducted between June 5-9 of 2017...

Barna research is a private, non-partisan, for-profit organization under the umbrella of the Issachar Companies. Located in Ventura, California.

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Predicted Path of Tropical Depression Four.
Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Tropical Depression Four seems to be headed in our general direction. According to AccuWeather, during the first part of next week,the system is likely to travel near or just northeast of the Bahamas.

The surfing web sites are not predicting any increase in the Treasure Coast surf for the next couple of weeks.

Keep watching.

Just a few days left to respond to the blog poll.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/12/15 Report - Oldest Mission In America Investigated. 3 Tropical Disturbances. Metal Detecting Believe It Or Not.

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

Henri disappeared, but there are three tropical disturbances in the Atlantic now.

The one closest to us isn't expected to become a cyclone in the next 48 hours.  The others have a small chance.

Seems like it has been forever since there has been anything to stir up the Treasure Coast sand very much.

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I ran across a thread in a metal detecting forum when I was looking for information on a specific topic in which one person asked if anyone ever found a Mason jar filled with silver coins.  At least one of the participants was wondering if it ever really happened.  Many of those participating in the thread said they probably wouldn't dig a signal from a Mason jar lid.  I know that is true.  Many people would not dig a signal like that and from what I read in the forum and from what I've heard from people myself, the vast majority would not dig such a signal.

That is one thing I always warn about.  If you don't dig those types of signals there is virtually no chance of making that kind of find.  You very much limit your opportunities by how you hunt.  If the things you are missing might be things you'd really like to find, you need to make some adjustments.

I talked to one person who found such a cache before they found it.  We discussed the situation, and they were aware of the possibility because of the situation and hunted accordingly.  Good detecting is thoughtful and strategic.  Goals, possibilities and probabilities are considered.  Methods are selected intentionally and strategically.  Too many people hunt the same way all of the time.

Sometimes, and I've discussed this before, the first stage of a hunt might be a quick scan.  The results of that first scan might help you get a better understanding of the situation.  You can then use that information to adjust your methods.

The way you hunt, will determine what you get, and just as importantly, what you will not get.  Like a lot of things, I learned that the hard way.

Review your finds.  Is there something missing.  Is there something that you never found that you think you should have found?  Are there any conspicuous absences?

Metal detecting is very situational.  By that I mean that the situation will determine a lot.  You are not going to find a lot of Rolex watches at an old settler's camp.  Likewise, you typically aren't going to find a lot of old stuff around a bunch of new condos that have been filled and landscaped.  How much and what you find will largely be determined by where you are, as well as how you hunt.

If you have your detector set up to discriminate everything but coins, that pretty much limits what you are going to find.  That is good if that is what you want, but it could also be bad.

I'm not surprised that not many people have found mason jars full of silver coins.  There might not be many of them buried, but there are other reasons too.  Reading the thread in the forum clearly showed one big reason.  Most people would not dig it if they walked right over it.

Another thing I got from briefly reading that thread is something that I learned before.  It is that detectorists have a tendency to judge what is possible from what they have personally done.  Likewise, they draw conclusions about what is not possible based solely upon what they have done.  There is a tendency to not believe people that do a lot better than them.  I've seen this many times.

 If they've not found a mason jar full of coins, the tendency is to think that mason jars full of coins just aren't found.  Right long with the doubt about such finds ever being made, were very clear statements of one big reason whey they are not often made.  Yes, those things might not happen real often anyway, but the people in that forum were clearly saying they wouldn't dig them anyhow.   Many people are reluctant to think that somebody else is finding stuff that they would like to find but haven't.  Many people (not all) will refuse believe that other people can find much more than they do.

I know of more than one person who has been involved in a metal detecting club and month after brought in new finds that were ten or twenty times more numerous than anyone else in the club.  The rest of the club members started suggesting that the person bringing in all the finds was cheating somehow.  They started saying that the person was bringing in old finds and things like that.  There was an obvious resentment.  After a while they wouldn't even look at the numerous new finds.  They would just ignore them.  There was an obvious emotional reaction.

I haven't attended many club meetings in my many years of detecting but have attended a few.  I've seen the same thing happen in more than one club and to more than one person.  It seems all too common.  The other club members, instead of finding out how the other person was doing so well, wanted to think that it was impossible that somebody was doing so much better than them.  They thought there was some kind of cheating or deception.

It isn't magic.  It isn't all luck.  Much of it is situational.  Some of it is the shear amount of time and effort put in.  And some of it is knowledge and technique.  That is what the other club members should have been looking to learn, but their ego got in the way.

The older I get the more I see that people are their own worst enemies.  Restrained ego and objectivity is one good treatment.

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Here is an article about the oldest mission in America.  The title of the article is " UF Archaeologists Discovered 17th Century Church.  That seems to me to be a little misleading.  The site was known about for a long time.  It was even investigated by an amateur archaeologist decades ago.

Anyhow, here is the link.

http://www.wuft.org/news/2015/09/10/uf-archaeologist-discovered-17th-century-mission-church/

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I'm still working with a little back-up computer.  Don't have all the features that I normally have.

The surf is supposed to be one to two feet on the Treasure Coast this weekend.  Monday will be smoother.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net