9/28/18 Report - Native American Artifacts From Treasure Coast Beaches. Bigger Surf Coming.

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

Artifacts Found On Treasure Coast Beaches.

A few days ago I wrote about what I called a "complete beach hunter."  I explained what I meant by that three-word term and how it means going beyond being just a detectorist.  It includes being aware of and finding all kinds of beach treasures - not just metallic.

Above is an example of one nonmetallic type of beach treasure that can be found on the Treasure Coast beaches.  On the left is a shell celt.  In the middle is an arrowhead made of agatized coral.  And on the right is a rounded shell object, and below that is a gaming piece.  All of those have been examined by experts.

Here is what the myflorida.com site says about agatized coral.

Coral is the outside skeleton of tiny ocean animals called polyps, which live in colonies attached to hard underwater surfaces. When alive, polyps combine their own carbon dioxide with the lime in warm seawater to form a limestone-like hard surface, or coral.

Agatized coral occurs when silica in the ocean water hardens, replacing the limy corals with a form of quartz known as chalcedony. This long process (20-30 million years) results in the formation of a "pseudomorph," meaning that one mineral has replaced another without having lost its original form. In 1979 agatized coral was designated the official state stone.

Agatized coral is found in three main Florida locations: Tampa Bay, the Econfina River, and the Withlacoochee/Suwannee river beds.

(See https://dos.myflorida.com/florida-facts/florida-state-symbols/state-stone/)

So the agatized coral arrowhead or the stone that was used to make it came from somewhere other than the Treasure Coast even though the arrowhead was found on a Treasure Coast beach.

Small Discoidal Artifact.

You'll find a lot of written about discoidals (disc-shaped gaming pieces).  The one shown above is deeply concave on both sides.  It is my uninformed opinion that the one shown above is too small to have been used in the game that is described below.

Many surviving discoidals are both beautiful and durable. Quartz and granite were often used in the making of these popular game stones. Both materials are extremely hard, and they had to be. Discoidals were continuously used in sporting contests over generations, so they had to be durable. A very few discoidals are made from colorful flint. Discoidals are very popular today with collectors because they come in many styles and colorful materials. Many are so finely made that today they are seen as works of sculptural art...

Here is the link for more about discoidals.

http://www.arrowheads.com/index.php/discoidals/632-mississippi-discoidals-ancient-sports-collectibles

I've seen other people find arrowheads on the beach.  One day after some good erosion a lady staying at the Disney Resort in Wabasso approached me and showed me one she found.

The first one I found was on a South Hutchinson Island beach.

These types of artifacts aren't found often but you can find them.  Like other types of treasure they appear once in a while - mostly after a rough surf that has piled up larger shells.

You can develop eye-balling skill just like you can develop metal detecting skills.

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The big news for today is the big surf predictions.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

This chart shows a five to nine foot surf on Sunday, then several days of big surf.  That could bet interesting.  At some time during all of that, the angles should be right.  There is not telling how long the angles will be right though.  It could be too quick for anything good to come of it.  We'll have to wait and see how things develop.

Kirk has been hard to call.  He was stronger then weaker and then stronger again, and he turned north, then south, then north again.  It appears he has turned towards the north again.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

9/24/18 Report - Turtle Trail Today. Cowries and Cow Pies. Weather In The Atlantic.

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

Turtle Trail Beach Around Four PM Today.

I had to be up in Vero today and had a chance to take a look at the Turtle Trail Beach today.  You can see what it looked like.

Not much to report beyond what you can see.

Another View of Turtle Trail Beach Around Four PM Today.

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Maybe you noticed the mistake in the clip I posted yesterday from the Portugal wreck article.  Dan C. caught it.  Here is what Dan sent in an email.

In response to your recent story of the Portugal wreck.

They traded cowries not cowpies !

Trivia: As a former shell diver in Micronesia and Hawaii, I learned of a species of common cowry shell known as "money cowry".

This was used by certain pacific islanders as a trade good, so the practice was worldwide for eons, not only in the pacific and Africa, but middle east, Egypt, and including native americans. I have a few of those in my collection.

Another trivia: A Golden cowry is worth an average of $500 USD.

They can be found diving at night on deeper reefs, but rarely. They are found from Hawaii throughout the pacific to Australia.

They were treasured by Hawaiian royalty.

I still do now own one yet .....

(As a rule, my shell collection contains only shells harvested live by myself, so I may never have a Golden cowry ........)

As always, keep up the good work.

Dan

Thanks for pointing out the typo Dan and the humor in it Dan.  Also thanks for the information on treasured shells.

Being a country boy, I noticed the "cowpie" reference in the article and thought it was funny. A "cow pie" is a term for cow dung.  I imagine there are people that didn't know that term, especially those from the city or high society.   Cow dung, as found in the field, is usually in a flat round pancake-like shape.   According to Merriam Webster the first use of that term was in 1947.   Now that is something you need to know!  Seems like I've known it all my life and have even stepped in a few.

In case I didn't make it clear, when I post something in italicized blue, it is a direct quote that was simply cut and pasted - not my own words.

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The complete beach hunter does not only pick up metal objects.  There are a variety other things of value that you can find on a beach.  I talk about some of them from time to time, and I'm glad Dan added his expert information on shells.

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Source: nhc.noaa.gov

The storm scene has changed a little.  It looks like Kirk has fizzled out.  It could reform.

Leslie is still in about the same place.

That wave we have just to the east of us has not moved much either.  It has a decent chance of becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours.   That one could affect us, and Kirk could still affect us.

MagicSeaWeed predicts a slowly decreasing surf for the Treasure Coast for the next two or three days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/22/18 Report - Atlantic Getting Active Again. Tropical Storm Kirk. Medieval Seal Found by Metal Detector.

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

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Things are heating up in the Atlantic again.  The wave almost directly east of us only has about a 20% chance of becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours.

According to Ventusky, it will be closest to us on Tuesday (See below.).

Wind Speed Map for This Coming Tuesday.

Source: Ventusky.com

The wind speed map then shows it moving directly north.

I wouldn't pay too much attention to the area northeast of that.  I don't think it will likely come our way.

Eleven is going to head in our direction as a depression for the next couple of days.  It is still days away, and there is a lot of time for it to change.   I don't expect much out of it for at least a few days.

Kirk is headed in our general direction, but is also still far away.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

The Treasure Coast is supposed to have three to five feet of surf for a couple of days.

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During the construction of new pipelines, archaeologists uncovered an unusual find on a small island in central Sweden.

The group found a fragment of a medieval seal on Biskops Arnö, in between Uppsala and Stockholm.

"I was very lucky to make that discovery," archaeologist Maria Lingström, one of the group of archaeologists which is linked to the Swedish History Museum, told The Local. "The shaft for the pipeline was just one metre wide and about ten metres deep by the time I examined it. Without a metal detector, I wouldn't have found it."

Here is the link for the rest of the article.

https://www.thelocal.se/20180921/archaeologists-find-medieval-seal-on-biskops-arno-sweden

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net