2/8/17 Report - Pre-Columbian New World Maps. EOs. Archaeological Conservation.

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

You might enjoy reading the Ancient America web site.  It has tons of articles.  One example is the one entitled Early New World Maps.  Below is one illustration from that article.

Notice the Frau Mauro Map dated 1459, which is obviously before 1492.  It seems to show a pretty good map of Florida, the Gulf, etc.

It also shows the following Roman artifacts found in the New World.  One was said to be found in the base of a South American pyramid.



I don't know how credible all these things are, but it is a lengthy article and you might enjoy reading it.

Here is the link.

http://ancientamerica.com/early-new-world-maps-by-dr-gunnar-thompson/

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I mentioned yesterday that I dug some EOs.  Below is one of them.  It is about six inches long and about four by three.  I don't have the slightest idea what it was.

I don't think all EOS should be called that.  Some are encrusted, but some have become relatively formless, and some of them have nothing but a void where the iron used to be.  That isn't the worst case because you can sometimes pour plaster into the void and make a plaster cast of whatever the object used to be.

Sometimes you can use x-ray to tell what the object was.  And sometimes other objects such as coins can be in the EO or stuck to the EO.

EOs differ quite a lot, and it can be difficult to know what course of action to take.

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Here is a good book.  Elements of Archaeological Conservation, by J. M> Cronyn.

Click on the title to take a look at the online preview.

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That is all I have for today.  I had more but lost it somehow and don't feel like trying to reconstruct it.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

5/18/16 Report - 14,000 Year-Old Florida Artifacts. Large Assembly of Maritime Artifacts Recovered. Free Robert Marx Lecture Coming Soon.

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

Photo Credit: Ran Feinstein

Source: See link below.

A treasure trove of bronze statues and coins bearing the images of Roman emperors has emerged from the waters of the ancient Mediterranean harbor of Caesarea, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced Monday.

The discovery, hailed as the largest assemblage of marine artifacts recovered in the country during the past 30 years, was initially made by two divers who stumbled across the remains of a large merchant ship. It is estimated the vessel sank during the Late Roman period some 1,600 years ago....

Here is that link.

http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/hoard-of-coins-and-bronze-statues-found-off-israel-160516.htm

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Besides the Old Vero Man site, there is another archaeological site in Florida linking man to mastodons.  It is the Page-Ladson site on the Aucilla River.

...In 1983, eight stone artifacts and butchered mastodon remains were discovered at the Page-Ladson site, and were investigated through 1997. The sediments surrounding the finds were dated to 14,400 years ago, but at the time, it was unthinkable to suggest that humans arrived in North America more than 1,000 years prior to the Clovis, the authors of the new study explained. Experts back then argued that even if the sediments were over 14,000 years old, it was possible that the artifacts themselves were not, and that they had been carried to that part of the site by river currents...

A mastodon tusk bearing the marks of stone tools was found at that site. Here is the link to read more about that.

http://www.livescience.com/54735-mastodon-remains-in-underwater-site.html

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Here is information about a free lecture that you might want to attend.  It is open to the public.

 T

The lecture will be at the FIT Gleason Performing Arts Center in Melbourne Florida.

Below is the link for more information.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9eJVRMxKrpJQjdnNEZwSTVINkU/view?usp=sharing

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The Sedwick auction goes live from the floor today.

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It looks like we have a week of smooth surf coming up, probably interrupted by a few thunder storms.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/22/15 Report - Recent Atocha Finds. Bonsteel Beach. Nautical Archaeology Research Resources. Roman Artifacts Found By Detectorist.

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

The above is an illustration is from a dissertation on flint lock pistols found on a 17th Century shipwreck.
Source: http://anthropology.tamu.edu/papers/Garigen-MA1991.pdf



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In the past couple of posts I showed some of the super finds made by Treasure Coast salvors   The guys down south on the Atocha are making finds too.

One very nice lead bale seal was found.  It is being researched to see if they can identify the owner.  


Other recent finds on the Atocha site include four silver coins, a musket ball, several large spikes, encrusted objects, pottery, and some big ballast stones. The location of the large ballast stones suggests that there might well be more to be found to the East.

They will also soon be resuming the search for the Lost Merchant. 

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One Treasure Coast coin beach that doesn't get mentioned as often as some of the others is Bonsteel.  Back a few posts I was talking about hurricanes Frances and Jeane.   One detectorist picked up 24 half reales there in one day.  I'm sure there were others doing the same.

Bonsteel is known for producing small half reales.

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I just added a great new link to my Treasure Site Reference Link List.  The link that I added will take to a large number of graduate dissertations from the Texas A. & M. Nautical Archaeology program. \

That provides a lot of really good information.  The dissertations are good alone, but if you go to the references listed at the end of each dissertation you'll find a lot more good research materials.

Whether you are interested in Chinese porcelain from 17th Century Port Royal or the development of English anchors from 1550, you'll find plenty of interest in these dissertations.

Here is the link that I added to my list.

http://anthropology.tamu.edu/html/graduate-theses-dissertations.html

The dissertation on flintlock pistols which provided the above illustration is on that list.

You might want to look through that list if you haven't done it for a while.

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Bronze Roman Urn Found By Detectorist
Source: See LiveScience.com link

A man in England went exploring with a metal detector and made the discovery of a lifetime: an exquisitely preserved Roman-era grave filled with artifacts, including bronze jugs, mosaic glassware, coins and hobnails from a pair of shoes, all dating to about A.D. 200.

Here is that link.

http://www.livescience.com/50510-grave-artifacts-roman-england.html

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For many years I hunted exclusively in the all-metals or pinpoint modes.  That included a number of detectors.  Some of the best of those were built by individuals rather than any of the major detector companies.  However I did use detectors made by the major manufacturers and used those almost exclusively in the pinpoint or all metals mode as well.

That often results in greater sensitivity and depth, but that isn't the only benefit.  The "raw signal" that you get in those modes will help you get a good idea of the size, shape and depth of the object.  If you use it enough, you'll learn how much information you can get from that.  Knowing something about the size, shape and depth of a target often gives me the identity.  

I once explained how to identify nails and similar objects in all metals mode..  I'd rather know the size, shape and depth first, and then IF I actually want to know more about the object's identity before digging it, switch to a discrimination mode or target ID display.

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On the Treasure Coast don't expect any improvement in conditions this week.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net