Showing posts with label pre-Columbian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pre-Columbian. Show all posts

Friday, May 8, 2020

5/8/20 Report - Must Read: All About Near Shore Shipwrecks. Pre-Columbian Florida. Erosion.


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

South of Turtle Trail Access Around Noon 5/7
A front came through yesterday and the wind was coming from the north. As I expected, there was a little erosion to some of the beaches.

Ambersands Beach Around 1PM On 5/7

The wind continued into the evening, so there could have been some more erosion.

Ambersands Beach Around 1PM on 5/7
There was one detectorist at Ambersands.  You can barely see him in the photo above.

Treasure Shores Beach Around 1PM on 5/7.

The tides will be high Friday, but the surf will be only two or three feet.

Unfortunately the surf predictions for the weekend are now looking like only three or four feet, at the most.  A few days ago it was looking a little more promising.

I'm adding this photo from Jerry P. showing the damaged access to Seagrape.  The Seagrape access is still closed.

Seagrape Trail Access.

Jerry stopped at Turtle Trail yesterday also and said finds were very few.  He saw no other detectorists.

Thanks Jerry.

Looks like the wind has changed Friday morning.  I wouldn't expect much more erosion.  Probably some filling soon.

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It appears Florida tourism has been going on for thousands of years.

… Archaeologists estimate small-scale ceremonies began at Crystal River around A.D. 50, growing substantially after a residential community settled the site around A.D. 200. Excavations have uncovered minerals and artifacts from the Midwest, including copper breastplates from the Great Lakes. Similarly, conch shells from the Gulf Coast have been found at Midwestern archaeological sites.
"There was this long-distance reciprocal exchange network going on across much of the Eastern U.S. that Crystal River was very much a part of," Duke said.
Religious ceremonies at Crystal River included ritual burials and marriage alliances, Duke said, solidifying social ties between different groups of people. But the community was not immune to the environmental and social crises that swept the region, and the site was abandoned around A.D. 650. A smaller ceremonial site was soon established less than a mile downstream on Roberts Island, likely by a remnant of the Crystal River population....
Here is that link.


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Anyone seriously interested in tracking shipwrecks or artifacts will want to read The Archaeology of Shore Stranded Shipwrecks of Southern Brazil, a dissertation by Rodrigo De Oliviera Torres, Texas A and M University, 2015.  While the study was conducted in Brazil the same principles apply locally, although the seasons are different and the most significant winds for us are from the north, while their's comes from the south.  Otherwise there is little difference.

I'll give you just a few examples from the dissertation to give you the idea of the types of things you will find in the dissertation.

First is the distribution of shipwrecks in the area (Fig. 19 below).  You will notice a clustering around the bar near the inlet.  Also most wrecks are near shore.  There are relatively few in deeper water.

Four sections of the hull of one wreck was buried on the beach.  Below is one of those after excavation.

Excavated Hull Section.
Below is a diagram showing the relative positions of the four beached sections of the hull.


While sections 1 and 2, which were larger and farther back on the beach, remained in the same relative position, sections 3 and 4 were moved over a three year period.

In the following photos you can see that the two sections are closer together in 2009 than they were in 2006.


It is not surprising, but it illustrates how even large sections like this can be moved on a beach.

Of course, weather and beach dynamics are discussed.  Below is an example.

Remember, the directions are reversed.  Their south winds are more like our north winds.



Notice the alternating erosional and depositional areas.

Here is one more diagram from the dissertation.

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And here is another paragraph from the dissertation.

McNinch et al. (2006), studying artifact deposition in a similar shallow, energetic
setting in North Carolina (Queen Anne’s Revenge site), observed that wrecks in these
conditions will normally settle into the sand via episodic scour processes driven by
storms and inlet migration, favoring preservation of heavier artifacts and hull parts. The
authors concluded that depending on the underlying geology and hydrodynamics, a
shipwreck could in fact settle through several meters of substrate in highly dynamic
settings. Although no systematic survey has ever been carried out in the area
surrounding the sand shoals at the Rio Grande bar, shipwreck debris varying from small
coal chunks to glass bottles and large timbers are frequently washed out onto the beach
after storms, suggesting shipwreck remains are still being reworked (Figure 60).


I don't really like the word "settle" as it is used here, but it does explain that it occurs along with the scour processes.  It is not a passive process, as "settle" would seem to imply.

Well, I can't go over the entire dissertation, but think I've given you enough to let you decide if you want to browse it for yourself.

Here is the link,.

https://www.academia.edu/12852042/The_Archaeology_of_Shore_Stranded_Shipwrecks_of_Southern_Brazil_Torres_2015_?email_work_card=view-paper

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Wednesday, May 6, 2020

5/6/20 Report - Pre-Columbian Beer Keg. Victoria Cross Analysis. Stolen Treasure Dug Up.


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


Pre-Columbian Beer Keg Found in Mexico.
Source: MexicoNewsDaily.com (See link below.)

Below is a bit of the story of the jar shown above.

Naturally the archaeologists decided to check their assumptions and as soon as they began digging beneath the surface, they discovered that a 10-square-meter section of the new museum site was unusually rich in artifacts. Within a few months they unearthed bowls, jewelry, figurines, six burials, five ovens and six big urns, one of them a meter high by a meter wide...

It is interesting to note that the big jar found in 2008 weighs about 100 kilos empty, so that when it was full of liquid it must have weighed around 200 kilos (441 pounds).

“It may seem surprising,” Esparza told me, “but it appears that jars of this size were commonly used in those days and every home may have had not just one, but two or three jars this size. I should mention, by the way, that in our excavations we have normally found these pots all in pieces, not well preserved like our big jar, which we found 85% intact.”...

Here is the link for the rest of the story.

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/mexicolife/after-12-years-a-giant-pre-hispanic-jar-tells-its-story/

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The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces.


Victoria Cross
Source: TheGuardian.com (See link below.)

There was some question if they were made from the cascabels of captured guns.  That was investigated and here is the answer.


“While it’s unlikely that even the earliest medals came from the ordnance captured at Sevastopol, it is clear that most of the VCs awarded since the first world war have plausibly been sourced from the cascabels of captured guns – an important and symbolic fact for those who have received the honour in recognition of their bravery,” Marriott said.

Here is the link for more about that.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/may/03/show-your-mettle-victoria-cross-not-made-of-captured-russian-guns-after-all


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A Mexican drug lord's property seized and sold at auction.

The auction, held at the Los Pinos cultural complex, also offered 77 cars, five airplanes, five homes and 107 lots of jewelry, among other seized goods. In total, more than 130 million pesos, around US $5.3 million, was collected...

He is estimated to have amassed a fortune of around US $25 billion by transporting drugs, mostly cocaine, from Colombia and Mexico to the United States, often using his fleet of jets, which is how he earned his nickname...

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/ex-drug-lords-mansion-goes-for-49-million-pesos/

While all of the focus is on Covid, the death and devastation of drugs continues.

I've found bales on Treasure Coast beaches in the past.  I'm sure others have too.

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Every once in a while you dig up something and wonder how it got there.  Sometimes you know, or at least have a good idea, and sometimes you can only imagine.

Some things were buried by the rightful owner, but sometimes thieves bury stolen goods.  Unless you are looking for a known treasure, you might not know which it is.

Here is a story I ran across about stolen goods that were buried.

Huge Stash of Stolen Goods Uncovered Long after Prolific Thief Is Apprehended
Los Angeles: On Feb. 25, 2008, LAPD Burglary Special Section detectives received a map leading to stolen goods buried in the ground near the 118 Freeway at White Oak Avenue. The unearthed treasure may be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and is yet another chapter in the arrest and conviction of Roberto Caveda...

Recently, the case resurfaced with the discovery of the buried treasure, based on information Caveda relayed through his attorney. To safeguard it, Caveda stuffed it into a plastic pipe and placed it in the ground on a 118 Freeway right-of-way. As before, when detectives sorted through the stolen material, they discovered a lot of jewelry...


Here is that link.

http://www.lapdonline.org/february_2008/news_view/37637

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Looks like we're going to get some bigger surf before long.

Surf Predictions
Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.
Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net


Sunday, April 5, 2020

4/5/20 Report - Pre-Columbian Indigenous Metallurgy and Tumbaga. An Old Find. FDOH Dashboard.


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

Source: See Penn.Museum link below.

AD 1519, central Panama: the conquistadors were angry. They had promised the Spanish court a mass of gold in return for investing in their risky transatlantic voyage. But having failed to find the legendary gold mines of the region, they had resorted to looting the treasuries of the local chiefs and the grave goods of native cemeteries. Then came the shock. As the soldiers began to melt down the heaps of ornaments they had gathered up, they discovered that scarcely anything was made of pure gold. Rather, the metal was debased with large amounts of copper....

Here is the link for the rest of that article, Confounding the Conquistadors: Tumbaga's Spurious Luster.


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You might also like the article entitled Pueblo Indians Adaptation of Spanish Metallurgy, which discusses a 17th century site.  Here is the link.


Here is one illustration from that article.


It reminds me  of some of the small pieces that I was picking up when cobs were found earlier this year.  Some of those were modern, but not all of them.

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The Aztecs certainly had lots of gold, but nowhere near as much as the conquistadors believed. It turned out that all that glittered was not necessarily gold - much of it was an alloy called tumbaga.

The metallurgical skills of the pre-Columbian Indians went unrecognized for centuries prior to the pioneering work of Dora M. K. de Grinberg and others in the past fifty years or so. De Grinberg, an Argentinian archeologist working in Mexico, doggedly followed tenuous leads to uncover ample evidence that the ancient Indian metalworkers were far more knowledgeable than had previously been supposed...
Here is the link for that article.

https://www.mexconnect.com/articles/1238-did-you-know-lots-of-real-aztec-gold-was-only-tumbaga

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Archaic Period Point Recently Found in Plowed Florida Field.
Find and photo by JamminJack.

A couple days ago I posted a photo of an axe or tool and had it mislabeled as an Archaic point.  I went back and made that correction in the old post.  This is actually the Archaic point that was found the same day as the other item.  It measures about two inches and was among the finds that Jack and his buddy found in a newly plowed field.

Jack said, I did some research and found there was an outpost and old post office (1800s) nearby... 

Thanks Jack. 

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The Georgia governor despite a shelter-at-home order, opened the Georgia beaches, which like almost everything these days, was a very controversial move.

Here is the link.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/georgia-reopens-beaches-coronavirus-shelter-in-place-order

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Here are today's Florida numbers from the Florida Dept. of Health dashboard.


You can use this link to access the interactive dashboard.

https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/96dd742462124fa0b38ddedb9b25e429

As you know the models depend upon data and assumptions, and the data, in my opinion is not very good.  There does not appear to be an overall highly consistent system and many states have not been reporting at all.

If you take the numbers from Germany, they have about a 1% coronavirus death rate, while the mortality rate for Spain and France is about seven times that.  That is a huge difference, which I believe must be due to measurement or reporting differences rather than population differences or differences in treatment.

Anyhow, you can keep up with the Florida statistics by using the FDOH dashboard.

You certainly can't say that coronavirus is irrelevant to metal detecting while the beaches are closed and we are under a variety of orders and advisements.

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The Treasure Coast surf today is 3 - 5 feet and tomorrow is supposed to be 5 - 8 feet.

Be safe, be wise,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

Friday, January 3, 2020

1/3/20 Report - Tajaderos: Mexico Hoe or Axe Money Cache Returned. New Years Finds. Roman Coin Repro.


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

Source: See MexicoNewsDaily link below.


The United States returned a collection of over 3,500 pre-Hispanic copper coins to Mexican authorities in a ceremony in Miami on Monday.

The coins were used in what are now Michoacán and Guerrero between the years 1200 and 1500, according to Jessica Cascante, spokesperson for the Mexican Consulate in Miami.

A U.S. collector acquired them in Texas at a numismatic fair in the 1960s, she said, but at that time neither Mexico nor the United States was part of a UNESCO convention that guarantees the return of such heritage artifacts to their countries of origin...


Cascante did not divulge the name of the collector who obtained the coins in the 1960s, but said that he did so before it constituted a crime and turned them in voluntarily...


Here is the link for more about that.

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/us-returns-3500-copper-coins/


They call these coins, and they were used like coins, but it seems they evolved from tools that were bartered to being used as coins with a fixed value.  Columbus, on his fourth voyage, encountered native traders carrying a large stack of these, and Cortes described the natives using trajaderos in the 1520s.

One source values the "hoe money" or "axe money" at 8,000 cacao seeds.  Another source describes the four of the tajadero as being worth on reale.  The items are unmarked and seem to vary in weight and size.

The shape varies with the location and what you see at the top of this post looks like it might have been from West Mexico.

Similar tools seemed to evolve in proto-money in different parts of the world including, for example, China.

Here is a good resource for more information about "hoe money."

http://www.moneta-coins.com/library/Hoe%20Money%20of%20the%20Americas%20-%20Martin.pdf

I'd be glad to hear of anyone who can point to any examples being found on shipwrecks.

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Ring and Coins Found by Joe D. On New Years Day.
Photo by Joe D.

Here is how Joe described his hunt.
  

I went out this morning (Jan. 1) before sunrise again! I was determined to start the New Year right! Since the inlet beach is now ruined, i went South a little to have a look! First beach was a total bust, and just a few pop tops after an hour and a half, and multiple passes! The pop tops where all in the shell line! I finally gave in and moved to another beach up the road!

      A few swings in i got a little redemption with a small ring, missing the stone! I think it may be pewter; and not silver, due to the way it looked after cleaning! There are no markings, and it hard to say how old! 

      I only found several newer coins, pop tops, and lead fishing lures after that, and it was time to call it quits!    But good enough for the New Year!



Ring Found by Joe D.
It has a heart on each side of the setting, and it looks like the stone was heart-shaped.

Thanks for sharing Joe.

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Susan B. was researching Sharon's Roman looking coin and found the following nice site.


Here is what Susan said.  Reverse:  The coin (if it is real) is from Dacia. (See the word “Dacii” just beneath the line near the bottom.). Although it is somewhat the worse for wear, I found on Google Images a Reverse that is close to Sharon's coin.

Here is the link Susan provided.


Thanks for the research Susan.   Everybody benefits from the research.



Just a little later I received a the following email from Sharon.

I took my coin to a coin dealer to be checked out. Unfortunately, it’s a fake electroplated Denarius Roman Coin. He said if it was real, it would be worth $50. So I guess I’m back to hunting, but for a gold coin this time.

Thanks for your help.

Sharon

Thanks for letting us know the outcome Sharon.
--- I hope someone can help Iowa Steve with the marks on his ring (See yesterday's post.). Let me know if you can identify the language or anything. The Treasure Coast surf is still small and the tides pretty flat. We will have some higher surf before long though.
Source; MagicSeaWeed.com
Happy hunting, TreasureGuide@comcast.net

Friday, May 3, 2019

5/3/19 Report - Beach Conditions on the Treasure Coast. Spanish Colonial and Pre-Columbian Jewelry Materials.


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

John Brooks Beach Around Noon Thursday.
I visited a few beaches yesterday.  John Brooks had some cuts that I think probably were made the night before.  There were more to the north that you can really see in this photo.

Frederick Douglass Beach Thursday.
Frederick Douglass and the other South Hutchinson Island beaches that I looked at had no fresh cuts.  There were, however, some nice flat areas near the water's edge, like at John Brooks.

Frederick Douglass Beach Thursday Around Noon.
There was a lot of seaweed at Frederick Douglass and the other beaches I saw.

Fort Pierce South Jetty Beach.

There was really a lot of seaweed at Fort Pierce South Jetty.  It looked like it had cut a little earlier - maybe yesterday when the wind was still pretty much from the north.

Overall what I saw was not encouraging, however the flat area down by the water at low tide probably held a few targets if you wanted to put in a lot of time.

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A couple days ago I mentioned the copper bracelet found by Terry S. and asked for thoughts and opinions.  I did a little research myself to see what I could find about Spanish colonial copper bracelets.  I started by consulting Kathleen Deagan's book, Artifacts of the Spanish Colonies of Florida and the Caribbean, 1500 -1800, Vol. II.  Deagan says, "Bracelets have been infrequently reported from Spanish Colonial sites, especially those dating to the seventeenth century or later."

Another source in Deagan's book commented on a notable lack of interest by the Spanish in bracelets from the seventeenth century until the eighteenth century when multi-strand bracelets of pearls or beads became popular.

It appears that glass bracelets are among the bracelets most commonly found.  Glass bracelets and fragments of glass bracelets were found in archaeological contexts at both La Isabella and Puerto Real.  The glass bracelets seem to be associated mostly with adolescent girls.

As for copper bracelets, the only ones mentioned by Deagan are bangle bracelets of "twisted copper wire" from sites dating from the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries.

Deagan mentions the gold bracelets found on the 1715 and 1733 wrecks.  It seems that gold bracelets are much more common from shipwreck sites than land sites.

A quick search of the Mel Fisher artifact database revealed NO copper jewelry finds.  Almost all jewelry finds in the Fisher database are gold.  There were a couple lead items listed that held emeralds.

Back in a 2016 post, I reported on a copper bracelet found by Captain Jonah and the crew of the Capitana along with other wreck artifacts.  That is the only specific example of a probable Spanish Colonial copper bracelet that I can point to right now.

A search of Pre-Columbian  metalworking in South Anerica revealed the following summary.

Metalwork appeared in general use around Chavin times, by 900 BCE, although the techniques known were limited to hammering, annealing, soldering and repousse working of sheet gold and silver. By Mochica times, every technique was used including casting - simple and cire perdue - alloying and gilding. By then, metal was used for utilitarian purposes in the production of weapons and agricultural tools as well as plate and jewellery. The Chimu of North Coastal Peru were especially known for a high degree of competence in metallurgy, producing quantities of gold and silver figurines, ceremonial knives, tweezers, earspools, plate, bowls and beakers, many decorated with fine repousse designs of gods, animals and mythical creatures. It was from them that the Incas and then the Spaniards acquired much of their wealth. At the Spanish Conquest (1519 CE), South and Middle America were still technically in the Bronze Age, having no knowledge of iron working.  (http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/pre-columbian.htm#metalwork)

We do know that copper was used in Pre-Columbian times to manufacture a variety of objects.  Bells, tools and masks are just a few examples.  But again, it certainly does not appear that it was used much, if at all, for jewelry.

See https://www.copper.org/education/history/60centuries/middle_ages/copperin.html.

I've found some copper bracelets on the Treasure Coast that could possibly be from a Treasure Coast wreck, but since they were beach finds and had no telling markings, I am not able to say much of anything about their source.

I have also found silver bracelets that I think are probably from a 1715 Fleet wreck, but I can't be absolutely certain about that.

Again I am reminded of the lack of silver finger rings found on 1715 Fleet wrecks.  The apparent disparity between submerged wreck and land sites might seem strange, but perhaps shouldn't be if the extreme concentration of wealth on those small ships is considered.  The material culture found on the treasure ships is unique in many ways.  What we sometimes find on the beach is a few odd bits of that scattered accumulation.

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I didn't receive many opinions on the bracelet.

Bruce B. offered the following.

I don't know for sure, but the ring reminds me of Celtic ornamentation I have seen on bronze bracelets, though it could be Viking with perhaps the face of Odin. The shape, however, looks more Roman.   

Troy T. sent this message.  I read somewhere that Florida natives liked to use copper acquired from Europeans either through trade or from shipwrecks. They would re-work it into ornamentation and jewelry. I wish I had a good source to point towards but I don't remember exactly where I read it. I've made similar things before out of copper and brass wire. The markings are crudely punched and maybe also etched and could have been done with pretty simple tools so it could have easily been made by a native with stone or shell tools. Of course it just as easily could have been made by a bored sailor.

When I saw the design, the first thing I thought of  was a possible African influence.

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I also enjoyed looking at many examples of Native American copper artifacts, which, by the way, also included bracelets.

https://www.mpm.edu/research-collections/anthropology/online-collections-research/old-copper-culture

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I wanted to pass along one thing SuperRick recently said in an email to me.  Here it is.  

I want to thank everybody that sends you information to post and my good friends that I have made friends with thanks to the treasure hunter's cookout!

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It looks like we are in for a few days of small surf. 

In a month or two I might be able to present a new find of a bunch of modern gold bullion coins. 

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide