12/16/17 Report - Transforming the Ordinary. Posts and References. More Info About EOs.

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

There are times in life when ordinary things are transformed by something special such as the Magic of Christmas.  One example I'm thinking of is an old orange buoy that I once found that was laying around with a lot of other junk but was recently transformed by a coat of reflective silver paint and black tape into a shiny Christmas bell highlighted with a red ribbon bow and is now a bright focal point between colored lights and blinking snow flakes.  So it is in the lives of men who on rare occasions are momentarily transformed - or so it would seem.

I always remember the time many years ago when I was in Pensacola on business and after work I went out to a remote beach to do some detecting.  It was an isolated beach.  The small parking lot was nothing more than a packed surface big enough to hold maybe six or eight cars at max.  There was only one other car there when I arrived.

I just got out of the car and started towards the walkover  when I noticed an elderly couple and a child leaving the beach.  They had their hands full with beach blankets, a cooler, toys and I don't know what all. 

I saw them struggling and took one of the items ( I think it was a cooler), and took it to their car.  As I returned to my own business, I remember the man commenting to his wife something about how surprised he was at my actions.  In retrospect, I find it a little surprising myself - not that it was any kind of big deal or something that should be surprising.

Having helped them to their car, I headed towards the beach but soon became aware that they had a problem.  They couldn't find the car keys.

I don't know what all transpired, but I ended up following their tracks back to where I could tell they were on the beach and started detecting for the keys.  It didn't take long until I found them.

It would have been a problem if the keys were not found.  It was a remote beach away from businesses, homes and traffic, and since this was in the days before cell phones, they couldn't just call for help.

If I put myself in their place I night think about how unlikely it was, and how fortunate it was that a fellow came along at just the right time  with a metal detector to find the keys.  I would have wondered if it was just coincidence or something more.  And being the type of person I am, I'd wonder if it might be something spiritual in one way or another.  It was definitely out of line with my normal or natural behavior.  Was it more than coincidence?

I didn't tell you what I did so you would think that I'm a good person.  Quite the contrary.  The good deep was not the norm.  It was the exception.  That is too bad.  It need not be so.

There are many opportunities in daily life to transform unexceptional moments into memorable mements.  One way you can do that is by responding to some of the many opportunities to lend a helping hand.  The Christmas season is an especially good time to try it.

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There is only so much I can do in a blog post.  Posts are short and I write one almost every day.  That means that I can not say everything that needs to be said or even everything I might want to say about many topics.  I can't even take the time I would like to take to refine my posts like I wish I could. That is just the nature of a blog, especially one done on a daily basis by a single person with a lot of other more pressing responsibilities.  That is just one important reason that I usually post my sources as references.

The sources that I post provide many details that I don't include in my text.  A perfect example was my recent post about encrusted object.  At the top of the post I provided an illustration showing the stages of development of an EO taken from a thesis for a Master's degree.  A thesis like that is much more lengthy and detailed than any post that I might provide and will usually answer any questions you might have about the topic to the est have been answered in academic circles.  A thesis like that normally takes close to two years to complete, will include a comprehensive overview of the existing academic literature on the topic and is completed with the assistance of an academic team of professors in the field of study.  Therefore you might expect the thesis to provided the best scholarship on the subject that exists anywhere.  That is why I provide the sources and references.  If you have any questions, you can consult the original sources, not only the one source, but also those listed in that source.  An academic thesis must contain a review of the relevant literature, which you will find near the end of the thesis.

The illustration I provided at the top of the post from the thesis on EOs was good, as far as it goes, however the thesis also acknowledged that things are actually more complex.  Here is a paragraph from the same thesis as the illustration commenting on that.




As you can see, there is more.  You can use the following to link to continue reading.

When you have questions about something I post that is from another source, I usually give you a link so you can check the source for more information.   You will often find tons of additional good information.

Here is the link to the thesis on EOs that I talked about in my post a couple days ago.

http://nautarch.tamu.edu/pdf-files/Rash-MA2012.pdf

You should note that the thesis was based upon a survey of 2000-year-old items - not 300-year-old items.

I often get questions about cleaning objects.  I know it can be too detailed or difficult to understand at times, but the best over all resource that I know about for information about cleaning and conserving objects is the Texas A and M Nautical Archaeology Conservation Laboratory web site.  I think I've mentioned that web site several times.  There you will find extensive discussion about cleaning and conserving almost every type of material.  The main problem with that web site is that it has too much information and would take a long time to master.  I will therefore continue to provide brief instructions, but you should realize that there is always more that could be said.  When you need to know all the ifs, ands and buts, you might want to consult the best academic resources.

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If I judged my posts on the number of emails received, I would have to say that the recent EO posts were popular.  They are certainly interesting objects that inspire a lot of questions.  I will be doing more posts on EOs in the future.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/10/15 Report - More Than An Object. Seminole War and Voyage To The Spanish Main. Geoducks.

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

National Geographic Photo.
More on that below.

I've been showing a lot of older found objects lately.  Those are things that just recently saw the light of day for the first time in centuries.  There have been cannon balls, musket balls and even a rare 1800s Indian Head penny.

An object is more than an object though if you've done your research to learn more about it.  It becomes a part of living history.  It can tell a story of a time and place.

The object was made for a purpose.  It started with a desire or motive.  Someone needed or wanted it enough to create it.  Someone owned it and used it.  And eventually someone discarded, lost or left it behind.

Everything connects.  Every little object was made with a purpose that was a part of a specific time, place and circumstances.  It had its place.

Peoples connect - and sometimes clash.  It is true today and was always true.

It is amazing to me how found objects from the past can lead you on a journey into the past - a journey of adventure and an adventure of endless learning.

I just received an email from James F., who along with his wife, found the musket ball and trigger guard that I showed back a week or so ago.  Here is what James said.

As a result of my wife and I locating some Second Seminole War artifacts, I did notice and completely read a free Google Play e-book entitled "The War In Florida" with some rather extensive narratives of the U.S. Army and Seminole Indian exploits during the Second Seminole War. I was amazed to read of several Archaeological digs and studies done in 2006 by a university, who decided to keep locations of their study a "secret" because of "looters," whose questions on troop actions, supplies and movements via artifact data, and burned wooden posts are all pretty much answered in this book's narratives published in 1836. This is the second time in the last few years I have found published historical data, written by the folks who were actually there, that archaeologists were completely unaware of! Do they not do document searches any more?? At any rate, if you can deal with the early 19th Century way of spelling and somewhat involved descriptions, it makes very interesting reading. It also can be emotionally trying to read first hand the double-standard and pleading of the Seminoles for the whites to just leave them alone in the land of their fathers and they would fight no more. Sometimes it makes you wonder how Americans could treat their native brothers in such a way...it can make you question our shining words of freedom, then compare it with our past actions. Not a good thing sometimes.

Thanks much for the note James.

First of all, James gives one more good example of the great resources we have today on the internet.  When you can find something like that it makes your found objects really come alive.

This is the Google Play book that James is talking about.

The War in Florida: Being an Exposition of Its Causes, and an Accurate History of the Campaigns of Generals Clinch, Gaines, and Scott ... By a Late Staff Officer

Woodburne PotterLewis and Coleman - January 1, 1836

And here is the link to that book.

https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=C8d1AAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA109

One of the things I notice while browsing that book is that the Negroes  (as they were called in the book) that joined the Seminoles were referred to as being the property of the Indians.  I had always read that the escaped slaves from the north just joined the Indians.  I never saw anything before suggesting that the Seminoles treated the escaped slaves as slaves or held them as property.  Perhaps it was a misperception or intentional misconstrual.  I don't know.

Anyhow, there is a lot of good information out there on the internet that will help you make finds.  The same resources will help you make more sense out of your finds, which makes them both more interesting and valuable - in more ways than one.

When I was reading other historical documents, I was surprised to learn how prevalent scalping and other forms of violence were back in the colonial days.  Our history books and teachers don't present that like the books and documents written back a century or so.

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Here is another online book you might enjoy.  This one was written in 1819.

And here is the link for that one.

http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89096224696;view=1up;seq=316;size=75

This one also talks about Black Beard and privateers.

Take a look at the table of contents and chapter headings and jump to the sections you want to read.


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Geoduck For Dinner.

Isn't that an amazing picture at the top of the page.  I've had some awe inspiring experiences with manatees, porpoise, and other creatures in the sea, but none of that size.  Could you imagine!  If you could put yourself in that diver's place, it would be a truly awesome, and probably frightening experience.

Mark B., is an experienced diver who harvested geoducks for ten years off of Vancouver.  He is interested in doing our type of treasure diving.

Don't know what a geoduck is?   It is a large salt-water clam delicacy.

Thanks for the great photo Mark.

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Nothing much new about Treasure Coast beach conditions.  The surf is small and we had a good low tide this morning.  Also a few rain showers.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/22/12 Report - Storms in the Atlantic & Great Research Tips

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

Storm Map from www.nhc.noaa.gov.

The Atlantic is becoming more active again.  There are two storms to watch.

The first has an 80% chance of becoming a cyclone very soon.  It is below Jamaica.

The second is east of the West Indies and has a 40% chance of becoming a cyclone in the next 48 hours.  We'll need to watch those.

On the Treasure Coast the wind really picked up this morning and is now coming from the northeast.   The surf web sites said that the seas would only be about two feet today, but I'd be very surprised if it isn't pretty rough out there.  I'll have to get  out to take a look before long.

The surf web sites are predicting increasing seas today and through the week, gradually increasing up to about six feet by Saturday.

That could possibly lead to improved detecting conditions by then.


Research is important.  I've been receiving emails from people asking for good detecting sites. If you do your research not only will you get some new clues on where to hunt, but you'll also be better prepared to interpret what you see in the field.

One good source of research these days are the collections of university theses and dissertations.  They used to be published in Dissertations Abstracts International but now can often be found on the internet where anybody can find them.

Of course many dissertations are very technical and will be of no interest to detectorists, but many in  fields such as history or anthropology  will provide a lot of good information.

I found an interesting chapter of a FSU anthropology thesis about submerged archaeology sites in Franklin county.  The chapter talks about shipwrecks such as the HMS Fox and Le Tigre and fifteen other ships that were anchoring at Dog Island when a storm destroyed the area   The chapter presents a lot of good history and some nice photos.

But one thing in particular that I wanted to point out is what they say about the changes in the size and shape of the island and the forces that caused those changes.  The same forces work on the Treasure Coast to change the coastline.  That has something to do with where old things will be found.  Some things will be buried by the changing coastline and others exposed, depending upon whether that area is eroding or accreting.

Here is the link to that chaper.

http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-03252005-125704/unrestricted/013CHAPTER_5.pdf

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Did you know that the House of Refuge in Martin County was moved back 35 or 40 feet in 1935 because of erosion?  It was.  The Treasure Coast coastline has changed and will continue to change.
Some big changes occur around the inlets.   I've talked about that a little in the past.  And also, I've mentioned before there are short term and long term changes.

Talking about the House of Refuge, you might not know that there was also a House of Refuge in present day St. Lucie County and one in Indian River county.

The one in St. Lucie County is thought to have been at the north end of Pepper Park.

The one in Indian River County is thought to have been near Jaycee Park.

I found out about those and others in an FSU anthropology thesis.

Theses and dissertations, like I said can be very technical and have sections that are of little or no interest to the detectorist, but they also usually have a good bibliography at the end.  You might want to check any relevant bibliography. 

The illustrations are often concentrated near the end, so sometimes you might want to quickly skip over some material to find what you are  interested in.

Here is the link to the FSU theses and dissertation collection.

http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/ETD-db/ETD-browse/browse?first_letter=all;browse_by=department

Browse through the history and anthropology departments for anything of interest.

It seems the Mars rover may have found trash on Mars.  Actually they haven't determined yet what it is.

Here is that link.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/18/mars-shiny-particles-curiosity_n_1981298.html?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D223186


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net