7/30/14 Report - Fine Bunch of Stone Tools Found. Site For Learning About Stone Tools. Cyclone Likely to Develop in Atlantic.

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



Photos of Finds Submitted
By One Reader From South Africa

I got an email from a reader in South Africa that found these stone tools.  I only have a vague familiarity with that sort of thing.  I wondered if anyone knows if they have a Portable Antiquities Program like England or what the laws are in South Africa.  He has some very nice finds but doesn't know what to do.

Here are some of his pictures.

  





 He said something about what he thinks is a Spanish shield on an item from the same location.  I didn't see a picture of that.

Maybe some of you guys that know about stone artifacts can offer some comments.





I don't do this very often anymore, but I did it today.  I added another site to my reference link list.  That site will give you a very good introduction to stone tools and a few other objects.  If you want to be able to identify a stone tool when you stub your toe on one, this would be a good site to look at.

I think every detectorist should know a little bit about a lot of things, and this is one of those things.

Check it out.

http://pages.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/arch/tools.html#chopper

Very good site for learning some basics.  It is now listed on my reference list as Stone Tools: An Introduction.


Don't throw anything away in the field if it MIGHT be interesting.  I've done that too many times.  I still regret discarding some things that I tossed aside years ago.  It is important to recognize items in the field, but if you aren't sure what something is or might be, hold onto it until you can really inspect it and do some research.  You can always throw something away later, but you might never find it again if you toss it aside too soon.

The most recent item that I discarded was a piece of flint that I dug when I was up north digging another target.  I should have kept it.  It wasn't an arrowhead, but it might have been another tool or partly worked.  I don't know now.  That is why I regret not keeping it.

It reminds me of the time many years ago when I dug a musket flint.  I was just beginning detecting and tossed it away.  That seems stupid to me today.  Shortly after tossing the flint I found the rusted part of the musket that held the flint.  Should have kept that too.  Live and learn.  Those are a couple of things that I threw away that today I wish I hadn't.



From the stone age to the digital age.  Early personal computers are selling for big dollars.  An Apple-1 (the company's original model) sold at auction in November 2010 for more than $213,000.

Here is a link to an article on collecting for financial investment.

 http://www.bankrate.com/lite/smart-spending/collecting-items-as-an-investment.aspx#ixzz38nRTfF8e


On the Treasure Coast we still have that one-foot surf and winds from the West today.

Low Pressure Area Likey To Become a Cyclone.

This low pressure area will likely become a cyclone (70% chance).

Who knows where it will go from there.  It is still a long way out.


I've been impressed lately how hunting the same site over and over again can continue to produce finds long after it would seem that you have covered everything, especially when you change detectors.  Some detectors that are very good at the beach are not so good on developed inland sites where there may be power lines, underground cables and other sources of interference and junk.


In the future I'll do some more tests with various detectors.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net