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