2/15/18 Report - Ongoing Archaeology on Cape Canaveral. USS Hornet Found. Ancient Boat Workshop Found.

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

View of USS Hornet

Source: See CBS News link below.

I've been seeing reports of recent archaeological investigations at Cape Canaveral. They feel some urgency to do it now before it is lost due to climate change.

Here is an excerpt from one report.

… There are over 30,000 recorded archaeological sites in Florida, FPAN Central Region Director Jeff Moates said.

Of those sites, roughly 3,000 are at risk of a 1-meter or 3-feet sea level rise. If sea levels rise to 2 meters or 6 feet, about 4,000 sites could be eroded or inundated.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, sea levels are rising at an alarming rate. In 2017, global mean sea level was 3 inches above the 1993 average — the highest annual average in the satellite record, NOAA data shows...

Here is the link for the rest of the article.

https://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2019/02/14/at-floridas-gateway-to-space-archaeologists-are-in-a-race-against-time/2849364002/


Here is an excerpt from another article on the same subject.

… Due to climate change and sea level rise, a lot of these sites are going to be eroded in 20 to 25 years," said Thomas Penders, the 45th Space Wing's cultural resources manager.  

The team is conducting three-dimensional mapping of the facility's historic launch complexes and laser scanning of a Native American burial mound using ground-penetrating radar.

The fact that you have all of these things on top of each other in time is really interesting as an archaeologist to explore," said Lon Collins, a USF professor...

Here is that link.


https://www.wftv.com/weather/space/archaeologists-race-to-preserve-cape-canaveral-air-force-station-s-past/918458991

My perspective is different.  I find it hard to imagine that you can walk very many places on this earth where people haven't been before and left something behind in the process.  I guess that is because I've found so many things in so many out-of-the-way places.   According to their criteria, which in my opinion should be more specific, it would seem that the most of the world is an archaeological site.

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The research vessel Petrel is perched on a spot in the South Pacific Ocean that was anything but peaceful 77 years ago. Then, it was the scene of a major World War II battle between the U.S. and the Imperial Japanese Navies. For the U. S. aircraft carrier USS Hornet, it would be her last battle.

Now, researchers are revealing Petrel found the wreckage of the USS Hornet in late January – exactly what they were looking for. The ship was found more than 17,000 feet below the surface, on the floor of the South Pacific Ocean near the Solomon Islands. The USS Hornet is best known for launching the important Doolittle Raid in April of 1942 and its role in winning the Battle of Midway.

Richard Nowatzki, 95 now, was an 18-year-old gunner on Hornet when enemy planes scored several hits, reports CBS News' Mark Phillips... 
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/uss-hornet-wreckage-world-war-two-warship-discovered/

Mr. Nowatzki told them there was forty dollars in his locker, if they found it.  Imagine the personal belongings of all those young men still locked away deep below the ocean.  More important is the sacrifices of those young fellows that went off to war so many years ago.

The Petrel is Paul Allen's research vessel that has explored and discovered other WW II wrecks.

https://www.paulallen.com/?s=&category_type=RV%20Petrel

Paul Allen is the co-founder of Microsoft.

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Source: See Ahram link below.

Excavations carried out by an Egyptian mission at the Tel Abu Seify archaeological site in Northern Sinai uncovered the remains of a limestone building that was once a workshop for the construction and repair of boats and vessels during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. The site is said to have been the location of the Roman fortress of Silla.

Here is the link for more about that.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/9/41/325517/Heritage/GrecoRoman/Ancient-workshop-for-construction-of-boats-uncover.aspx

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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/6/19 Report - Battle Worn D-Day Flag Saved. Florida and France to Display La Trinite Artifacts. Cargo on Beaches.

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

THE BATTLE-WORN FLAG FROM THE USS CORRY (DD-463), LEAD DESTROYER AT UTAH BEACH ON D-DAY

This flag from D-Day is an item in a current Sotheby's auction.  The lot descriptions says, "RESCUED BY BRONZE-STAR RECIPIENT LT. PAUL GARAY AS SHE WAS SINKING, 6 JUNE 1944

Estimate

300,000 — 500,000

USD"

I can't think of a more moving piece of modern history.


The auction also includes a lot of other interesting and important items, including letters from David Crockett and Abraham Lincoln, old maps and atlases, etc.

Here is the link.

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/fine-manuscripts-printed-americana-n10002/lot.2188.html

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France and Florida have agreed to work together to preserve and exhibit artifacts from the recently discovered wreck off Cape Canaveral of the La Trinité, the 16th-century French flagship that tried to protect the ill-fated colony of Fort Caroline.

The agreement emphasizes that one of its goals is to give the public a chance to eventually see some of the ship’s ancient cargo, which has been buried in the Atlantic Ocean since a history-altering hurricane more than 450 years ago.

That cargo includes at least one granite monument bearing the symbol of France’s coat of arms, the fleur-de-lis. It’s a remarkable find that appears similar to the monument, never discovered, that French captain Jean Ribault left at the mouth of the St. Johns River in 1562 to stake a claim to New France, a vast area of the Southeast coast...

Here is the link for more.

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20181227/france-and-florida-agree-wreckage-of-doomed-16th-century-french-fleet-should-be-public-exhibit

Thanks to Brian B. for that link.

La Trinite was discovered by Global Marine Exploration in the shallow water off Cape Canaveral in 2016.

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The cargo ship MSC Zoe lost scores of shipping containers this week in the Wadden Sea off northern Europe during Storm Zeetje, which packed heavy winds and waves cresting over 30 feet high.

Photos from today (Jan. 3) and yesterday show containers from the Panamanian-registered ship floating at sea, while many others washed up on the shores of German and Dutch islands. Residents were spotted cleaning up debris including TV sets, furniture and clothing despite warnings that several missing containers were carrying powdered peroxide, which is flammable and can cause chemical burns...

And that link.

https://qz.com/1514692/msc-zoe-containers-wash-up-on-german-and-dutch-shores/

Thanks to Douglas for the link.

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There is a section where you can find academic studies on the 18th Century Material Resource Center web site.  I just found a picture of an item that may be something I have been trying to identify for a couple of years in one of the research papers.  You might want to really look around to see what you can find on that web site.  There is really a lot of good information there.

It is the first link on my Treasure Reference Link List

---.

It looks like the Treasure Coast will get a couple more days of very calm surf.  Take advantage.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/16/18 Report - More On Tokens. Cape Canaveral Area Shipwreck Awarded to France. Tales and Curses of Northwest Florida.

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

Token Find.

Can you read what this says.  Take a shot at it. 

I'll get back to that later.

Before I get into that, the mystery token that I posted yesterday has the top of a naked lady on the front, along with the words Complete Reading, and the bottom of a lady is on the back with the words Your Best Source For Supplies.  Has anybody figured out the purpose or meaning of that?

Complete Reading is the name of a comprehensive reading curriculum for first graders, but I don't think it could possibly have anything to do with that.

Could it be referring to a psychic reading?  But why then would it be the best source for supplies.  I think it is a cover for something else, though I am far from sure.  I hope someone can come up with the answer.

What do you think the token shown at the top of the post is about?  Do you think it says RNIES LACE?  If you thought that is what it says, you are not alone.  A lot of people read it that way.   Back up and take another look.  It says Arnies Place.  That is a good illustration of the figure-ground problem in the psychology of perception.  

So what is Arnies Place?  Below is an excerpt from a web site about Arnies Place.

Welcome to Arnie's Place - Where the History is almost as Entertaining as the Games!

If you lived in Fairfield County between 1981 and 1983, you probably remember Arnie's Place more for the battle to open the arcade than for the arcade itself.  Built at 1365 Post Road East, in Westport, Arnie's Place became the premier arcade of Fairfield County, but not before a long battle with the Town of Westport that escalated to the Supreme Court of Connecticut multiple times.   This history is very incomplete, but gives you a taste of Arnie Kaye, the Town of Westport and the background behind one of Arnie's most famous publicity stunts...

Below is a photo of the arcade.

.

Arnies Place

Arnies was in Westport Connecticut, but the token, like the others I showed, were found in South Florida. There were a lot of tokens found from the northeast in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area. That shows how metal detector finds sometimes give evidence of travel patterns. A lot of the snow birds from the northeast visit South Florida, while tourists from the midwest often go to the panhandle instead.

Here is more about Arnies Place.

http://arniesplacearcade.com/pictures.html

I think that shows how finding and researching tokens can be both fun and educational.

Here is a great token database.

http://tokencatalog.com

The search browser is powerful and the database is big.  I put in RNIES LACE and the Arnies Place token was located.  That is a very good browser.

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Here is a link to a nice article talking about tales and curses of Northwest Florida.

https://spiritdaily.org/blog/spiritual-warfare/the-curses-of-northwest-florida

Fun read.  Take a look.

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And here is another article on the Cape Canaveral area shipwreck thought to belong to Ribault and awarded to France.

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2018/07/12/16th-century-shipwreck-off-florida-coast-is-worth-millions.html

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/1/18 Report - Farmer Finds Gold Digging Drain. Some Say Cape Canaveral Shipwreck Likely Trinite. Shipwreck Site Sampling Plan.

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

Norman Witherow uncovered the gold objects on Saturday when he was digging a drain in a field near Convoy.

The artefacts remained in his kitchen and car boot until Tuesday when his friend, who is a jeweller, told him that it needed to be reported.

Initial observations by staff from the National Museum of Ireland date the gold from the bronze age or earlier.

Here is the link for the rest of the story.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44644347


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Chuck Meide of LAMP recently wrote in the St. Augustine Report about the GME discovery of the shipwreck near Cape Canaveral that I recently posted about on 6/25/18.  Meide thought it was almost certainly the Trinite, one of Ribault’s 1565 shipwreck.  Anyhow, it appears the case is closed and the shipwreck will be the property of France.

In the report Meide states,  We led a search for Ribault’s wrecks in 2014 in the waters of Canaveral National Seashore, near the French survivor camp sites on land. This was probably in the vicinity of the other three shipwrecks, as opposed to Trinité further south. NOAA helped fund our research, as did the State of Florida...  In addition to all of these searches, the State of Florida also led a marine survey searching for the remains of the Trinité, around Cape Canaveral, starting in 2014. They were probably pretty close to the site discovered by GME.

To sum that up, a lot of tax payer dollars went to organizations that failed to find the Trinite, but a private company without tax dollar support, Global Marine Explorations, actually found it.  Never mind, GME will get totally cut out of the deal so state employees, and their contractor friends can get the credit and more trips to Paris.

Here is the link for more of that article.

http://staugustinereport.net/index_htm_files/Trinite.pdf

Like I've said multiple times, I'll be very surprised if Florida ever issues a new treasure salvage lease.

---

Source:: See link below.

You might find the following interesting.  It is, A STRATIFIED SITE SAMPLING RESEARCH PLAN FOR THE 2005-2006 INVESTIGATIONS AND RECOVERY AT NORTH CAROLINA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SHIPWRECK SITE 31CR314 Mark Wilde-Ramsing, May, 2006.


 Introduction: North Carolina shipwreck site 31CR314 has been under investigation since its discovery in 1996 and continues to reveal a rich assemblage of early 18th century maritime cultural materials. The analysis of datable artifacts that have been collected from the site provides a mean date of manufacture of 1706 with predominately French and English affiliation (Wilde-Ramsing 2006). Ship's features reveal a vessel of 200 to 300 tons (Moore 2001; 2006). Armament represented on the site is equivalent to that of a Royal Navy Sixth Rate warship, while the presence of langrel shot in one of the small caliber guns suggests a predator or heavily armed merchantman rather than a Royal Navy warship (Henry 2006)...

This is about shipwreck sites and artifact distribution.

Here is the link.

https://files.nc.gov/dncr-qar/documents/files/32-Spring-2006-Recovery-Plan.pdf

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This feels unfinished.  I might rework or add to it tomorrow, but decided to go ahead and post it now.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

1/16/18 Report - 16th Century Shipwreck Near Canaveral. International Dispute. Space X Rocket. Treasure Coast Beaches.

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

Space X Rocket From Cape Canaveral
Photo by Chris N.

Chris N. caught this nice photo of a rocket launch from the cape.  He also found a whale rib.

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For the last several weeks, the country with the most readers of this blog other than the United States was France.  I don't know why that is  Over the years France hasn't ranked that high.

I came across an article, which might or might not have something to do with it.  The article isn't the latest news, but I thought it might still be worth addressing.

16th-Century Shipwreck Off Florida Is Causing an International Dispute  That is the title of the article.  Below is an excerpt from the article found in LiveScience.

... "Classically, treasure hunters are supposed to be snatch-and-grab type of people, and they're only interested in shiny stuff — but that's not the case anymore," Sinclair told Live Science. "People who actually want to do this from the private sector have to come up to a pretty rigid set of rules, regulations and specifications to do the work that they want to do."

Even so, the judge in the case will probably rule that the sunken artifacts came from a French ship, likely Ribault's flagship Le Trinite, said Chuck Meide, an underwater and maritime archaeologist who heads the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP) at Florida's St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum.

LAMP and the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum are funded, in part, by grants from the state of Florida, but Meide is not involved in the case involving France, Florida and GME.

"In my opinion, it certainly looks like it is the La Trinité," Meide told Live Science. "It's hard to know these things, but I'm cautiously optimistic that, when presented with the evidence, the judge will agree that this is one of those French Ships and probably the Trinité," he said.

Here is the link for the rest of the article.

https://www.livescience.com/60859-shipwreck-excavation-awaits-court-ruling.html

After reading the article I was even more convinced that Florida will not be issuing many, if any, new salvage leases  They'll just issue exploratory leases and learn what they can and then not issue a salvage lease.  They'll tie up the wreck or assign it to some foreign government or something.  That is my opinion.

---

One time I posted a a note  from George of Loxahatchee who wanted to find some hunting buddies.  Steve in Sebastian contacted George and is glad he did.   I guess that worked out well, so if anyone else is wanting to find a hunting buddy, send me your email address, tell me where you are located and any other important information, and I'll post it.

---

Surf At John Brooks Beach Monday Just Before Low Tide

Monday the Treasure Coast was getting some good north winds at something like 25 knots.

The beach there was mushy all the way down to the water line.

Below are a couple more pictures from the same beach and time.

Looking South From John Brooks Beach Monday Just Before Low Tide

There was one detectorist working the water line up towards the condos.

John Brooks Beach Monday Just Before Low Tide.

I didn't see any of the beaches anywhere else Monday.  Some could have been better than John Brooks.  The wind was pretty strong from the north.  The surf was more from the east at John Brooks.

I just got these pictures from Searape and Turtle Trails from Alberto S.  Thanks Alberto.

Searape Trail Around 4:45 Monday.
Photo by Alberto S.

Turtle Trail  Near 5 PM Monday.
Photo by Alberto S.

Alberto also said Wabasso was closed for dune restoration.


Tuesday the wind is still form the north but not a directly.  It doesn't seem to be as strong either.

The surf will be decreasing today.



Tomorrow or sometimes soon, I'll talk about the skills required for successful metal detecting.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

11/18/17 Report - Modern Ring With Old Symbol: Pelican In Piety. Encrusted Bracelet.

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

Interesting Modern Ring Find.
Find and photo by D. B.

This ring found on a 1715 Fleet beach is a modern ring but seems to have an interesting connection to one well known 1715 Fleet artifact.

I was asked what the image on the ring is?  As you can see, it is a bird feeding baby birds.  The question is why that would appear on a ring.

Do you remember the Pelican in Piety artifact and author Laura Strolia's research concerning that.  If not, you can use the following link to read about it.

http://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2012/11/11412-more-revealed-on-pelican-in-piety.html


I'm pretty sure the image on the ring represents the pelican in piety.  Here are just a couple images of a pelican in piety to illustrate that.

Two of Many Varieties of the Pelican in Piety Image.

You can find many more by doing a quick internet search.

Here are the marks on the inner band of the ring.

Hallmarks.
Photo by D. B.

First is a crown, then 750, then a shield and then 9 or 19.  I can't see the crown and shield real well from the photo.

I assume the crown indicates that the item is gold.  The 750 indicates 18 karat.  I don't have a good guess about the last two marks.

Author Laura Strolia says that the Pelican in Piety image was more rarely used after the 40s.

Cool find DB.  Congratulations!

---

Bracelet?
Find and photo by Scott.

This item was recently found in the Cape Canaveral area.  Currently in cleaning, we might find out more about it soon.

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Some good items were found on the Treasure Coast last week.  I heard of quite a few.  Some nice items were also found in the Melborne area.

The beaches that were producing were scattered.  Many were not.  That makes it difficult for me to issue a beach conditions rating.  A few beaches were good, but many of them were not good at all.  

We'll have nothing greater than three to five feet for a few days.  It looks like the wind will be switching a lot.  That is not like what we had recently with days of north wind.

The weather is beautiful for the snow birds.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/31/17 Report - Tropical Storm Emily Formed and Will Be Crossing Florida Today.

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

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Finally we got a little break in the weather.  Yesterday I reported on a disturbance in the Gulf and this morning I awoke to some wind and rain that looked very much like a tropical storm, and indeed yesterday's disturbance had become Tropical Storm Emily.

At 8 AM Monday Emily was over the West Coast of Florida, as you can see above.

The projected path is shown below.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Emily will cross over Central Florida and Cape Canaveral and then out into the Atlantic.  This storm won't cause much beach erosion, but I can use it to illustrate an important point.

Since Emily is to the north of the Treasure Coast today, on the Treasure Coast Monday the wind will be mostly from the south.

The area north of Cape Canaveral will get more erosion out of Emily than the Treasure Coast.  We're on the wrong side of it.  St. Augustine, for example is having a three to four foot surf and northeast winds today.

The MagicSeaWeed chart below shows the surf for Fort Pierce peaking on Tuesday at two to three feet - still not much.

Source: Magicseaweed.com.

The point is that timing is important, and you can get an idea of the best time and place to detect if you know the path of an organized storm.

It was just a few hours ago that I posted yesterday's post, but I wanted to post about Emily early today.  If you didn't check last night you didn't see yesterday's post.

I might add more to this post later today.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/9/17 Report - 2011 Law Concerning Ownership of Artifacts and Space Exploration Artifacts. Blog Poll Conclusions.

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

The Cape Canaveral area, being the site of so much history, including early historic sites and a treasure wreck or two, provides another class of artifacts.  I'm talking about space exploration artifacts.

Space exploration artifacts occasionally show up on the Treasure Coast, most commonly including the relatively common melted bits of titanium, which I've discussed in the past, including instructions for identifying titanium. Occasionally more interesting items show up.

The recent Cooper's Treasure TV programs suggested another type of connection between space exploration and treasure hunting.  This blog's posts concerning the questionable trustworthiness of that show received a lot of attention.

On July 20th, Sotheby's will hold their Space Exploration auction, which among a long list of artifacts, includes the flown flight plan from the Apollo 13 mission.  That flight, which encountered serious problems and could have ended very badly, was the subject of a movie.

As I've said before, you can not separate politics from treasure hunting.  In 2012 President Obama signed a law concerning the ownership of space exploration artifacts.  (I won't get into the Odyssey Marine issue again, in which the courts ruled to give tons of silver recovered by Odyssey Marine to Spain, reportedly as part of a deal to obtain a valuable painting for a U. S. citizen.)  Here is how the Sothebys site describes that law concerning ownership of space exploration artifacts and how that law relates to the flight plan.

Here is the link for more information related to the flight plan and various incidents that occurred during the mission.

http://www.sothebys.com/en/news-video/blogs/all-blogs/sotheby-s-at-large/2017/06/houston-problem-here-flown-apollo-13-flight-plan.html?cmp=email_N09759___selects_space_hero3_30-jun-2017

You might also want to browse the auction lots.  I found them interesting.

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The most recent blog poll has concluded and the results are in.

As you can see from the bar chart below, the respondents generally go more by analysis and observation than intuition. That isn't surprising considering the amount of time I spend on analysis of beach conditions and other things.  Only one of the 45 respondents said that they went almost exclusively by intuition and hunches.

On the other end of the spectrum, 4 respondents said they rely almost exclusively on analysis.

The vast majority of those that responded, appear to use some mixture of analysis and intuition.  Overall the results were definitely skewed in the direction of analysis and observation over intuition.

Here are the results expressed in a bar chart.  I reordered the categories from how they were ordered when the poll was presented, and also shortened the category labels.  The numbers in the chart are percentages.

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Sunday I watched a series of TV programs on the Dare Stones and the Lost Roanoke colony.  Pretty good series.

---

I've been working on another topic for a few days, but it just won't seem to come together.

There is no tropical weather in the Atlantic or Gulf right now.  No significant changes in beach conditions are expected real soon either.  There will be a little bump in the surf around Thursday, but not much.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/2/17 Report - Gold Coin Hoard. Mystery Find. Map Worth Nearly a Million Dollars. Valuable Watches.

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

Cache of Gold Coins From the Fifth Century.
Source: See DutchNews link below.

A hoard of coins dating from the final days of the Roman Empire has been found in an orchard in Gelderland. Experts believe the fortune was buried by a Frankish military leader in the second half of the fifth century, when the area was part of the Western Roman Empire, which collapsed in 476AD...

Here is the link if you want to read more about that.

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2017/06/hoard-of-roman-coins-found-at-former-burial-site-in-gelderland/

The article leaves out a lot.  Maybe I can find more details elsewhere.

---

Here is a find made by a detectorist in the Cape Canaveral area.

Mystery Object.
Find and photo by Dustin P.

Dustin was wondering if anyone could help him identify this find.   Don't tell me it is a Sharpie.  I already figured that one out.

Below is a closer view of one end.  Notice the shape and the point.

It was found in the Cape Canaveral area.

Closer View of Same Object.

Dustin is also to be congratulated on his new baby boy, born on May 7.

Let me know if you have any ideas on his find.

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I'm always interested in old things and how much they might be worth.  Disney items are among the most sought collectibles.  In the past I showed some Disney items that were found with a metal detector, but here is a Disney item that they expect to sell for over $700,000.

According to Reuters, LOS ANGELES, June 2 (Reuters) - Walt Disney's first map of his planned Disneyland theme park in Southern California is going up for sale in June and could fetch up to $900,000, auctioneers said on Friday.

The 1953 map, hand-inked and hand-colored, was created by Disney and artist Herb Ryman and used to present to investors in order to secure funding to build the first Disney theme park in Anaheim.

It clearly shows the layout of the park with the now iconic Sleeping Beauty Castle and railroad, and sections for Fantasy Land, Land of Tomorrow, and Frontier Land...

Here is a link for more on that story.

http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/r-original-disneyland-map-could-fetch-900000-at-la-auction-2017-6-1002064608

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If you do a lot of detecting and don't discriminate them out, you'll find a lot of watches.  And the chances are good that sooner or later you'll find valuable watch.  Mostly those are watches made by companies that you would recognize.

If you want to get an idea about how valuable they can be, here is a Sotheby's watch auction site.

check it out.

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2016/important-watches-ge1601.html

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We had a lot of rain today.  That probably discouraged some detectorists.  If not the rain, at least the lightning.

The surf will remain smooth for a couple more weeks if the predictions for the Treasure Coast are correct.

Hurricane season has begun.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/28/17 Report - Douglas Armstrong Salvage Camp Site. 1565 Fleet. Shoshone Camp Site. Battle of Loxahatchee Reenactment Today.

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

The Battle of Loxahatchee reenactment takes place today in Jupiter.  Here is the program.

And here is the link for more information.

http://www.loxahatcheebattlefield.com/

Thanks to Joe D. for alerting me to this.

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During the winter of 1970-1971, a group of Central Florida relic hunters discovered an archaeological site on the western or inland shore of the outer barrier island in what is now Canaveral National Seashore. Over the next several months, the group explored the site and the surrounding area, locating two more related sites, all within 1.3 kilometers of each other.

Using metal detectors, the treasure hunters dug up a variety of objects of European origin, including large numbers of iron ship’s spikes, some jewelry, and numerous Spanish and French coins dating to the 16th century...

Here is a great link to read more about that.

http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/14lostfleet/background/survivor/survivor.html

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In the mid-16th century, France was eager to assert her claim to the New World, both to seize the opportunity for wealth and commerce and to ease religious tensions at home by providing a refuge for Protestant Huguenots. A series of fleets were sent to colonize the wilderness of “La Floride” starting in 1562, alternatively lead by Jean Ribault and René de Laudonnière...
If you want to learn about the lost fleet of 1565, here is a good link.


http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/14lostfleet/background/background.html


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A wildfire high in the alpine forests of northwestern Wyoming has revealed a vast, centuries-old Shoshone campsite, replete with cooking hearths, ceramics, and stone tools and flakes numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

The site, found along Caldwell Creek in the Absaroka Range, had likely been used intermittently for as much as 2,500 years, archaeologists say.

But most of the artifacts point to a prolonged and impactful presence by the Mountain Shoshone some 300 to 400 years ago...

Here is the link for the rest of that article.

http://westerndigs.org/wyoming-wildfire-reveals-massive-pre-contact-shoshone-camp-thousands-of-artifacts/

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It isn't often that you get such a prolonged period of smooth surf.  And on top of that, there is actually a negative tide.

The smooth surf will be with us for at least a few more days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/5/16 Report - More on the Ribault Fleet. Alternative Hunting For Poor Beach Conditions.

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

Results of a Quick Saturday Bottle Hunt.

On 12/3/16 I did a post that mentioned a shipwreck discovered off Cape Canaveral that France is claiming as part of the French fleet that in 1565 went to the aid of the colony at Fort Caroline.

On the wreck was found a stone marker possibly used by some of the earliest French explorers. France is seeking rights to the wreck despite the fact that it was located by Global Marine Explorations and has not yet been positively identified. 

Jon Morgan, who conducts interviews on metal detecting and treasure hunting did a podcast with Terry Armstrong of Signum Ops, which publishes a number of books on treasure hunting, some of which deal with the Treasure Coast and the 1715 Fleet.  One of the books published by Signum Ops was authored by Doug Armstrong (no relation of Terry) who the Armstrong Site is named after.

You can listen to Jon's podcast with Terry Armstrong by using the following link.

http://www.letstalkmetaldetectingandtreasurehunting.com/blog/

Here is an article about an earlier attempt to find the Ribault Fleet.

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2014-08-19/story/lost-french-fleet-1565-remains-mystery-after-divers-spend-weeks-looking

I know I didn't tie all of that together for you but there are so many threads that it would have taken me forever, and I just wanted to put it out there for those that might be interested and assuming that some of you would know how it all fits together.

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Two or three days ago I did a post on an antique bottle that I found.  As a result of that find, I went out bottle hunting again yesterday and did quite well.  In fact it was the best bottle hunting day that I had for quite a while.

At the top of the post are some of the bottles that I found.

There are two especially interesting bottles in that group.  One similar bottle sold in 2015 for $75.  Another sold for $25.  I haven't researched all of them yet, and I have more research to do on all of them.

When I found the one old bottle the day before, that bottle served as a sign that conditions might have improved for bottle hunting, and that proved to be true.

Some finds are most valuable as signs or indicators.  It doesn't matter if you are hunting cobs, bottles or fossils or sea glass, if you find one, there are often more.  A find might not be valuable, but it might provide valuable information.

Another lesson is that when conditions are not right for one type of hunting, they might be right for another type of hunting,  When conditions are not good for hunting treasure coins, the conditions might be just right for hunting something else or hunting some other place.

Don't get too narrow about what and where you hunt.  When cob hunting, is not good, you might consider doing something else.  Don't get stuck in a rut.  Be flexible and adjust.  It is a fortunate fact that the conditions that make hunting poor for one thing makes conditions good for hunting other types of things.

Much of it depends upon the movement of water and sand or soil and the materials that might be in the area.  I've described much of that in the past.

I included a couple broken bottles in the picture.  They aren't valuable, but they were good indicators.

Above is the broken bottle.  As you can see the bottle held a cure for jaundice.  Again, the bottle is broken and isn't worth anything, but it told me (1) that bottles were surfacing, and (2) that older items were in the area.  That kept me going.

I don't entirely predetermine what I am going to do on a hunt.  What I do depends upon what I see.  I'm always looking for signs and indicators.  If I saw no promising signs, at some point, I would have quit what I was doing and tried something else.  But this broken bottle kept me on the track.

The next thing of significance that I round was the small ink bottle.

Again, this is not a valuable bottle, but it was another sign or indicator that kept me on the track.  

You don't always find bottles where I was looking.  I haven't seen old bottles there for quite a while, but the broken bottle and the ink bottle were very good signs, and they indicated that more might be nearby.

I'll follow up with this in the future and show some of the better bottles.

I gave you several reminders.  Always be looking for any type of sign or indicator, and be flexible. Adjust according to what you see. 

Learn about different types of finds and different types of hunting.  That way if conditions are not good for one type of hunting, you have other alternatives to keep you busy until things change again.

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The surf will be small for a few days.  No improvement in conditions during that time.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/3/16 Report - Historic Florida Shipwreck Claimed by France. Your Attention and Action Needed. Antique Bottle Find.

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

100-Year-Old Cures Bottle Found This Morning.

I found this bottle in the water yesterday.  On one side it reads "Chattanooga Tenn," and the other side reads "Manufactured by F. M. Plank."

After a little research I found that this is a cure bottle, often listed as a "quack cure" bottle.

Here is an ad that I found from 1906.

The ad was found in the 1906 Proceedings of the Florida State Pharmaceutical Association.

The other Plank bottles that I've seen have the bust of a man embossed on the bottle.  This one, however, has a diamond-shaped depression, that I imagine once had a paper label.  I haven't yet found when this type of bottle was used.  The bottle with the embossed bust is always described as being from the late 1800s.

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Below is a link to an article that you need to read and leave your own comments on.  I recently said that it is impossible to separate politics from treasure hunting.  This illustrates that.

France has filed a legal claim to an ancient shipwreck discovered off Cape Canaveral, saying it was part of the French fleet that in 1565 went to the aid of that country’s doomed colony at Fort Caroline in Jacksonville.

That follows a claim by the private treasure salvage company that found the wreck, and seems likely to lead to a dispute in U.S. District Court in Orlando over ownership of the artifacts.

It would be a high-stakes battle: A state archaeology report says the wreck, if it is indeed connected to the French fleet, “would be of immense archaeological significance...”

The identity of the ship is in question.  Rather than being a French ship, it might actually be something else, perhaps a Spanish ship which was carrying a stone marker used by the French to mark land claimed in the New World.

The article says,  ...If the wreck is of a merchant vessel, Global Maritime Exploration, which had a state permit to look for wrecks, would be entitled to 80 percent of what is found. The state would get 20 percent.

If it is determined to be part the royal French fleet, however, France could be granted ownership of it.

A marine archaeologist quoted in the article would prefer that rights to the ship be awarded to France rather than the company that found it.  If that were to happen, none of the items would go into the Florida Collection to be maintained for the benefit of the citizens of Florida.  

Not surprisingly, the archaeologist is a globalist that opposes capitalist ventures and evidently also the long-standing arrangements worked out by the State of Florida to preserve Florida history for its citizens.

Not only should you read this article, but also comment and contact your representatives.

Here is the link to the article.

http://jacksonville.com/florida/2016-11-29/france-claims-rights-shipwreck-linked-lost-colony-fort-caroline

Thanks to Brian B. for alerting me to this story and sending the link.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/23/16 Report - French Shipwreck Off Cape Canaveral. Drones. Living With An Artifact. And More.

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

French Shipwreck Off Cape Canaveral.
Source: Daily Mail link below.

Not long ago I mentioned the Ribault survivor camp near Cape Canaveral.  A 16th century French shipwreck was found near there.

Here is a bit of the WESH news report.

...Just a couple of miles from Jetty Park, a popular swimming beach, divers found canons made of bronze and iron; anchors, crusted with marine growth; and the Fleur de Lis, along with a French coat of arms archaeologists call priceless. And maritime wreckage is around 400 years old.

Finders, working for the company Global Marine Exploration, said they’ve discovered the remains of what appear to be three French ships. The origin of the ships will be difficult to verify, they said.

The ships could be from the French colonial period on the Florida coast, around the year 1560, Global Marine Exploration archaeologist Jim Sinclair said. The ships may have sunk in a hurricane, he said...

And here is the link, which also provides a video showing, among other things, part of the wreck under water.

http://www.wesh.com/news/evidence-of-centuriesold-shipwrecks-found-off-cape-canaveral/41140354

Also.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3749792/16th-century-Spanish-shipwrecks-Cape-Canaveral-filled-stolen-French-treasure.html
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Ancient Roman ruins that lie hidden below the surface at the Apennine Mountains of Italy have largely escaped discovery because the rugged terrain makes them difficult to spot by foot and dangerous to find by airplane.

Now, using small airborne drones archaeologists have found that an ancient settlement in the Apennines was much more dense and organized than previously thought, a new study reveals. The study offered evidence that drones could help uncover more unknown sites in mountains worldwide...

Here is that link.

http://www.livescience.com/56186-drones-reveal-ancient-cult-site-italy.html

Sam's Club was selling what appeared to me to be decent drones not long ago for around four hundred dollars.   I don't remember the exact price.

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You might be interested in the book Turquois Mosaic Art in Ancient Mexiko by Marshall Saville.  Mexico with a K is actually how it is spelled in the listing.

You can preview it online by clicking here.

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Darrell Strickland said the following about the dagger that I posted not long ago.

I knew the owner and that was a long time ago. It did resell past few years. The owner, Jack Williams, is deceased, and not sure if Dana (son) is the one that relisted it.

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A buried train trestle was uncovered by a construction crew.

Click here for the video.

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When you live with an artifact for a while, it seems to change with you.  It amazes me how after many years an old object can take on new meaning.

Sometimes you run across more information or see pictures or something that relates to the object. Other times it just seems like you just get a new feeling about what it might be or where it came from.  That can happen over a period of many years.  That amazes me sometimes.  I guess it is just everything coming together to lead you to a new idea or perception.

I have mystery items that I haven't positively identified after a period of years and years, but as time goes by I generally tend to get a feeling about what the item most likely is.  I still wait hoping to see something that proves to my satisfaction one way or another, and sometimes that happens, but more often than not, it is a matter of some level of confidence rather than proof.  Nonetheless, the process is fascinating to me.

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Karl is a tropical storm once again.  It still doesn't seem to be headed this way though.  Neither is Lisa.

We'll be having a two to four foot surf for a few days.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net