2/13/20 Report - One Beautiful New Find and A Variety of Miscellaneous Non-Metallic Finds. A Good Reference Link.

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

Beautiful Carved Columnella Shell Artifact

Find and photo by DB.

Here is one beautiful find by DB.  From what I can see,  it looks like a carved Native American columnella artifact.

Shell Artifact.

Find and photo by DB

This is one nice find.  I think it is the most beautiful Native American shell artifact I've ever seen.

DB said he was hesitant to drive all the way to a spot where he had previously found numerous bottles, shell artifacts, pottery, etc., but had a feeling that the conditions were right so did it anyhow.

He would like to know what you think it was used for.  Send me your thoughts and opinions.

 

Sometimes you have to go a little farther than you really want to or do something that is not the easiest thing to do, but when you have that feeling, it can pay off.

In my younger and more intense years one guiding principle I often repeated was, "If you don't want to do it, do it."  And that was a key to a lot of my success.  Of course, there are times when better judgement says you shouldn't do it, but the point is that if you are really driven, you'll push yourself to go a little farther and do a little more than the easy thing.  I tried to find those spots that were overlooked or frequently avoided by others.  It depends upon where you are in life, and what you want to accomplish at the time.

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I've been picking up a few easy finds lately when beach conditions haven't been good.  These are just some miscellaneous finds I picked up within walking distance of my house.  

Sometimes just a little walk will take the edge off the urge to search.  

Now that is an odd one.

A Couple of the Stopper Top Bottles I picked up.

Two Views of Recenlty Found Cone Carter's Ink Bottle.

There wasn't much the day I found Carter's cone ink bottle, I was surprised to find it.

Below is a photo of a partially submerged old Gordon's Dry Gin bottle.

Partially Submerged Gordon's Dry Gin Bottle

And here is a metal find -  a short aluminum arrow.   Seems too short for a standard bow.  I wonder if it had anything to do with the pig.

Aluminum Arrow.

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Below is a link to a thesis you might like to browse - Prehistoric Shell Artifacts from the Apalachicola River Valley Area, Northwest Florida, by Eric Eyles, University of South Florida.

https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=2025&context=etd

There are a lot of good examples to look at.

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The surf is nearly flat but will be increasing up to four to six feet this weekend.  The tides are high too.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

11/6/19 Report - Hoard Being Analyzed. Prehistoric Site Found by Drone. More on Carlos Half Reales Including Video. Higher Surf.

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

Part of Staffordshire Hoard

Source: TheGuardian.com  (See link below)

The Staffordshire Hoard is being analyzed by archaeologists.

… The archaeologists have even tentatively identified the Mercian king they believe may have once owned the booty, and can draw a tantalising link to the dynasty of the rival Anglo-Saxon ruler who was buried at Sutton Hoo, Britain’s most famous site of the period.

Dating from the period AD600-AD650, when the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England were battling for prominence, the Staffordshire find is in essence a “war hoard”, says Fern, consisting of spectacular items the experts believe were captured in battle by armies from the kingdom of Mercia, at the expense of neighbouring Northumbria and East Anglia...

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

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/nov/01/staffordshire-hoard-archaeologists-academic-research-gold-ornaments

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Drone-mounted lasers have revealed details of the architecture of an ancient island settlement off Florida’s Gulf coast, researchers said in a new paper published on Monday...

Laser scanning reveals 'lost' ancient Mexican city 'had as many buildings as Manhattan'

Read more

Although archaeological objects were first spotted on the island in about 1990, and subsequent exploration of the area in 2010 revealed the presence of a settlement dating from 900 to 1200 CE, Lidar scanning revealed previously unknown architectural details...

Here is the link for the rest of the article.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/nov/04/drone-lasers-ancient-settlement-florida-lidar-archaeology

I found out it is Raleigh Island.

See https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/11/a-drone-helped-archaeologists-discover-a-lost-florida-island-settlement/

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I received an email from Glen S. pointing out a mistake I made in yesterday's post when I posted an image of the stylized Carlos monogram as it would appear on a Lima half reale.  As a result I went back and made corrections to yesterday's post.

Thanks Glen!

Yesterday I did not intend to get into the differences you will see on Carlos half reales produced by the mints of Lima, Mexico and Potosi. There are features that distinguish cobs, and specifically Carlos half reales, produced by the different mints. Although I was talking mostly about the monograms yesterday, both the obverse and reverse sides show features that distinguish between half reales produced by the three  mints.

While looking for stylized images of the Carlos monograms for each mint that I could use as illustraitons, I found an excellent YouTube video that shows how you can tell which of the mints produced a particular Carlos half reale.

One of the easiest ways to identify a Mexico minted half reale is from the Florenza cross.  On almost all half reales you can see at least one end of the cross, which is enough to tell you if it came from the Mexico mint or not.  It is the Mexico minted Carlos half reales that show what I described yesterday as a fishhook on the end of the C.

The shape of the castles and lions is one way to distinguish between the Lima and Postosi half reales, and the shape of the elipses is another.

Rather than trying to describe all of the distinguishing features in this post, here is a link to the YouTube video posted by CaptainMyCaptain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drywuHMIpmI

Very nice video.  I usually prefer text to videos, but this video is concise.  No time wasted getting to the point.

You have easy access to a lot of really good information these days.  I wish I had that back a few decades ago.

By the way, two of the Carlos half reales I showed yesterday were found on John Brooks beach, where I found mostly cobs from the Mexico mint and many more Philip than Carlos half reales.  Without an exact count, I'd guess that I probably found four or five times as many Philip  than Carlos half reales at John Brooks.

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DJ sent me a copy of a letter from the town clerk of Indian River Shores which included the following items of interest.

• The Tracking Station Park and adjacent beach entrances have been closed and will remain closed for approximately two weeks as the Sector 5 segment of the beach renourishment project commences.


• Jungle Trail has been reopened following the shoreline stabilization project.

Thanks DJ.

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MagicSeaWeed is predicting a high surf for Saturday.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

The tides are still pretty flat.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/17/19 Report - Beach Conditions. Finds. Authenticating. Submerged Prehistoric Forest.

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

Juno Beach Wednesday Morning.

Photo by Joe D.

Juno Beach Wednesday Morning

Photo by Joe D.

Joe D. sent these photos from Juno along with the following brief email message.

Here's  a couple pics of Juno this morning! And a few hours at an inland site yesterday! Man my legs are sore today!!

And here are his finds.

Finds Made by Joe D. Yesterday.

Thanks for the great beach and find photos Joe!  Looks like you had a fun day.

The Juno beaches look very much like those I saw on South Hutchinson Island yesterday.

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Here is an item Jason T. found in the water.

Find and photo by Jason T.

Jason said and expert told him this was a 300 AD Greek coin.  There is the possibility that is a reproduction used for jewelry though, and Jason agreed that was a possibility.

Jason said don't throw an item away until you know what it is.  I totally agree with that.  You'll learn a lot by investigating mystery items.

One thing a couple coin collectors pointed out to me on this one is that the hole appears to be drilled rather than punched.  If the hole was made in ancient times, it would have been punched rather than drilled.

I'd definitely keep researching the item.  Good find, one way or the other.  The research will teach you a lot.

Thanks Jason!

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Source: See BBC link below.

Archaeologists have found evidence of early human activity at a submerged prehistoric forest in the Western Isles.

Lionacleit in Benbecula is one of more than 20 recorded sites of ancient woodland that once grew in the islands.

The remains included an early butchery site and stone tools used for preparing food.

Archaeologists have described the discoveries at Lionacleit as "extra special".

They found the remains of the area where animals had been butchered for food during studies of the site last year... 

Here is the link.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-46890793

I'd love to be able to browse an area like that.

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The Treasure Coast surf will be decreasing for the next few days.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

8/7/15 Report - What I Can't Tell You. Beach Deconstruction and Peat. Prehistoric Tobacco.

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

1200 Year Old Tobacco Pouches.
Source:  See link below.

When I first started this blog I didn't do much other than give my beach detecting conditions report.  Then I started to add additional information and some of my thoughts.  I'm not a very talkative person, and normally tend to use few words.  If you would have asked me back when I just started this blog, I would have not thought that it possible to have so many posts without running out of things to talk about, but it seems there is always something new to talk about.  I don't copy or repeat what other people are saying.  In fact I don't generally read other metal detecting literature unless I am looking for something specific.  The funny thing is that it hasn't been hard finding something to say, the hard thing, especially lately, is that I know about so much exciting that I can't tell you about.  Not just one thing or place either.  There is a lot going on - both on the Treasure Coast and around the state.  I know I won't be able to tell about some of them, but I hope I'll be able to share at least some of those things very soon.

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Here is an email I received from Joe D.

Hello again,

   ...I have been enjoying; (among others)  your beach deconstruction and surf interpretation posts!

Detecting time for me this summer has been hard to come by due to family, and the summertime heat! I just returned from the family vacation and had some pics to post from a South Carolina Beach that had a long history and interesting conditions!

I will include a few other pics! Keep up the great posts!

This pic shows an initial sand layer at the high tide mark that gives way to a peat-like layer, then sand again, then a heavy clay layer that reminded me of the layer that the recent treasure coast gold coins were found in! While searching this area, I found many rusted items and  a broken french wine bottle that I dated to around 1846! I wish I had more time there! But it's back to reality! 

Here are the beach pics...

Clumps of Clay From This Beach.

Thanks for the great photos Joe.  Interesting to study.

There are some interesting dips and a lot of places for coins and things to get trapped.  When you see vegetation getting washed away, try to figure out how long the vegetation and ground right under it has been undisturbed.  Sometimes it will be a very long time and other times the vegetation might be new.

I always watch for exposed roots on the back beach, which can be a good sign of erosion and would definitely check out anything like that.

Peat has been exposed on one Treasure Coast beach a few years back.

In the beach illustration that I posted a day or so ago, you can see the underlying peat illustrated.

The way it is illustrated here, erosion below the high tide line could expose it.

Here is a cool related picture from the following linked web site.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2564285/5-000-year-old-forest-unearthed-storms-Beach-washed-away-reveal-ancient-oaks-pines.html

Back a couple of decades ago there was bunch of stumps much like these exposed along the water line north of John Brooks.

I think some  things are colored black by peat along the Treasure Coast including many of the fossils that were being exposed back a few years ago.

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The first week of August back a few decades ago I discovered my first escudo.  That was one of my best hunting weekends ever.  Also found a U. S. gold coin the same weekend, which happened to be my Birthday weekend.

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Here is the link to the story about the prehistoric tobacco pouches found in an Arizona cave.

http://westerndigs.org/1200-year-old-pouches-found-in-arizona-cave-contain-prehistoric-chewing-tobacco-study-finds/

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Nothing new about Treasure Coast beach conditions yet.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net