3/2/18 Report - Big Surf Coming. Rain Uncovers History. Ancient Burials in Gulf. Button Links.

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

Predicted Wind Direction Early This Afternoon.
Source: Ventusky.com

Here is the big news.  A front will start coming though this afternoon.  You'll see a wind shift.

MagicSeaWeed was down this morning but the last time I looked the predictions still looked very interesting - 9 - 13 feet by Sunday.  I'll update this later today.

Surfline.com is predicting a 5 - 7 foot surf for Central Florida Sunday AM, and 8 - 12 feet Sunday PM.

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Anytime earth is moved, especially in places there was a lot of activity, something good and old might be found.  Here is a story about how a rain after a drought uncovered historic ruins.

The heavy rains that hit Iraq over the past two weeks have not only put an end to the dry season, which has almost dried up the historic Tigris River, but it also helped uncover hundreds of historical ruins that were washed away in Babylon, one of the country’s most important archaeological sites.

Hussein Fleih, Babylon's director of antiquities, said in a press statement: "Among the findings were pottery utensils, coins and metal pieces."

"The discoveries will be examined to determine the exact historical period they date back to," he added, suggesting that they belong to the Parthian and Islamic eras.

"Last year, 1,000 pieces were discovered this way, which proves that the ruins may be close to the surface and not always buried deep in the ground," Fleih said.

Such discoveries after heavy rainfall are not rare in Iraq.

https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1189666/rain-iraq-ends-drought-uncovers-historic-ruins

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A fossil hunter while on a dive in 2016 reported possible human skeletal material off the coast of Manasota Key in Charlotte County, Florida. State officials explored the site in the years since and announced Wednesday, Feb. 28, the site is, in fact, a 0.75-acre Native American burial site in a peat-bottomed pond, according to a news release. 

The only known examples of submerged offshore prehistoric burial sites are known to be in Israel and Denmark.

Researchers say the water level in the Gulf of Mexico 7,000 years ago was about 30 feet below compared to today. It's likely the pond at the time was on dry land about 9 feet above sea level...

http://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/florida/unprecedented-native-american-burial-site-discovered-off-floridas-gulf-coast/67-524076059

A fossil hunter discovered and reported this site.  He isn't described as an archaeologists. He wasn't a looter.  That was one of the things I was saying the other day about the public discovering and protecting archaeological sites in my post on the problem with archaeology.  The public must be trusted and become a bigger part of the solution instead of being alienated and treated as the problem.

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A few days ago I showed a button that I was wondering about.  As I said, I thought it was probably modern decorative.  Mitch King confirmed that and pointed out that the shank was modern.  I wasn't absolutely sure of the shank because it was crusted over and I wanted to clean it.  Well, the cleaning didn't go well.  When the crust was removed, there wasn't much left of the back, as you can see below.  That can happen.  I would have been more careful if I thought it was likely to be something good.

When trying to ID a button, the back can tell you as much or more than the front.  The shank is important, and you might also find other important marks on the back.  Remember that when sending photos for ID.

Here are some good links that will help you ID buttons.

http://nationalbuttonsociety.org/Home.html

http://www.buttoncountry.com/WorkSheets/Glossarys-FF.pdf

http://www.buttoncountry.com/BackTypes2.html

What Remains of Button Back.

As Mitch pointed out, the button back can provide good information on the age of a button.  That is something to remember.

Another thing that stuck out to me after I thought about it a while, is the small differences on the front of this button and the picture of the one that Alberto sent.  The differences seemed to be nonsensical.

Mitch found several sites where similar vintage blazer buttons were sell on the internet.  Some were said to be from the 80s, which makes sense because the pile of coins I was cleaning probably came from back around then.

Here is one of the links Mitch sent.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/566969846/mens-vintage-jos-a-bank-blazer-buttons?ref=pla_similar_listing_top-1

Thanks Mitch.

Here are a couple other things that I cleaned that were in the pile of encrusted coins.

Heavily Encrusted Objects After Acid Cleaning.

The silver ring is corrodes and very thin now.  Both are probably from the eighties or not much older.  I think the other was an earring.

There was also a flattened thimble in that group of finds.  You don't see many thimbles around anymore even though they were used for centuries.

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We could get some good hunting soon if the surf and wind predictions have been right this week.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/1/17 Report - Devil Dogs: Mystery Solved. New Mystery Find. Skeletons on Ghost Ships.

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

Recent Find.
Find and photo by Gaylen C.

Other End of Same Item.
Find and photo by Gaylen C.

Point of Same Object
Find and photo by Gaylen C.

I received the following message from Gaylen C. who found the above object.

Found this item at the foot of eroded dunes on Sunday....  Have had no luck identifying it. Certainly looks to be very old. Sent photos off to U of F for help. Thought perhaps you might have come across something similar. Of course with sand being artificially moved around so much there's no telling where else it could have been. I found it buried in 6-8 inches of sand that looks like it had fallen from a vertical dune 6 or 7 feet above the beach. My guess, as well as some others, is that it is a needle or punch of some kind. It appears to be hand hammered, with a long taper. No idea if the curve in the opposite end is intentional or accidental. Could be an eye under the accumulation. Since this is only my 3rd beach detecting experience I don't know the advisability of chipping away at an artifact. . Probably would not be if I had found real valuable treasure first. 

Any help you may render in the identity and preservation of this thing would be greatly appreciated.

Gaylen told me the item is 13.5 inches long and no wider than .25 inches.   I sent Gaylen information concerning perservation.  

 What do you think it is?  Notice particularly the curved top, and what appears to be the bulbous shape on that end.

I want to comment on one of Gaylen's sentences.  Nor do I have knowledge about how to best conserve it. Didn't think finding little "treasures" would be so involved and such fun.

I often talk about how the find is often just the beginning.  Then comes the questioning, cleaning, and researching.  That is when you learn a lot.  You get into the history of the item, and it changes you to some extent.

That is not always so true of items that are obviously valuable, like a gold coin that a person might not think much more than its value.  They'd read the marks, and then look it up and find that it is worth X amount, and that is about it, other than the bragging.  

Those who do not detect for old items don't understand what it is all about.  They always ask, "What is the most valuable thing you found."  They often don't realize that a rusty artifact has any value at all.  That is the big difference between someone who hunts and cherishes rusty things and those who don't.

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Going from a mystery to an answer, I recently posted a USMC ring found by John C.  We couldn't tell what the image on the face of the ring was.  Thanks to Sherry Y., we now know.

The image is known as the Devil Dog.  Wikipedia says, According to United States Marine Corps legend, the moniker was used by German soldiers to describe U.S. Marines who fought in the Battle of Belleau Wood in 1918. The Marines fought with such ferocity that they were likened to "Dogs from Hell." The "Devil Dogs" nickname for Marines first appeared in newspapers in the United States in April 1918...

Super job Sherry!  Thanks much.

That also helps with dating the ring.  The image means the date of the ring is later than 1918.

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Ghost ships washed up on the shores of Japan with skeletons aboard.

Here is the link.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/28/asia/north-korea-japan-ship/index.html

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This might be the last of Darrel's beach photos for a while.  I'll miss that.  It was a big help to me.  I don't get around to all the beaches that much and like to keep you up to date on beach conditions.  He says he is off to other adventures for a while.  Thanks and good luck Darrel.

Turtle Trail Looking North Yesterday.
Photo by Darrel S.

Darrel said, Beaches are really leveling, but are dips near low tide. Low 10:40am.  

The photo was taken yesterday.

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The Treasure Coast surf is down to around two or three feet today, but the tides are increasing.

I have a lot more to talk about, but that is all for today.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net