7/7/19 Report = Unidentified Button Find. Possible Shell Tool Find. Resource on Shell Tools. Florida Laws Web Site.

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

Old Unidentified Button.

Here is one old button find that I can't identify.  I can't make out the design on the front.  The back says "EXTRA FEIN."

Let me know if you can identify this one or anything about it.

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Israel officially opened a stairway, known as "Pilgrim's Road," that Jesus is believed to have walked on in ancient Jerusalem as another place with the significance of "biblical proportions" to billions, especially for Judeo-Christian visitors to the Holy Land.

The City of David Foundation unveiled the 2,000-year-old main thoroughfare from Roman-era Jerusalem that it says served pilgrims ascending to the ancient Jewish Temple from the Pool of Siloam built by King Hezekiah. Until recently, it was hidden under a potato field and discovered by accident in 2004 after a pipe burst...

Here is the link.

https://www.foxnews.com/science/israel-road-jesus-temple-ancient-jerusalem

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Scott B. sent me the following photos and email. 

Shell Item Found by Scott B.

Photos by Scott B.

After seeing the picture you posted recently, I remembered this piece of shell I found a while back. At the time, it just seemed like an interesting smooth piece of shell. I’m pretty sure I found it at a Treasure Coast beach, but not 100% positive.

After looking closer at it, the item really fits well in my hand including a thumb stop and two notches on the other side where my middle and ring fingertips fit. It’s quite smooth, the years in the elements haven’t left any visible signs that it was worked with tools.

I think this may have been some type of hand blade for skinning or slicing. The thinner side is a bit worn, but could have been sharpened, I imagine.

Perhaps this is all coincidence, but thanks to your picture of the celt, I gave this a closer look and realize it could be a neat piece of history.

As always, thanks for all you do.

Scott 

Thanks Scott.  I'm glad my post inspired you to take another look at the item.   There are a variety of online resources you might want to consult, but when I'm not sure about an item nothing helps like talking to a knowledgeable person at a university, museum or trade show or just getting the opinions of others who are more informed.  People who know what to look for can identify the signs of the item being worked or used.

Maybe some of my readers will add their thoughts about your item.

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If you are interested in learning more about Florida shell artifacts, here is a lengthy thesis of over 200 pages.  It presents many examples of various types.

Here is the first paragraph, which will give you some idea of the contents.

With this thesis, I aim to fill a gap in our knowledge of shell
artifacts from the northwest part of the state of Florida. It represents
a first look at the range of shell artifacts in the collections of the
University of South Florida (USF) obtained during the ongoing program
of archaeological investigations in the Apalachicola Valley and
surrounding region. There are 46 sites in the study area that have
been identified as yielding shell artifacts, of which samples from 27
sites are curated in the USF Archaeology Laboratory. The proposed
typology is based on an analysis of over 2300 specimens collected
from archaeological sites in northwest Florida, including the Gulf Coast,
barrier islands, St. Joseph Bay, and the Apalachicola River drainage.


Here is the link.

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

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Most detectorists don't know much about stone or shell artifacts.  I certainly don't.  But we should know enough to realize that they are out there and how to identify and respect them.  We also need to know something about the applicable laws.

I added the following to yesterday's post late yesterday, so in case you didn't see it, I'm posting it again.

As you probably know, there are laws regarding archaeological resources.  They are many and complex and can be very confusing.  I can't summarize or interpret them all, so don't ask me to.  Do, however, realize that there are penalties for removing artifacts from state and federal lands.  If you have WRITTEN permission, you CAN collect artifacts on private land.  That is my understanding.

On the Treasure Coast it is not extremely unusual to find artifacts on the beach or on your own property.  I've been asked several times while on the beach, about items just found by tourists.  I've found artifacts on my property and have posted some examples.  

Beachcombers, shell collectors and tourists often pick up unusual or interesting items on the beach without knowing what they are.  If you look through any large collection put together by a shell collector, there is a very good chance you will find a possible artifact or two.  

Metal detectorists do not generally go out looking for artifacts and might not recognize them.  I think I've shown that they can be difficult to identify unless you have studied a little.  I am not good at identifying stone and shell tools in particular and have to ask those who know more about them.

We all want to respect artifacts and follow the laws.  Laws can be broken unwittingly, and I hope this post will help you begin to become more familiar with artifacts so that you will be better able to identify, respect and protect artifacts and follow the applicable laws.

As a beginning, you might want to look at this summary of the Florida laws.  Here is a link.

https://dos.myflorida.com/historical/archaeology/underwater/laws/

I know that this quick summary might give rise to more questions than it answers, but that is the best I can do.

Here is one good principle: when in doubt, just take photos of the item and report your find.  Most of us carry smart phones with good cameras these days, so that is easy enough to do.

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Keep learning,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

6/23/15 Report - Ancient Gold Bracelets Found. Clay Pipes. Beach Sand & Movement. More New Finds Made On T. C.

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

Gold Bracelets.
Source: See scienceinpoland link below.

I know you enjoyed looking at the recent finds made on the Treasure Coast by the crew Capitana lately.  I'm sure you'll be seeing more of those very soon.

Here is a fascinating find with an interesting story, but it isn't from the Treasure Coast.

"During field work near Jasło, a farmer found three gold bracelets tied with golden wire" - told PAP archaeologist and Krosno museum director Jan Gancarski.

The archaeologist said that "the finder acted very honestly and informed the conservation services, which in turn transferred the finds to the museum in Krosno". "His attitude is commendable. I hope that he will receive an adequate award from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage" - added Gancarski.

Same Bracelets

Preliminary dating places the bracelets from 1600 to 400 BC.

http://scienceinpoland.pap.pl/en/news/news,405517,35---2-thousand-years-old-gold-objects-found-near-jaslo.html

I don't know if they are bracelets, but maybe.

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In the list of dissertations that I mentioned yesterday there was a nice study of clay pipes.

Below is a figure from that study.

If you look at that illustration, it looks like that as pipes became more modern, they first got larger bowls and then later more upright bowls.

Here is the link for the dissertation and the figure shown above.
http://anthropology.tamu.edu/papers/Fox-PhD1998.pdf

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I once did a short series on reading beaches.  One thing to watch is the sand of different grain sizes.

On the surface of the back beach and in the dunes, you'll see a lot of fine grain sand.  The wind blows fine sand to form the dunes.

Around the water line there will also be a lot of fine grain sand, which is easily moved by both wind and waves.  Fine sand can be washed up by very small waves.  That is what we've been having a lot of lately, and that is why the beach fronts are building.

Fine grain sands also can be washed up the slope easily.

As you go out into deeper water, there will be more larger grain sand.  Normally at around ten meters or so, you'll see a rapid increase in medium grain sand.  Then when you get out around maybe thirty feet deep or so, you'll see more course grain sand.

When the water gets deeper, even large waves don't affect the bottom much.  At that point you'll normally then see a predominance of fine grain sand again.  The less easily moved coarse sand will pile up just before that where there is some winnowing from the waves, but not a lot - enough to move the finer sand towards shore or out into the deeper water.

Once you get into that deep water where the fine grain sand piles up again, mud will also start to settle out.

Of course there are times when you'll see different layers of sand piled on top of each other.  In the high energy zone of the front beach and shallow water, big waves will move larger grain sands in and out and sometimes lay layer on layer.

If the waves are small and only fine sand is moving, like has been the case much of the time lately, other objects aren't being moved much either.  Things will however get covered by the moving fine grain sand, maybe more quickly than you would think.

The highest energy zone lately has been in between where the waves are crashing and the shore.

Watch not only the water as it heads to shore, but also as it washes back. It goes both ways.  And watch what happens to any shells or sand in that area.

Trigger points are important and vary for different types of items.  I've talked about trigger points in the past.  What I'll call the "drop" or "settle" points are also important.

Clay, for example, even though it is very fine, is difficult to dislodge but won't drop or settle out until the water is very calm.

This is all part of the picture that will help you to understand beaches and where to hunt.

I'll have to continue with that some other time.

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I'll have more pictures of finds from the Capitana in my next post.

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On the Treasure Coast we are expecting more days of calm surf.

That is not great for beach hunting, but it allows the salvors to keep on working.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net