A couple of lucky finds

Last week on Saturday a couple of friends dropped by for a visit. Like many of my friends, they take an interest in my arrowhead finds. After dinner there was still some daylight and we were trying to come up with something to do, one of them suggested looking for arrowheads. Now, too many times, I have taken someone with me and he has made some wonderful find and it has made me miserable, I have (for the most part) since learned my lesson and usually go out alone or with my friend Dave who is generally metal detecting and thus looking for something else. But on this occasion I thought it might not hurt to check a pretty spot where I have had some luck in the past but where I have spent so much time that finding anything else there does not seem particularly likely. And of course when we got there it was bitter cold, with an icy wind, and conditions were not great, and my friends wanted to leave. Looking for arrowheads is boring, and it can be a literal pain in the neck (and the back), and you have to be really motivated, to do it. But I coerced my friends, and the three of us spent about an hour out there. I spotted a quartz arrowhead on the ground.

You can see that only part of it is visible. Quartz doesn't show flaking very well but worked quartz will often have a glassy quality that is hard to describe. And the curve of that edge is artificial-looking. So I called my friends over, so they could see what an ancient arrowhead looks like in its natural state, protruding from the earth's surface like this. One of them laughed derisively, and scoffed- he was sure it was just going to be a rock. Well, no wonder he didn't find anything.

When I first started finding arrowheads it was mostly triangles. Lately there have been few triangles and more of these lanceolate forms. This one certainly made me happy. It's whole, and still sharp. A good one. We left after I found it.

Last Sunday I spent all day with Dave looking for stuff. I didn't find anything but had some nice walks. At the end of the day we were driving near a favorite spot of mine and I saw some new areas where the earth had been moved around. I wondered if maybe something had changed in this spot I like so much, I took a short detour to have a look. I couldn't believe it when we pulled up and saw a long, narrow strip of bare earth, fresh. Usually you have got to wait for some good rain to wash off the rocks when looking at fresh dirt but in this place I have found stuff in all kinds of discouraging situations. I walked along one edge but didn't find anything. I let Dave walk in front of me as we walked along the other long edge of the narrow strip, and so he was the lucky guy to spot this one first, totally exposed and obvious:

Can you believe this thing? The material is felsite. Usually when I find this shape they are made of quartz, this is an unusual one. It's got one tiny nick at one corner of the base. What a beauty!

Dave took it home and will hold on to it for a little while but eventually I will get to keep it and will display it with other artifacts I have found in this special place.