Tom King Posted May 2, 2020 Report Share Posted May 2, 2020 At least, that's what I think it is. I was raking today, and decided to go down one side, even though I'm not planning on planting grass there. The rake snagged a good sized stone, under the surface, so I drug it out. It probably weighs 2-1/2, to 3 pounds. There are two grooves all the way around it, not naturally made. Those grooves are maybe 2-1/2 inches apart, away from the center. It looks like they were to hold lashings for a handle. I'll try to get some better pictures tomorrow. This poor one was taken with my phone while it still had a lot of dirt stuck to it. I found it a little distance this way, in the picture, from that stump. It's pretty well documented that Native Americans lived on the river here for betweeen 5, and 15,000 years. The river was just a few hundred yards from where I found this. Every cove on the lake, along here, was carved by a spring fed stream. We've found lots of arrowheads here, over the years, but never anything like this. The place I was raking, I'm pretty sure no one had ever disturbed the dirt there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treeslayer Posted May 2, 2020 Report Share Posted May 2, 2020 Now that's an interesting find Tom, I'm very curious to know that it is, maybe a call to the local historical society, i don't know but its really cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted May 3, 2020 Report Share Posted May 3, 2020 Looks like a new mallet head to me! Would definitely be worth showung it to an expert. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted May 3, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2020 Pictures are already on the way to The expert. One of my scientist friends owns one of my houses. His family has been spending their isolation here at the lake. I called him, and sent him that picture. He came over right away, with his good camera, and took some good pictures. A few years ago, the Expert (can't remember names) came to the lake, and gave a wonderful talk, complete with a Long Powerpoint Presentation, with many pictures. This Scientist friend put the Expert up at that house, to stay for the talk. It was very interesting, and he's a really great guy too. Anyway, my friend sent him the pictures, but I haven't heard anything back yet. When they were clearing the land for the lake, they found remnants of a large village on a big flat area beside the river, out in front of where that point points to. The ground was covered with scards of pottery, and they found some graves too. The dead were buried in fetal position, I guess so they didn't have to dig such a big hole. All that is under about 45 feet of water now. They were still pulling up artifacts while the water was rising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted May 3, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2020 Just got an email back: " quite possibly from the Archaic Period" We're in the upper right corner of that yellow area on the map. http://rla.unc.edu/ArchaeoNC/NEPiedmont.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip Sawdust Posted May 3, 2020 Report Share Posted May 3, 2020 Very interesting for sure. Now you’re gonna want to rake up some more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted June 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2020 We've been busy with other things, and I haven't gotten around to working on the point much. The farmer I've been waiting on to harvest wheat, and bale the straw is about ready to do it. He's only a few miles away, and will load the bales on my trailer out of the field. While I've been waiting, I found the perfect rake to hit it one last time with. It flips every little rock out of the top inch. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004FE7FCS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 This morning, while out raking early, before breakfast, I raked up a really nice flint arrowhead. The tiny point on the tip is gone, but the edges are still really sharp. It's 1-7/8" long. I messaged pictures to my friend, and the expert. Turns out it's 4 to 6 thousand years old, and from the "prepottery age". There is no flint around here, so this came from somewhere else, a long time ago. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted June 7, 2020 Report Share Posted June 7, 2020 Tom, I live near the site of the second largest mound builder complex in the US. It is amazing how much evidence there is to support wide-spread commerce throughout the Americas during the pre-columbian times. The current pandemic crisis makes me wonder if our current civilization could collapse as quickly as that of the Aztecs and Incas, once the Europeans appeared, bringing disease for which the natives had no natural defense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted June 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2020 I think it would only take something slightly more toxic, but as contagious as Covid-19, that there is no herd immunity to. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted June 8, 2020 Report Share Posted June 8, 2020 Just be diligent and careful and we will all be here 5 years from now discussing Woodworking. If not, send me a pm saying I told you so. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.