Why you can't find Arrowheads (Long Version)
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- čas přidán 27. 12. 2023
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Click on this video for the truth. I'm not gonna tell you techniques or how to better your chances. I'm going to explain to you why you shouldnt waste your time depending on where you live.
Any comments who say "Well... I used to find hundreds out in the hills near Wenatchee Washington" or "near the Columbia river in Oregon / Washington."
Or
"I used to find arrowheads out in Arizona / New Mexico near the Pueblo ruins with pottery shards..."
you will be redirected here.
I have traveled to 44 of the US states, and in my experience, Alaska and Hawaii included. I can say its safe to make the statement "Don't waste your time in these places"
Yes. Each state has "arrowheads" but I have to say, that what you have is not even 0.001% of what the areas I labeled in dark green have.
When you have something less than a fraction of a percent and your chance of finding them are so slim you may spend actual years finding nothing, I feel justified to use the word None. Hope you enjoyed the video. - Zábava
DISCLAIMER:
Due to the influx of comments of people from Michigan, West Virginia and other places which I marked as red states, commenting how they find lots of arrowheads, I am making this post. Because Michigan is touching a green state and West virginia is touching two green states. These states close to the border would be light green, but I can only use one color for each state. The northern areas of these states would be in red and gradient down towards the green area as you get closer to the other states marked in green.
I also want to mention some states are very huge like Texas where one side might be worse like el paso which may be more orange while the east side may be light green. Same with Washington and Oregon. Dark red for west of cascades and orange in the central state, yellow around the colombia river etc. Idaho would be yellow around the snake river but red elsewhere. This map is not exactly perfect and was made in 3 minutes based on my experience traveling across 44 states. Thank you for reading and if you have any questions regarding the map let me know. (There is also an error in the key, the color should be less to more green but one of the colors is off, darkest green should be "you may have a collection already")
You can easily convert your map to a higher accuracy by not using state borders for your thematic...and doing some more research on specific areas.
I think the amount of loss due to farming and the Universities buying bones and artifacts from the farmers is highly underestimated. Like Michigan, The University of Michigan employed a man named Wilbert Hinsdale, he was an early archaeologist, The father of Michigan Archaeology actually, and he had arrangments with many peoples (famers) in the state to buy artifacts and human bones begining in the late 1800s. I have seen his notes, in the bently archives at U of M and he was very thourough, on artifact collection, not so much on note taking. He is the man who made the archaeological map of Michigan. Did you know there used to be more mound complexes in the State of Michigan than in the entire ohio area...seriously. they were destroyed by the till.
That map is extremely inaccurate! I would take it down and start a new one after doing much more research. It looks like it was made by someone who doesn't know enough history of the indigenous people.
A tribe just obtained an area where I found most of my arrowheads as a child… They are wanting people to donate artifacts of the area. The only thing is, anthropologically speaking, while they say they originated there, the arrowheads are Paleolithic and not considered to have been made by them or their relatives, but by completely different cultures pushed out of the area by invading tribes who were then pushed out by this tribe. Initially, I considered donating them to their planned museum until I realized it would just be encouraging a fake history based on their religion instead of educating people about the people who actually created the objects. At one time I almost donated them to a nearby Natural history museum, if I had, that museum would be forced to give up these objects to a group that was, quite frankly, just an earlier conqueror… Not saying what happened to modern tribes was in any way right, but the reality is people have been taking over other people’s lands since before we were all Homo sapiens… and the winners write the history/origin stories😅
Good on you!
I absolutely agree with you. The present day tribes only go back about 800 years ago. Relics in North America go back to 13,000 years and further. In Virginia, we have 4 Paleo sites older than 13,000. Every county in Ohio has produced at least 1 Clovis point. The author says many points 15,000 years old were found at 1 site in the western states - he is sadly wrong. Only a few scattered points of that age have been found. He is far from an expert!
I live in northeast Missouri. 2024 will be the first time I've been able to walk a ditch since my back injury 15 years ago! The best thing about it is that I can walk my own ditches and gravel beds on my own property. I know some great places to find points, it will be good for my soul to walk a creek again. Great video my guy. I'm subscribing now.
I'm from southeast missouri and we still have native paintings on a big bluff around our property, I made a video showing it on my channel if u wanna take a look
Good luck man I understand first hand how much it means to be able to get back out there after injury. I hope you find a Clovis
Alabama. I find one arrowhead for every HUNDRED other stone tools. No one talks about that. An arrowhead is a bullet. Specific and rare. A hammerstone, club, scraper or axe, etc., is like a fork. For every bullet there are ten thousand forks. I love finding a nice point. I also love finding any stone tool.
You betcha. I started finding stone tools and other artifacts when I stopped focusing on arrowhead shapes. They are literally everywhere begging to be appreciated. Everyone walks right over them.
I live at Lake Martin. I have found a creek that has a lot of broken pottery and stone tools but no points so far.
@@IfeltaI'm in Eclectic south of Lake Martin. I've just gotten into looking, trying to be sure I am looking in the right places.
@@JSMachine1 Eclectic/Fishpond/Elkahatchee is loaded with archaeological sites. There's been artifacts dated back at least 12,000 years found near West Cotton Rd.
@@Ifelta wow. Had no idea. I am about 3 miles from West Cotton Rd.
I used to live in the hilly central part of Mississippi, I had a friend who had amassed a huge collection of arrow heads. He had some sort of gift for finding these things.
One day we were talking about arrow heads while standing by our trucks in the gravel road in front of house and suddenly he looked down and shouted, " there's one right there! " I thought he was joking but he reached down and sure enough, it was a beautiful arrow head.
That's funny: my friend (in California) was playing Archaeologist with her small niece in her gravel driveway and picked up several points. They took it to the local museum, and sure enough they were real projectile points; the gravel company that dumped the gravel was mining it from a known habitation site. And some people really do have a gift for finding these things.
As a teenager in the sixties, I found three very nice points in the parking lot of a coin operated laundry. They paved it two days later so I was not able to hunt it again. Later years, I found another good point when I stepped out of my company vehicle in the edge of the driveway of the house where I was working. Others have been a lot of walking and finding a few.
I have walked fields in Ohio that were completely covered in flint flakes . The variety of flint and types of points is amazing. Water and bank finds can be very rewarding.
This Video is nonsense I've found the best arrow heads in wi some in MN as well. You just need to know where to look how to look. And what to look for. I've found copper artifacts and stone tips from the archaic and I've found atl atl points that were not buried by glacial drift so I'm thinking this guy is no expert at all.
I am 73 and live in Alabama. Back in the 60's me and one of my cousins had large boxes of arrow heads, flint knives, tomahawk's. We would go out in the spring when farmers were plowing, and walk looking for arrowheads. I remember one night when I was 15 I was out late riding my motorcycle around the many miles of dirt roads in the area, and decided to stop for a rest. I pulled over to the side of the road, and walked over to a bank and set down. I se there for a few minutes, and looked down and there were three arrowheads laying between my feet. There were also some flakes of flint around the area. The arrowheads were perfect, and made from a white stone. I have often wondered what happened to make the indian leave something as valuable as that laying there.
I notice you have West Virginia as a “wouldn’t hurt to look” state. West Virginia was the hunting grounds for the Shawnee, Delaware, and Cherokee, as well as Iroquoian-speaking groups including the Seneca, Tuscarawas, Susquehannock, Mingo and home to the Mound builders. In one overhang rock formation on the Greenbrier river, we took 3 five gallon buckets full of arrow heads, skinning flints and some spear heads and we left so much more behind. We kept a few of these for our selves and sent some very impressive pieces to various museums.
NJ is loaded with arrowheads! I have friends who have Masson jars full of arrowheads. You can find arrowheads along riverbanks after a major rainstorm. You can find arrowheads after a corn field is plowed. I do not believe there is a state in Canada or the US where you'll not find arrowheads
I found a 9 inch flint blade in near perfect condition, save for a quarter inch knick on the left side. Serrations are still pronounced. It was dated by a local retired archaeologist to the late archaic. Found it in the Piedmont of Southern Virginia sticking out of the side of a steep bank that had been cut by a natural spring. My best ever find.
My grandfather had a farm in Arkansas and my aunt said every time he plowed the fields he turned up many arrowheads. It wasnt far from the Mississippi river. He lived outside of Newport.
I grew up in upstate NY, we used to find arrow heads in the freshly plowed fields all the time in the spring
I inherited several large bins of black obsidian arrowheads, all collected from creekbeds in Northern California by my grandfather w/ help from his children.
I'm not sure where my grandfather went, but there's mountains of raw obsidian in the vicinity of Lassen so presumably the material was widely available to tribes throughout the region.
Obsidian was not widely available for free. It was quarried at the black buttes obsidian in East Oregon and traded for thousands of miles even being found in Alaska
@@MountainJohn Lassen is a volcano and there is plenty of raw obsidian. My family also vacationed near Lassen and we have several dozen perfect arrowheads and more imperfect ones. We would collect them when camping near Eagle Lake. I have six beads that still had leather thong holding them together. Very weathered, but otherwise in good shape.
One of the most painful memories of my childhood. I was going to a church camp in the early eighties when I was a preteen. A small Church camp outside Bloomfield indiana. Anyway, I have never found a four-leaf clover, I've never seen a tornado, and I've never found an arrowhead. But some friends and I were digging holes at the church camp to set posts for a woodland cabin we were allowed to build. I personally found a large spearhead in the ground. Masterfully made, about 4 in long, and even cut with grooves to secure to the end of what was probably a long stick or spear. But completely symmetrical and masterfully made. I showed it to the counselors and other kids at the camp, and it was really a neat thing. I even showed it in church a couple of weeks later when all the youth gave a report about how much they enjoyed camp. And you know what I did I sold it for $5 at school the following fall. I didn't really need the money, but $5 seemed as a lot of money to a 6th grader back then. I don't know what I was thinking. I would give $500 to have it back now
500$ is probably worth 5$ then considering inflation 😂 who knows where the arrowhead is now
@@MountainJohn it's funny, I was an 11 or 12 year old boy, and I just looked it up on google. $5 back then is almost like $16 today. And since we were lower middle class, it was probably like giving an 11-year-old me $20.
That's such a good story! And you are a good story-teller. I can tell it still makes you sad to think about it tho.
Maybe it will help you feel a bit better to know that most of us probably did something similar in our youth.
When I was in elementary school, Mama would give me a nickel each day for a carton of milk to go with the sack lunch she'd made for me. One day I pulled out my nickel to pay for the milk and noticed it was an Indian Head nickel. I really wanted to keep it, but instead of going without milk for one day, I just handed it to the cafeteria lady. Turned out it was the last time I ever saw a buffalo nickel "in the wild".😢
When I was maybe 9 or 10 we went to a family reunion at my dad's old home place. He led a few of us kids to a place where he used to hunt for "diamonds" (quartz crystals) when he was little. It was a long, washed-out clay embankment. Well, I hit the jackpot! Found a yuuuge, inch-long beauty. It wasn't perfect--had a little chunk broken off of one end--but it had a piece of something red embedded in the center. It was the pride of my rock collection.
A few years later, I included it in a display of my best rocks at some multi-troop Girl Scout fair at the church where we held our troop meetings. Sometime during the event, someone filched it out of the display box.
I was awfully hurt and upset.
I guess the point is, even though I lost that lovely memento, I will always remember the day Daddy took us on the "diamond hunt" and the excitement of finding the biggest one .
And you still have the memory of how it felt to find such an amazing artifact while digging post holes, and to hold it and know that another, ancient human fashioned it with their own hands and used it to help earn their livelihood.
That was a Clovis point, identified by the flutes and quite valuable.
@@Howard-bj1jq and I just happened to randomly dig it out of the ground.
In Washington state.
I found beautiful arrowheads.
2-1/2" intact point.
Fully intact base and edges.
brown flint.
Found it on a small beach on the sound.
Beautiful specimen.
There were many different tribes and people's coming too and traveling through the US for thousands of years.
Subbed .
Happy new years
Great video.
Yt suggested your channel.
2 and a half inches seems large for an arrow head maybe it's an atel atel or a spear point?
@@mattmatt6572 I think you are correct. It was definitely 2"s minimum.
Was fully intact .
I will try and track it down for a pic. I gave it to my goddaughter 20 years ago.
@@ThomasPaine77 I will show u mine if you show me yours lol. Got a nice one that is 8 to 9000 years old or so I've been told by a man who knows alot more bout the subject then I do.
The best one (my favorite, at least) I ever found was a three inch long, half inch wide, very narrow, almost needle-like arrowhead with intact notches and base. I can only imagine it was used for hunting birds since the area here was wetlands before white settlement.
I live in Southeast Missouri and my house sits at the confluence to two small creeks. My kids have found so many artifacts, just in our back yard, that it fills numerous buckets, old suit cases etc.
Bro, this is my favorite video explanation of anything ever lol. Of course there will be some regional outliers throughout time but I can say this video was very well done and laid out. I can tell you spent a good deal of time working on it. For some feedback: the pictures made it super engaging and informative. 5 star vid. ill direct people to this video when they ask me a question of this nature.
This video was designed to save people precious time and energy and explain to those who spent years searching why they arent finding anything. Thanks again bro.
Great video. I'm a lifelong Californian, and while I'm no great outdoorsman I have walked many many miles in undeveloped places once Inhabited by native tribes, just for the sake of hiking, but I knew not to expect artifacts. In four decades I've found two objects that appeared to be stone arrowheads, and one of them was likely a lost modern make or replica. I've found more 100+ year old coins randomly lying in the dirt than Indian artifacts.
Great video, I’d often wondered why I’d never found an arrowhead here in Maine. Glaciers, climate, bone tools and acidic soil.
Yes, but don't forget about growing seasons too short for corn or other high carbohydrate containing crops which could support high population density beyond hunter gatherers, a lush coastal biome with clams and fish which did not require arrowheads and a shorter habitation time and historical record.
Don't listen to this rookie. I've found many fine peices in Northern most Wisconsin. I'm sure you have them in Maine look along rivers on worked up ground gl
@@mattmatt6572 Youve never looked in maine. I have. Rookie is not synonymous with age but experience. You stating you have no experience in that states puts you lower than my experience, even if you have 45+ years searching in another state. Similarly youre not an expert on marine biology if youve studied great lakes biology yet never been to to ocean
Corn grows in Maine... Poor reference. I've found archaic tools in northern NH
Tru story from NC Arkansas I find arrow heads on the creeks mostly but a couple of months ago I finally moved a rock that was just tall enough to catch my mower blade and there was an arrow head. I sit on a hill with creeks all around me.
Wow! I hope you post your finds. That sounds great!
As one of the CZcamsrs that he may be talking about I can confirm their are tons of artifacts In Missouri near the Cahokia area..... however i will argue that there are many different types from many different time periods that i find, i actual very rarely find points from within 1000yrs. Most of my finds are 3000-10000 yrs with a majority around the 5000yr range. That is my only objection otherwise this video was great and very informative! Thank you !
Thank you for an insightful presentation of the whys, and why nots of arrow heads. We live on a small farm in northeastern Ohio. The farm is located about three miles from the largest(?)natural lake in the state. The land is heavy clay, and reasonably flat. In the 120 yrs. that our family has owned the land, about a dozen points were found. More were probably found during the land clearing, and plowing with a walking plow.
I would imagine that any points left in the ground, are being destroyed by larger farm machinery and vertical tillage practices.
I am a artifact finder in Eastern Oregon and I have some good spots, I have found some very old finds in Eastern ergon I think you'd find pretty cool, arrow heads made of rock, very old, lots of obsidian, courts, and agate type materials as well..the rock ones im not sure how old they are but I think they could be 10s of thousand maybe.
There are references to identify the relics! Buy"The Official Overstreet Indian Arrowheads." That book identifies points all over North America and gives their age.
I grew up on Long Island and was so jealous of the kids who lived in Ronkonkoma. They would constantly find arrowheads in their backyards and in the woods. I was a couple of towns over that didn't have any tribes.
Really informative, worth watching the whole thing. 👍
Fantastic video sir, very informative. I too live in Washington PNW on an indian reservation. Lots of bone, hardstone tools like celts, and a good amount of stemmed and notched basalt blades.
Grew up in the Arkansas Ozarks. Not much plowing around, but hitting the stream beds after storms was a popular hobby. Lots of points to be found. Town was a major river confluence, that probably helped a lot. These tended to be local chert.
Great video! As a kid growing up in the eastern foothills of Mt. Hood in Oregon, I was always digging around in the dirt with buddies. When we found an arrowhead, it was a big deal - it helped us understand that we were living in an old hunting ground. It felt ancient to us, but truth told, it was probably less than 100 years before.
the only points that young are the super tiny bird points the size of your finger nail. Most you find are thousands of years old!
Yes. The Colvilles tested 13 points found north of Lake Roosevelt and the chemicals indicated most were brought in from known material sites in E Oregon and central ID. Good video, nice explanations.
Hunting for arrowheads in E WA, make sure you're on private property and have permission, and significantly reduce your search time by looking above or outside of the basalt floes, in the ancient soils. Also, research skirmishes with the 'guvmint' and you might get lucky. Recently I'd seen a collection of several hundred points and tools, collected 60-70 years ago in Cheney by a local farmer, were offered for sale on Marketplace and Craigslist by a 3rd party that had acquired them. The best place to find CMAs from the west coast these days are the ones already mounted in shadowboxes.
I live in Tahlequah Okla. I can walk outside and look down and find them...Im a mile from the Illinois River. Great video.
You Rock ! Thanks for the awesome informative video !
In Idaho the Indians were much more nomadic, utilizing seasonal and temporary camps. So unless you know where these camps are or stumble upon one by accident, it's almost impossible to find artifacts. But following creek beds can help since that's where game was easier to find.
Excellent presentation, thanks!
At least here in Colorado and Wyoming, the diversity of stones is really interesting. Some really beautiful pieces.
That's so spot on. Lived in Cent Illinois where five minutes out the door from a subdivision, you were in a corn field, bean field, or the woods. You got a twice-a-year shot, first in Spring when the fields get first turned and of course, in Fall, after Harvest. Yes, PLEASE get permission from the farmer to walk the fields.
In Oklahoma, along most of the rivers, you can find them if you know where to look. Many of the arrowheads were made somewhere else. Not much flint where some are found. Winter grounds following the herds.
This makes me feel better. I live in MI and I’ve only found one. I’m always looking for
You can find more don't let this rookie fool yah. I've found many artifacts including points in Northern WI. Look in worked fields along rivers.
I live in Kenova, West Virginia. There are 2 Rivers that come together within a stones throw of my house. The Big Sandy River empties into the Ohio River here, and just a couple miles away, at Camden Park, there is an unexcavated Indian Mound. 3rd largest in West Virginia. That's where Twelve Pole Creek empties into the Ohio River. There have been other mounds in the area, that have been dozed over for houses. There was even one, that was dozed in Huntington, on 14th Street, when they were laying out the roads when building the city. I have already made a sifting box for going to the river banks. There are dirt cliffs that keep washing away everywhere. I have never hunted artifacts, but I'm sure that I'm in a good spot to start looking this spring. I'll also be looking for black, coal strips with heat tempered rocks in the banks. I can't wait for Spring. It's been nice for about a week, so getting close. Loved the video and subscribed. Thanks. 🙂
Very well explained; very logical and makes sense!
Washoe Valley NV, walk around the lake and you can still pick them up. No off road tires needed.
Thank you for the clarification on this. It makes sense.
I'm out of Sequim WA... Olympic Peninsula. We have an abundance of stone tools.... have not found one arrowhead.
We have some very unique stone tools used to harvest shellfish and other marine life.
The bone tips would not have lasted.
Great job on this video. I look forward to seeing more from you in the future.
I personally hunted out there many times. I lived in port orchard
I am surprised that there are no comments from people in Florida. Central to North Florida is loaded with arrow heads. Well maybe not so much now because of all the building growth. But me being an old man now and living my whole life there. I have found so many artifacts from the Indians. It was a great place to find AH for those that liked being in the woods or even along the coast line. Happy Hunting everyone.
There are a couple florida comments! Thats why your state is in the dark green. Great hunting area.
My best two days of finding arrowheads was a discovery I made deep in the central Louisiana woods on an old road. I saw some flakes and pottery and in small area discovered over 500 large white ones about an inch apart 1 to 3 inches under the ground on a hilltop. All were pointed in the same direction so they were placed there deliberately. It was in a place called Big Bend not far from White Sulphur Springs, Trout Creek and Little River near the LaSalle Parish (county) line. I found part of a broken pottery pot that had been destroyed by a bulldozer making a dirt road that still had 27 in it and some red ochre and clay and a tomahawk head made from petrified wood. I donated my finds and exact location info to a small museum owned by an historian because of possible theft which happened to me a few times. The guy would give me gas money, food, and smokes because I was car camping during this period and also took him bottles and artifacts I found while fishing creeks & metal detecting. Some arrowheads and artifacts I found were very valuable but I wanted them to be safe and on display. We finally figured out who was stealing and selling some I was missing.
I feel for you about getting your funds stolen. To work so hard finding them and then to have it stolen is heartbreaking. For a while I was finding fossilized shark teeth. I had some nice big megalodon teeth. Me and my kids spent a lot of time looking for them in a drainage ditch that had just been dug. It was deep and had steep sides. The best time to look was after a rain when they would be laying on top of the ground just waiting to be picked up. After going there to look for them after the rain we would come home covered in mud, but happy. I made the mistake of separating out every sharks tooth that was absolutely perfect. Not even a tiny chip anywhere. In the other box we're the not so perfect or even totally chipped up or broken. One day I went to get the box of perfect ones out to show a friend and all I could find was the box of broken ones. I found out later my husband had taken them and given them away. That was not the first time I lost something I valued due to him. It was heartbreaking. My kids lost interest in finding them if they were going to be stolen from them. I went back to the drainage ditch a few years ago and erosion had filled it in halfway with dirt. There was a line along the side of the ditch when we first started looking where I found a lot of my megalodon teeth sticking out of the line among the pebbles and rocks in the line. Some of the teeth fell down into the bottom of the ditch and were easy to find. When I went back I found only two very small sharks teeth, nothing more. Before I not only found sharks teeth, mastodon teeth, whale vertebra, fossilized turtle shells and even a big fang-like tooth that was either from a toothed whale (a whole prehistoric whale skeleton was found about a quarter of a mile away from this ditch) or it could have been an ancient crocodile's tooth. But now , nothing.
PS I'm not married to that man any more.
I have not found any arrowheads around here. I guess I'm not looking in the right places.
Fascinating video. I spent my childhood looking for arrowheads in the plowed fields behind my home in Ashtabula County, NE Ohio, and never found one. The first arrowhead I found was in my early 20’s. It was a tiny (maybe an inch long) obsidian point found in a valley in the Big hole Mountains outside of Driggs Idaho. The second point I found was made of flint ridge flint, found in a clients garden in South Euclid, Cleveland Ohio. The third point I found is an archaic atlatl spear point made from Zaleski chert, found on high on the ridge slope in Athens County, Ohio.
My first time out hunting for them in South Eastern Pennsylvania I found 7 whole points, and a bunch of broke's. All different time periods, with the best of the day being heat treated red jasper Brewerton side-notched. That was back in the 70's though, and sadly most of those sites are now houses.
My family here in Ohio have found coffee cans full of arrow heads. I found a full spear when I was a kid. Still have all of them.
Strange I never knew native Americans drank coffee or bought it in cans.
@@mattmatt6572 My friend found a vegemite jar full of alluvial gold.
@@mattmatt6572just in case this isn't a sarcasm, I'd like it to be known that he means they found enough arrowheads to fill multiple coffee cans
Yeah, I can tell you for a fact that it is pretty damn hard to find arrowheads here in the Southwest. It’s definitely possible, but I have only found 2 here in Utah in the San Rafael Swell. We have tens of thousands of ancestral Pueblo dwellings, petroglyphs, pictographs, clay pottery and many other things - but very few arrowheads! Thank you for explaining this, I never understood why that was the case!
Found many arrowheads in Washington and Oregon. Many bird points found on sauvie island and nearby areas. Obsidian and jasper were commonly traded. Found many obsidian artifacts in the eastern side of both of those states (cascades) in the high deserts.
Yes. Me too!
Good Points. Your wise for your years. Consider hunting for rock art and other stone tools with art incorporated.
Thanks for sharing your ideas.
A man named Dean W. found at least 13 Native American arrowheads and other tools on his farm in Shiawassee County. Steven S. stumbled upon a couple of arrowheads just walking through mid-Michigan. And, Marcia H. randomly found one in her own backyard.
Great video. Stumbled on your channel somehow! I have a small channel and know how hard it is to attract subs! Good luck! Great content. I live in Kentucky and have found MANY arrowheads in my life. Always near the river
Its alright if I dont have subs. I want people to educate themselves so they dont wander around for years like me lol. Good luck with your hunting
Good info, thanks
I live in upstate New York near the Canadian border and my father in law found arrowheads often in his farm fields after plowing. The state and the region was heavily populated with the Iroquois Nation. Mohawks, Algonquins, Abenaki etc.
We not only find arrow heads on the Saulk Trail, St. Joseph trail, Grand River trail, and 5 other pre statehood trails in Michigan and all the way to the U.P. were arrow heads of copper are found. Ojibwe use to live in Michigan.
Found plenty of copper artifacts in wi. From the archaic period as well. Think this guy is young and can't know so much but hey we can't know everything.
He is correct,, I live along a river that flows from one of the great lakes to the Mississippi river and the finds not only arrowheads but stone tools like stone axe heads, Tomahawk heads, grinding stones if your look hard and know what your looking for. Indeed the rivers and streams were the super highways and have a few trail markers still standing called chair trees created by a later presence of natives peoples. I know of one trail that goes from near that chair tree to Indianapolis Ind. about 200 miles and Cahokia is some 250 miles south and at one time was tied as the city with the highest population on the planet at that time in history.
I live in Washington. I have found literally hundreds of arrow heads in my life. My family ranch is on the reservation, has several old burial grounds, camp sites, and plenty of visible remains. In fact, I found, and gave to my grandson, a white quartz bird point a couple weeks back. Guess I'm just extra lucky?
3 possibilities.
1. you're one of those pareidolia people.
2. you are finding arrowheads and just happen to live near the Columbia river or the Wenatchee hills / Yakima area.
3. you found a nice campsite right on your property, which is rare.
Ranch overlooks the Columbia, lower bench of it is full of old teepee(tipi) pits, graveyards, and lots of amazing rock work. Original grave site of at least two former chiefs of note lie on, or near the ranch. Have a broken war club, with stone, and a big obsidian spear point as the apex of the stuff found. Even a pair of spurs supposedly belonging to Chief Moses hanging in the living room. I'm pretty sure they were knockoffs or novelty stuff, but my grandfather came into possession of them fully 100 years back, probably with a helluva story. Have also found points out in the coulees a couple times. They're out there, just have to get lucky. Was prime mule deer territory for gotta be near a dozen or more tribes.
@@MountainJohn
Grew up in North Central Missouri, and it was common to find arrowheads in streams.
Of course, that was back in the '60's & '70's when the bow & arrow was still state of the art.
i live a two hour drive from cahokia and in my garden i found a scraper made of burlington chert which is from the cahokia area, whoever was living in my backyard was trading with people from cahokia, i think thats amazing.
When I was a kid in Pauls Valley , Oklahoma I picked arrow heads out of the cattle guards and bar ditches. They were every where.
I honestly didnt know that. When I think "western states", "rocky mountains", I always thought they had ALOT of obsidian...
Brilliant! Thanks.
Growing up in Montana with a litteral obsession for arrowheads and all things native American i was lucky enough to find a few campgrounds. I also have an eagles eye for the things and have found numerous ones just out walking. There are also buffalo jumps that can be great digging if you can get permission. But thanks for your explanation. Ive looked closely at streams and such and never had a lot of luck. We do have some great flint sources as well as coal black obsidian in the yellowstone area. This obsidian was traded far and wide and made very beautiful coal black points.
I live in Butte and want to make videos knapping the local rock. Let me know of some good sites and Ill try makin a video of me working it. Thanks again for watching
@@MountainJohnReally? I'm from Butte also. I'm not there now, I've escaped for the winter! Montana City area, just south of Helena was a big quarry site. The holes were still visible when I was a kid but now its all houses. Immediately behind the store along Jackson creek road. The cement plant has a lime pit a short way up there and I always thought a person might talk to them and possibly come up with some flint from there. Also the Spokane hills heading east from Helena had quarries. As you go toward Townsend the hills will appear on the right about 10 miles out. Your looking right at the quarry area. Most of the obsidian is contained within the park but if you go south on I15 to Monida, turn east up the centennial valley. 20 miles or so up and on the south side, the hills there have an abundance of obsidian. That one might take a little foot work as I was only 8 years old when my dad had a sawmill up there and I was picking up obsidian, knowing it was from the cave men! That was 52 years ago. I'm a little smarter now. 🤏
@@MountainJohnP S. Above the houses on Jackson creek road is a large tract of land on the south side that belongs to the cement plant, Ashgrove. They are pretty good about letting people do recreational activities. There is probably quite a bit of flint lying around there and possibly even some quarry sites. I've also found some really nice Carmel colored flint around the east Helena holding reservoir. Possibly came from the Spokane hills.
@@argonaught5666 I will make a video soon! I have researched those areas on geology maps that you mentioned using macrostrat and projectile points . net lithic materials maps.
I struggled with private property each time but I will see what I can manage. The chert there was been named Avon chert and Everson creek chert. Thank you for the heads up :)
I think you can get permission. There may be FS access roads in Centennial Valley. I've seen a lot of stuff out there but I've never seen that obsidian used by knappers. Yiu might be the first if you can find some. Good luck!
In Old Topanga Canyon, Southern California,a half mile south of Mulholland my friend was excavating for house foundation, found mortis and pestal there and some other artifacts I can't remember, Chumash tribe. Lots of marine fossils too,maybe 30 miles from Malibu beach inland..
Found a Clovis point in Virginia and grinding stone in NYC.
I've found one in AZ, but it was near an area that had some chert-like rock. There is an area in NV that has tons and tons of obsidian arrowheads, but it's a protected area so no collecting is allowed. Pretty sure the obsidian was brought down from Oregon.
I lived in wva and found quite a few arrowheads so it depends on knowing where to look.
thats why WV is in the yellow. Not green but not red. Thanks for watching
I live in Pennsylvania in lebanon county which is south central part of the state, my father and i have been hunting a field near our house for the last 6 years we have found over 200 points, scrapers, hammerstone, celts, and tons of flint debitage....so to say (dont expect to find much)...is not true, i also know of many other people that have spots where they have massed a huge collection from 1 single field...but you are correct about the midwest its loaded with artifacts.
you may be right about that. The only states that I wasnt sure which color to put was Pennsylvania and New York. It wasnt over lack of arrowheads but more good luck finding public land to hunt on. If you own your own land then thats a different story.
@@MountainJohn Yes people here in Pennsylvania tend to be less inclined to allow you hunting of artifacts on their property also to mention most of the material around here is quartz-based when you find arrowheads around here they are quartz, rhyolite,Argillite and Pennsylvania Jasper is common which for the most part unless you find points made of Pennsylvania Jasper they are more crude
@@MountainJohn Nice video by the way I've also been a flintnapper for the past 9 years did some traveling to mine my own material...Ohio has the best flint
Live in the Central Sierra not far from Yosemite. Many arrow heads especially near streams where there are also acorn grinding activity.
I have 4 worked pieces from washington state. 3 arrowheads and a knap stone. The knap stone is a beautiful egg shaped piece of Opal/Chert oarnge and white an my 3 arrowheads are blue agates. All found along the Yakima river
One of my uncles was an arrowhead hunter in Northern Louisiana. That was his "getaway from it all" activity. I remember going out with him once in my early teens. I had no desire to do it again. It was an all day trip walking around a freshly plowed area pick at the dirt with only one short break for a sandwich. Not a very exciting day for a teenager. Over the years he had built quite the collection of arrowheads. When he died I inquired about his collection of arrowheads thinking they might should go to a museum or at least one of the local tribes. But it seemed one of my cousins had managed to walk out with his arrowhead collection before anyone thought of them and sold the collection to someone for probably pennies on the dollar.
We found the everywhere in our farm fields in Illinois. But have only found 2 on our property in Tennessee.
I live near the Myakka River in Southwest Florida. Fossil hunting is extremely popular here. Mostly shark's teeth, and teeth and bones of ancient ground sloths and other megafauna found by scuba divers. I've never heard of anyone finding arrowheads. Were they used down here?
I think the law is pretty strict in Florida. I know there are a lot of them in the pan handle area. I've seen some youtube stuff about them like the Florida bog mummies and people getting arrested for digging up arrowheads on state land.
When I was a kid, in the early 60s, I found nearly 100 in a small tobacco field as it was being plowed. This was near Long Island Virginia.
Got some nice points from Mississippians SE MN. Variety of time periods.
My niece and her boyfriend go every weekend and always find em. Same with brother in law... Bootheel of Missouri/Arkansas state line
My Dad grew up in Kentucky in the 30s and 40s. Every time they plowed the field they would find arrow heads, axe heads etc. His teacher at school would pay 5 cents for each one. I often wonder how big a collection that guy must have had and what happened to it.
Hehe, enterprising teacher; contracting the children as prospectors and fossickers. I bet he acquired a good collection.
Im a new Arizona resident. And i have to say, i have found a lot of knappable stone here. And i have found a few stone tools.
A few quartzite hammer stones, sand stone abraiders, and a few what i think look like antler and bone pressure flaking tools.
Lots of chert, red and purple jasper, petrified wood that appeared to have been worked and not finished.
Definitely missing purposeful flakes.
Hey John just happened across this video. I’m from Maine and we have an Island in Penobscot Bay. It has been written about by some influential people in anthropology at U.V. I’ll share a couple pictures and invite you to come this summer. JM
I'm in Illinois down between the Mississippi and the Illinois River. You can find some serious stuff around here. Iv seen some amazing pieces found around here.
You can potentially find a cache anywhere because 1. it was something a group was planning to return to, or 2. it was an offering. I wouldn't expect a cache as large as the photos you showed. That's crazy.
i grew up obn a farm in upstate ny. after plowing the fields my dad would find arrowheads every year. arrow heads,spear heads, tomahawk heads, whole arrows etc. took them to the museum to have them dated. 4,500bc-1600ad. every style of arrowhead. there are tons more.
What a nice civilization that would have been ,how lucky we are to live in this moment.
Very informed and informational video. My father hunted arrowheads in central Iowa in the 60's and 70's (tagging along at 5 years of age even I found a couple) until the farming industry decided to switch from furrow plowing to chisel plowing to lessen the effects of topsoil erosion. Without the deeper soil turnover it was difficult to find them so he eventually quit, amassing about 4000 pieces in his collection. At that point he decided to teach himself how to make them using pieces of antler (just like the Indians did) and became adept enough to create a typical arrowhead in 15 minutes or less. Obsidian made the best and sharpest points. Even experts from Iowa State University could not tell the difference between his and some of his originals. It was a fun hobby - lots of variety along with the occasional and rare find of a lance arrowhead (evidently it came from Arizona - I.S.U. archeologists plotted and examined the site he found it at) or an axe head or even a stone mallet. Thanks for the info!!
There are areas of Kent County Michigan with fields covered with arrowheads and flint work. My mother would collect a bucket full on an afternoon walk.
Growing up next to Alibates, I never even considered that arrowheads weren't common.
I was about to make an asinine comment about folks retrieving their precious arrowheads then listened on to learn that’s actually true. My wife’s father was a local developer here in Illinois. They would go walk the fields looking for these treasures in the spring when frost action had done its work. My favorite of her father’s collection is an ancient grinding stone he picked up (bought?) in Papua New Guinea after the war. Paleolithic? Our part of Illinois was very marshy and not considered a place to live by early Native Americans. Malaria being common until the last settlers drained the land. After they dug the Erie Canal, they came here and did similar work. The tiles they laid still work today.
I like your moody window lighting creating great shadows on your face. Next time just yourself a little more headroom for a perfect shot. 🙂❤️ love the video…
They found hundreds of arrows heads* at my dad’s place in East Texas when they dug for the house foundation.
I know there’s a lot of contention about bent trees. But there’s 5 of them on his place pointing in different directions.
I'm in northern California and I found 12 points yesterday. I find them every time I look at the ground.
I live in Tuscarawas County, Ohio and my best friend and I would collect arrowheads all the time. We would wait for the farmers to plow their fields in the spring, then after a nice rain, we would start walking the rows. The flint would sparkle like diamonds in the sunshine. I grew up in the village of Tuscarawas right between Schoenbrunn and Gnadenhutten.
Lancaster County Pa here and found several as a kid, haven't found any in the last ten or so years though.
Obsidian from Newberry and such was traded widely, and has been found west of the Cascades.
I live in SE MS and they seem to be all over the place here.
Places like Cahokia, and Etzanoa were places of mass trade. Kansas was in the range of mass buffalo migration. Kansas also had "The Flint Hills" Etzanoa (Arkansas City, Kansas) is suspected to have up to 100,000 Native American inhabitants who were descendants of the Caddoan Indian tribe (Fort. Smith Arkansas) These are the Indians are known as the Pawnee & Wichita (Black Pawnee/theQuivera discovered by Coronado) and their satellite tribes Kechi, Tawakani, Waco... I think the Tejas (Texas) Indians were a Caddo tribe. Anyway, Places of mass trade would have more than just arrowheads. They would have buffalo hides, food, beads, ceramic wares, baskets, blankets, moccasins.... Cool video! Thanks for posting.
You're 100% correct. However, for the video sake, people only care about arrowheads unfortunately and 95% of artifact hunting videos are this hyper fixation on arrowheads. Similarly, in fossil hunting, there is an infatuation with shark teeth, specifically in the deep south again. I want to cover more about the culture and lives of these people in the future and their other wares. Thanks for the comment elmerkilred :)
This is a very good exposition very clear not dumbed down, keep it up.
Thank you. I appreciate that a lot.
...not an arrowhead, but i found a small rock shaped like a foot with what looks like toes etched on it, with a hole bored halfway through it.
It is roughly 3-4" long, 2-3" wide and 2" thick, with the hole sitting just above center. It fits the hand perfectly.
I think it may have been used for fire starting...ie, the bowstring method. Or as a boring tool maybe.
Never had it looked at yet. Maybe it's just a rock. But it looks and feels worked. Plus there's stains in and around the bored hole. Does this sound familiar? Think it means anything?
I live in the canadian maritimes. One of the red zones of your map. So you got me wondering.
Wouldn't worry bout the red zones I live in one and found many artifacts. Search around your area for a collector of points and have them look at it. Sounds quite intriguing.
Also, a possible reason, the area that is farmed, and I'm talking about the soil actually getting turned to expose artifacts. My dad's childhood home in west Pa, small farm. Many artifacts were turned from garden area.
Great information, great personality.
Thank you Glittery. I appreciate that compliment :)
my friend found an arrowhead by the crane river in Massachusetts. there is an old shell dump too.
Also, in the West there was not a lot of access vegetatian/ groundcover to lose arrowheads in.
I was just out on a small farm in central New Jersey ("don't try" on your map) and met a woman who grew up there, and who has been collecting stone artifacts since she was 4, and had her dad's collection (same area) as well. She has over 1000 artifacts, including hundreds of points (from Clovis through all Indian periods) , dozens of axes and adzes, banner stones from atlatls, several large grinding mortars, many grinding stones, and even pottery. She collected three pieces just the previous day. The historic Minisink Trail cuts through the state along with others, there are many many artifacts here.
Yes, there are but NJ is a don't try due to public land difficulties and laws against collection.
@@MountainJohn only illegal on State property (State forests, parks, beaches), and contrary to tose who only know NJ from the NYC-Phila. corridor, 3/5ths of the "Graden State" is farmland.