My Brother's Cache of Native American Artifacts
I didn't believe him
Note to self: Don't stay home next time!
I decided to skip out on this artifact hunt. My brother went alone. Normally we wouldn't go alone because it can be quite dangerous at times with steep banks that cave in without warning, but this area was fairly harmless. It hadn't rained in a few days, so I was skeptical that anything nice would be found. I was wrong....
In this photograph, you can see 5 separate blades sticking out of the sand, including ceremonial red ochre. Red ochre is a ground up type of stone that Native Americans would use in various rituals
Here's a close-up view of a couple of the blades before he pulled them out of the sand
6 of the 9 piece cache after they were pulled out of the ground. There was an even bigger blade buried just beneath the surface that he missed completely. I talked him into going back to see if he missed any the next day. We're both glad he did! Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of the big blade. It was 7 inches long!
He texted me and simply said "My cache is better than yours". Naturally I didn't believe him. If you read my previous story, you would see a couple photos of the cache of artifacts I had found a couple days before he found this one. I didn't believe him at all, until he got home and showed me. I was speechless.
7 of 8 blades, and a sheet of copper that were part of this cache. Copper is an extremely rare find. Corrosion tends to destroy copper artifacts over time, leaving nothing at all. Something preserved this sheet. Possibly the red ochre.
We were told by an old-timer that there used to be a mound at that location, but the river had claimed it long ago. One of his elderly friends stood at that spot and watched a similar cache get washed away by the river. He was too old to climb down the bank and save it. I felt bad for the old man. Who knows, this could very well be part of that cache!
One of the nicer blades from the cache once he got it home. I grabbed it and took a photo of it. I was totally jealous of his completed blades!
Red ochre is usually associated with burials, and we are completely against disturbing them in order to 'rob' them of their artifacts. That's a big no-no. It's illegal and morally wrong as well. Luckily, there were no bones associated with this particular cache.
I was completely happy for my brother, a little jealous but happy. Now I have to try and make an even bigger discovery than this!
I hope you like my stories, as there are plenty of them to go around. When it gets a little warmer outside I plan on doing some live photo series posts, where I document my day and post in the evenings about how it went. It will be anything from hiking, to mushroom hunting, to artifact hunting, to storm chasing, and a lot of other things in between! I wouldn't be happy doing just one thing my entire life. I've got several passions. I may even throw in some of my big fish tales! I've got plenty of those too ;)
Storm spotter for the National Weather Service office out of Louisville, Kentucky.
Amateur photographer, capturing as many of life's amazing moments as I possibly can.
Proud former student of @markrmorrisjr and @dolphinschool. Feel free to check out both accounts as they are loaded with tips and tricks for becoming a more successful Steemian.
That's cool! We used to hunt arrow heads as a kid in Wyoming. Never found anything that good, though.
We always try to outdo each other when we go out on our hunts. This area has some of the finest artifacts that can be found in North America. There are some amazing points out west though!
Wow I am jealous. Those are very nice.