Making a rock run

[ncboman]

taking a little vacation ,,,

and I'm going huntin ,,, ... rock huntin. :biggrin:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/ncboman/Arrowhead%20flintknapping/Posters/archaiccibalarge.jpg

http://www.geology.ar.gov/minerals/industrial_miner_e_n.htm#novaculite

http://www.nashvillefossils.com/resources/pages/chert.html

http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/ouachita/natural-resources/minerals/rockhound.shtml

http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/ouachita/natural-resources/minerals/index.shtml

http://www.lithicsourcing.com/index_files/State.htm

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v50/ncboman/Arrowhead%20flintknapping/Posters/cloviscultureposterlarge.jpg

:cool1:

[LeeInSC]

ncboman,

Are you going hunting locally?
I used to have a great place to hunt quartz points when I was a boy, until the highway department decided to dump gravel on it.

I found a new spot while deer stalking a few years ago, way down in the woods, on a point of two rivers - must have been some sort of trading spot, because there are all kinds of things there. I heard that the state is going to run a highway through there as soon as they can, to put in a visitor's center to the pristine forest, so they can increase the tourist head count, like it is a McDonald's or something. So I am going back to seriously dig before it is all ruined.

[Altjaeger]

Covering a little ground I see. Have a good trip and enjoy westerna Arkansas/Eastern Oklahoma.

[ncboman]

thanks Alt, ... western Arkansas.

Lee, I'll be looking for raw material for knapping more than artifacts but finding an arrowhead would be cool too. I already know a few spots in central Arkansas, so the chance is there. :)

If I can't find any good novaculite I may have to buy some.

Rock store (http://www.danswhetstone.com/flintknapping/flintknapping.html)

Plan on finding some Dover chert in Tennessee also. I understand it's plentiful.

[GF.]

ncboman,

Are you going hunting locally?
I used to have a great place to hunt quartz points when I was a boy, until the highway department decided to dump gravel on it.

I found a new spot while deer stalking a few years ago, way down in the woods, on a point of two rivers - must have been some sort of trading spot, because there are all kinds of things there. I heard that the state is going to run a highway through there as soon as they can, to put in a visitor's center to the pristine forest, so they can increase the tourist head count, like it is a McDonald's or something. So I am going back to seriously dig before it is all ruined.

Better yet, why not bring the spot to the attention of the department of anthropology at your 'local' state university; if there's realy some good stuff there, they can get the highway stalled while the place is properly investigated. mFinds are worthless if not recovered with all of the available info about depth, placement, and all of the other things that provide context for the artifacts. So if you want them to mean anything, you really have ot let the pros take over. Otherwise, it's just interesting junk....

[ncboman]

Hi fellas, ncboman checking in from outside Waldron, Arkansas.

I got bit on my back by a brown recluse spider on the way out here so I've been somewhat under the weather for the past few days. Hopefully I'll live through it though. Dangest bite I've ever experienced. I'm still not out of the woods yet but I've found some rock and have been doing some chipping. ,,, havin a big time,,, cept for the bite. :cool1:

I've located and obtained permission on several very rich spots to hunt for arrowheads and have also visited with a friend who owns/operates a free museum so I feel very comfortable with what I'm doing regarding collecting relics. Far more positive than dealing with university 'pros', plus I know what I find will actually be seen by the public rather than hidden away. :cool1:

I'll have some pics for you guys when I get back home.

GF, if you knew how much thievery is currently going on at university 'paleo archieve basements' for drug money, you might reconsider your comments.

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

I got bit on my back by a brown recluse spider on the way out here so I've been somewhat under the weather for the past few days.

Man, you gotta quit given those spiders piggyback rides. Keep it clean. No infection.





GF, if you knew how much thievery is currently going on at university 'paleo archieve basements' for drug money, you might reconsider your comments.

Things are kept on exhibit until they stop attracting attention, then they're boxed and stored, stolen or thrown away.

Alan

[Bill Gunn]

Man, you gotta quit given those spiders piggyback rides. Keep it clean. No infection........

Things are kept on exhibit until they stop attracting attention, then they're boxed and stored, stolen or thrown away.

Alan


Brown Recluse = scary stuff, take care of that...


Stolen or thrown away... I once had a job to do in a nationally known Art Museum. I couldn't believe how paintings that were not on display, worth 100's of thousands of dollars were thrown down in the basement around the boiler room, like so much junk.....

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

When a piece is in a private collection, it is cared for properly because the owner has a stake in the item. They have a genuine appreciation of the art/culture/History/etc. and so much so that more than likely they have purchased it at great cost for it's value to them or for an investment. They tend to take care of it. When a piece is owned by a museum the "owner" (public museums are public funded{read tax supported}) who hires a guy, the curator and his staff, woh don't have the same "buy in" and therefore don't really care (beyond their term of employment). I would venture that more art/culture/History has been lost or destroyed by museums than any other entity. I hope I'm wrong.

Alan

[Bill Gunn]

I hope I'm wrong.

Alan

I'll bet your not !!


NC, How's that bite doing (I should say How are you doing, I'm sure the bite is doing fine !!) ?


Bill

[ncboman]

Bill, the bite is kinda bad I guess. I'm kinda quiet about exactly how much it hurts ,,, wife's already upset enough. It's been a week now. Took about two days for the full effect to take hold. Until then I wasn't sure what had bit me. Now I can't think of anything else that could do this. Fist size red and swollen knot that doan look like it's going away anytime soon. Kinda ugly. At least it's not as tender as it was. Last tue/wed was the worst so far.

Yesterday the wife got some of those sticky traps and placed under the seat and console of my truck to try and catch the critter (if he's still around) for a positive ID. If we find him still alive, I'm open for suggestions on how to torture a spider with prolonged agony the goal.

I'll be ok eventually I hope. I DO feel a lot better but hope a chunk of my back doesn't rot off along the way. I've read it takes a month or more to heal and I ain't layin up thay long so we'll see what happens.

btw, my museum friend is Gary Blythe. He's been collecting Indian stuff about 61yrs. :>))

[Bushman]

NC, could that be a bot fly instead of a spider bite? You are in an area where they would know what a spider bite looks like, but the raised red knot that you write about reminds me of an episode that I saw on the Animal Planet channel called the Monsters Within Us. It is all about parasites and scared the hell out of me to ever leave Wisconsin.

[GF.]

I hope you've had it looked at, NC - a recluse bite really can rot you away a bit at a time - and sometimes we're not talking about little bits, but mighty big ones.... Take care o' yourself....

If valuable relics are being stolen from museums and sold to private collectors, that's really s****y stuff - but no different (IMO) than private collecting for one's own use and failing to get proper documentation on the finds. Thing is, if the artifacts are properly logged when they're collected, then the data will be there long after the artifacts have been pilfered. Not every site with stone chips is worth dissecting like it was Tut's own tomb, but somebody ought to be keeping track of what was found and where so that some day the fuller picture will come into focus. Rivers change their course, for instance, so a find in the bottom land is less critical than something from a spot on the bluff overlooking the river....

Just to be clear - I'm not putting law-abiding private 'prospectors' into the same... what would you call it? Moral(?) category as those who would raid the drawers at a good museum for drug money, but the net effect is the same - either the artifacts are lost or the data that makes them more than just pretty rocks - either way, it's a loss of something really valuable.

[Twanger]

Bill, the bite is kinda bad I guess. I'm kinda quiet about exactly how much it hurts ,,, wife's already upset enough. It's been a week now. Took about two days for the full effect to take hold. Until then I wasn't sure what had bit me. Now I can't think of anything else that could do this. Fist size red and swollen knot that doan look like it's going away anytime soon. Kinda ugly. At least it's not as tender as it was. Last tue/wed was the worst so far.

Yesterday the wife got some of those sticky traps and placed under the seat and console of my truck to try and catch the critter (if he's still around) for a positive ID. If we find him still alive, I'm open for suggestions on how to torture a spider with prolonged agony the goal.

I'll be ok eventually I hope. I DO feel a lot better but hope a chunk of my back doesn't rot off along the way. I've read it takes a month or more to heal and I ain't layin up thay long so we'll see what happens.

btw, my museum friend is Gary Blythe. He's been collecting Indian stuff about 61yrs. :>))

If you havn't seen a doctor yet, I'd suggest you do.

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

nc, have you seen a doctor?

Alan

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

Well, are you still with us?

Alan

[ncboman]

checking back in ,,,

well I went to a clinic and seen ol sawbones for the first time in many moons.

The Dr confirmed a spider bite, although he doubted it was a brown recluse. Seems many spider bites as well as other bugs can introduce or provide an avenue for staph infections which is what this turned into. Spider bites seem to commonly develop into the superstrain MRSA staph and without doing the tests to save me $$$, the doc assumed that's what I have and treated accordingly.

Ouch. He opened up my back and drained the infection, then packed in inside with gauze to allow the wound to drain. Got me on some hi-power anti-biotics and low power pain pills, and a big ol shot in the butt.

I go back tomorrow for more torture therapy I guess. The real torture may be when I get the bill as I have no idea what all this is costing. lol

anyway, I'm kinda bummed as my plans for this trip went somewhat awry.

[Bill Gunn]

Glad you went to the Dr. Trust me, I've been so sick, and had one foot inside death's doorstep at least 3 times, and even though that death would be the easier option... It Ain't Fun !!!!!!!!!!

[Alan R McDaniel Jr]

Glad to see you're still kickin. Take care of that Staph infection and you'll get to go on vacation again next year. Just don't use the same travel agency again.

Alan

[ncboman]

Bill,

after reading of your medical adventures, my malady seems kind of pale in comparison.

Beautiful sunrise this morning. Glad we got to see it.

[GF.]

Hang in there, NC!

A good friend of mine from college used to work in a lab where they had some pretty exotic strains of staph. A couple of 'em she said they were extra careful with because, as she put it at the time, 'If one of the gets ahold of you, you're dead!!'.

So be glad they're keeping that one locked up in a lab somewhere...

And take your meds, bro...