Who looks for arrowheads /stone tools?

Question

i live in michigan and love to look for arrowheads , is any one else intrested in this i found a really cool spear head yesterday about 5 inches long and 2 and a half inches wide any body else?

Answer 1

if you really like this you should study anthropology in school, it will show you the way to excavate the items so that you know about them and where they are from, also they will be worth more.... I do anthropology in VA and our big problems is rednecks with metal detectors going in their farms and digging up civil war guns and belts to put up at their homes but once they take them out of the ground we have no idea anything about the item and it is lost

Answer 2

I do, but I'm an archaeologist who's looking for them where they lie in context. Hunting for arrowheads can be fun, and at the same time you could be a nice guy and good citizen and alert your local university as to where you're finding them. We could all benefit from more conservation of this ancient cultural heritage.

Answer 3

Context!?!...come on guys lets use the funner word provenience...we lose provenience. And that boys and girls is what make archaeologists cry at night. Give a hoot...don't loot.

Seriously though, taking artifacts out of their original context takes away more than just the artifact, it removes so much that we could have learned from it. I don't want to go on an Archeology 101 lecture but you should be careful of simply picking up or "collecting." Even though a lot of people think little of it they could be destroying archaeological sites or even in some cases breaking local/state/or federal laws. If you want to enjoy this hobby why not go to a field school and learn how to be a productive archaeologist? Its a win win situation. You get to have fun, and we archaeologists have to do less of our own digging.

Oh, and down South we still call projectile points "arrow-heads" when we're not writing academic papers or trying to impress people. I'm a ceramics guy myself, so I don't really care, but you know.

Answer 4

My cousins do and they say they are all over north west arkansas

Answer 5

It's a passion I don't ahve enough time for--and I don't even use meth!!

I got a thumbs down, guess some methhead took offense ot picking his favorite past time.

Answer 6

As an anthropologist I have had to participate in a dig or two.  It is great that you have an interst in artifacts however remember that once you remove the item from where it lies you have lost the context of that item.  Archaeologists do not just pick up items, they record all data above, below and around to find as much info as possible.  Once a site is disturnbed it is lost forever.  As the prof. wrote, if you are finding nice specimens (such as the one you mentioned) it would be great to contact a local University or museum.  they could do a site summary and probably give you additional info regarding your find.  Wouldn't that be even better than just have the artifact...to know who produced it, when, and for what purpose?!

Also, in archaeology, an arrowhead is actually defined as a projectile point.  The label arrowhead is not used.  

BTW Bored..letting someone know the correct terminology is not trying to impress, it is trying to educate.  If he was interested in reading a journal article or report, that would be the keyword he would use...as he would use the term pottery when talking about vessels from say a burial mound..NOT ceramics.  But hey, that's how we do things up North.