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Wednesday, October 19, 2011

I found an arifact all on my own!

I've learned a lot about stone artifacts over the last two years. I've been on a lot of adventures and have found a lot of wonderful objects. But I never went out on my own to find an arrowhead...until yesterday.
Mudd (the puppy) was pooping in a ditch when I noticed a cache of small stones in the dirt. I picked through a few pebbles and found flint rocks. Flint is a hard stone that can be napped into shapes (you may have seen arrowheads napped in obsidian at fairs or rock stores), where one finds flint one finds artifacts. I was optimistic about finding a piece at that point. And, sure enough, I picked up a brown piece of flint and saw nap marks where an Iowa native (500-200 years ago) would have used an antler to bust off small pieces to make a sharp edge (see below for napping patterns).
Now, I know that it may look like "just a rock " but it's not. If you look at the top photo you can see the clam shell shape of the rock, a sure fire sign that the rock was shaped by human hands. So, there you go. I found a scraper...a scarper is a multipurpose tool used to scrape fat off hides, bark off tree, meat off bone...you get the idea. I'm freaking geeked about my find. All by myself!

Here's a video on flint napping. Check it out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bvl9662aVc

2 comments:

  1. first porn, then artifacts. You are my hero!

    ReplyDelete
  2. no...you're MY hero.

    I'm sure a there's a bevy of slightly decayed porno in a ditch near you. adopt a hwy, get a centerfold.

    ReplyDelete