Artifact Hunting

I love hunting for treasure of any kind and hunting for stone artifacts is just as much fun as hunting for gold and silver. The thrill of knowing that you are the first person to hold a point since it was lost hundreds or thousands of years ago. Stone artifacts add such a personal element to the search. These were tools necessary for survival. They give a look into the past and are works of art at the same time.

I have logged many hours walking river beds and plowed fields and I've enjoyed every minute of it. Just as with treasure hunting research plays a key role in artifact hunting. You can save yourself a lot of time and empty pockets by learning where and what to look for.

Searching a river bed is fairly straight forward. I have found points in the gravel bars, sides of the river bank, and deep in the channel. Along with stone artifacts many other items can be found as well. Bottles, buttons, fossils, bison teeth and skulls, have been recovered. I have a friend who found an old silver Morgan dollar in a river bed. Youtube has numerous riverbed hunting videos and I encourage you to check them out for little tips and hints for a more successful hunt.

Campsites can be a challenge to find, but with a basic idea of what you would need to survive you can locate a few likely areas. I hunt the hilltops near spings, above the flood line near natural river crossings, horseshoe bends in rivers, etc. I've even found points in urban areas as well. Many of our early cities were established on former native campsites.

Kill sites are another good area to search. The base of a high bluff, box canyons, or the narrow portion of a canyon have proven to produce points or tools. Once again Youtube will give you videos to watch and pick up a few more ideas of how and where to hunt.

With A.R.P.A. looming over your shoulder make sure you are searching in a legal manner. This means you need to check local, state, and federal regulations before beginning your search. To play it safe I only surface hunt on private land.

Good Luck and Good Hunting!