A walk today .....

[H2O Man]

The local schools were closed today, because of significant flooding in this part of New York State. (Broome,Chenango, Delaware, and parts of Otsego Counties.) So I took my daughters for a walk. We went to the creek and waterfalls, where the first settlers in this area had a mill, just after the Revolutionary War. (One of my sons and I found the old mill stone buried near-by a few years ago.)

As we walked on one of the gravel banks created by the rushing water, my 11-year old daughter reached down, and picked up a prehistoric Indian artifact. It is a "thumbnail scraper," pretty common finds on Owasco Culture sites. It likely would date about 1100-1250 ad, although obviously it was found in a context that is hardly ideal in an archaeological sense ..... but was wonderful in the context of our walk.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Wicked cool!

[H2O Man]

2. I thought so.

As a parent going for a walk and talking to my children about what occured in 1968 on this date, I thought it brought home the message that the past is closer than we may think.

[Me.]

3. What A Very Nice Think To Do Today

Hard to believe those battles from '68 and before, are still being fought, depending on where you live, to a lesser or greater degree. Last night I heard Nina Simone's version of "Strange Fruit", which pretty much says it all.

[H2O Man]

8. Got to get out

and get my exercise, Me. I hear the Boston Marathon calling me!

[Me.]

11. 'Kay, Tell You What

If you run it, I'll be there to hand you water.

[H2O Man]

12. I dare not

drive. Too risky.

[Me.]

13. For The Rest Of Us

LOL deuce

[H2O Man]

14. Editor's note:

The driving joke (or attempt at humor) is in reference to the fact that in the months since being disabled in an automobile accident, I have had a series of relatively minor car accidents. This weekend past, a teen-ager thinking of things other than driving rear-ended my vehicle. Hence, I prefer walking.

[bigwillq]

4. That's cool!

I love going on nature walks! I wish I found something historic from the past, I never have. I guess I need to keep walking!:hi:

[H2O Man]

7. Keep looking!

I have a friend Don who likes to look at some of the artifacts I've collected. He started walking in the farmer's fields in the spring, after they are plowed. One day he said he figured out his problem: he is a bird-watcher, and tends to always be looking up! Once he started watching the ground, he began to find some artifacts. I'll always remember the excitement of his phone call the day he found his first projectile point. He's in his late 60s, and has a new hobby. (His first find was a Brewerton side-notch, dating about 1200 bc.)

[bigwillq]

9. WOW!

We have a lot of state parks, forests, trails in CT! I'm sure there is plenty waiting to be "discovered"!:hi:

[H2O Man]

10. yep.

People have inhabited the northeast for at least 10,000 years. The USA is how old? People have been here a long time! I always urge people to consider joining a local archaeological society; you can learn a lot; have a fun hobby that is inexpensive; and most of the amateur archaeologists in these societies have developed good relationships with the professionals in the field.

There is something amazing about picking up a flint artifact, and realizing that was how people lived "X" number of years ago. And it is fascinating to think, "I'm the first person who has held this projectile point in a few thousand years!"

[redqueen]

5. WOW we never find stuff that cool!

We dig in the shale beds for shark's teeth but never have found more than tiny little teeth.

You can bet we'll keep trying, though.

:hi:

[H2O Man]

6. I have a friend who

found five large white shark's teeth at the largest Hunter's Home phase site in the United States. Known as the White Site, this woodland site was found half way between the Chenango and Unadilla Rivers, outside of Norwich, NY. The site is covered in detail in the single best book on northeastern archaeology, William Ritchie's "The Archaeology of New York State." See pages 253 - 261 for the White Site report; three of the shark's teeth can be seen on page 257 (item 4). A textile fragment; effigy pipes; several hundred projectile points; pendants; maskettes; pottery; and celts were also found there. In the mid-1980s, I excavated a small rock shelter/cave a few miles away with artifacts including a layer that matched the White Site inventory; it was clearly a related site that overlooked the intersection of two waterways. And a few miles away, another friend excavated a rock shelter with related artifacvts, including seven small, dark sharks' teeth. The projectile points that followed the Levanna type, known as Madison points, frequently look just like a shark tooth. It's interesting to find them around here, as we are pretty far from the ocean!