Hit 50 field surveys in 6 months and found exactly 0 arrowheads

I've been doing these survey walks for a local archaeology group since last spring. Wandering around plowed fields, checking erosion cuts, all that. Figured after 50 trips I'd have found at least something cool like a broken point or a scraper. Nada. Just modern trash and rocks that look suspicious until you pick them up. Kind of wondering if I'm just bad at this or if the sites in my county are really that picked over. Anyone else have a dry spell that went way longer than they expected?

2 comments

2 Comments

theabarnes23d ago

Wandering around plowed fields, checking erosion cuts" - oh man that brought me back. I spent two years doing that in central Ohio and found nothing but a rusty horseshoe and a ton of those disappointing rocks. Then one day I sat down to eat my sandwich on a rockpile at the edge of a field and there was a perfect little triangular point just sitting on top of the pile. Must have been turned up by a plow that morning. Sometimes I think the real trick is just being in the right spot at the right time, not skill.

harperschmidt22d ago

That sandwich find is the stuff of legend, @theabarnes. I had a similar thing happen in Illinois once where I spent a whole spring walking miles of creek beds and dusty fields, finding nothing but rusty barbed wire and soda cans. Then one evening I was heading back to my truck and kicked a clump of dirt that had been sitting on a tire track all day, and a little Kirk corner-notched point just popped out. It was like the field decided to give me a tip for wasting my time, you know? Your mileage may vary, but I swear the best finds come when you're not even trying anymore. Sometimes all that walking is just to earn the luck.