rock hunting

**canid** · 12-14-2009, 08:39 PM

as for the greenstone, i know where it is. along with another stone i found, my first thought was a drooling daydream of polished slabs.

**your_comforting_company** · 12-15-2009, 09:39 AM

you may say i'm a dreamer...

I have found one anomalous hunk of greenstone buried in a ditch on a dirt road.. why was this one boulder out of place, surrounded by poor chert and crumbly limestone?
I dunno, but it gave me the same slobbery dream

I have a lot left to learn about rocks

**canid** · 12-15-2009, 09:52 AM

if greenstone is not found in your area it may be a glacial erratic.

erratics can also be transported by water. we even have small erratics around here due to hydraulic mining.

**your_comforting_company** · 12-15-2009, 10:15 AM

I do know that I'm below the "fall line". apparently the glaciers receded to some certain "point" then stopped for a long time, eroding the earth to the south and uncovering stones that would be flint, but were uncovered before they were silicated, thus the poor quality of cherts and limestones. As much walking as I've done looking for source rocks, I've only seen this one "erratic" so it must be contributed to something like that.

Thanks canid. I just learned something!

on a side note, most of the artifacts found here are made of chert, not flint, because that's what the natives had for source. The Flint River, just over the creek here, actually contains no true flint.

**pocomoonskyeyes** · 12-15-2009, 10:39 AM

Originally Posted by canid

yes, it's a nifty flint. it's got nice marbling of a couple distinct blues and a smokey gray.

like most of the others, it was from a field near Medford Oregon [housing subdivision]. i found several artifacts as well. nothing fancy, just flakes. most of them where clearly waste flakes.

Canid I have heard/read, (don't recall exactly) that in areas such as these look for mounds,as that is where you can find some artifacts. I too have many waste flakes in my pasture and have found a couple of artifacts. One is an arrowhead and a small Hand Axe.

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**canid** · 12-15-2009, 10:47 AM

my best advice is to look for the mounds of burrowing animals, like badgers, gophers, etc.

they will dig up small material from several feet down and fling it into piles near the burrow entrances. these will sit in the weather, and rain will wash the smaller particles out, often leaving the larger pieces near the top. a few of the agates i've found up there where sitting, rain rinsed, right up on top of the piles. failing that, take a small sieve to sift through it with.

**canid** · 12-15-2009, 10:51 AM

I love the feeling when I find a spot with many flakes within several feet of one another; the thought that somebody had sat there, generations, centuries, millennia ago with a hammer stone, some antler and stone, working at the art that never ceases to fascinate me, but as a trade and daily skill that was still relevant day to day life of almost every person alive.

talk about a connection to out past.

btw: those are nice. dacite?

**pocomoonskyeyes** · 12-15-2009, 10:58 AM

Originally Posted by canid

btw: those are nice. dacite?

If you are referring to the Hand Axe and arrowhead I posted Pics of, I really have no clue as to Composition. I think it is Flint as it will produce some nice sparks. If Dacite is a type of Flint, then I guess you could be correct. I just really don't have a clue.

**canid** · 12-15-2009, 11:03 AM

dacite is essentially a grained obsidian [slower cooling, more formation of crystals].

flint is not the only stone that will produce sparks. any stone harder than the steel is capable.