Hunt arrowheads, Indian artifacts at Lowe-Volk Park

CRESTLINE – Crawford Park District and members of the Johnny Appleseed chapter 19 of the Archaeology Society of Ohio will present an Arrowhead/Indian Artifact Hunt at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Lowe-Volk Park Nature Center, 2401 Ohio 598.
There will be a walk at nearby farm fields to search for flint and stone remnants of prehistoric cultures who inhabited Crawford County. This is a family event. Dress for the weather and wear boots if the ground is wet. Also, walking sticks and small digging tools can be helpful.
For details, call the Crawford Park District at 419-683-9000 or visit www.crawfordparkdistrict.org.

5,000-year-old artifacts found on Charlotte farm

CHARLOTTE – Brooke Ellsworth's grandfather used to tell stories about the little stone pieces of history unearthed on the family farm.
Her great-grandfather Clyde Ellsworth would come in from a day of working the land on his Spicerville Highway property with the occasional find in hand — an arrowhead, stone pieces that looked like pendants, a hollow, long piece of what looked like a peace pipe.
"He would till them up when he was farming out there," she said.
Over the years, those stone pieces were collected and tucked away.
It took Ellsworth just a few weeks after her grandmother's death in June to go through the keepsakes in her Springport home.
"She was kind of a clean hoarder," she said. "She didn't like to throw things away and she had so much stuff. There was still furniture from the 50s in the attic."
The stone pieces had been scattered throughout the house. Delicately carved arrowheads made of both light and dark chert, all shapes and sizes. A broken, oblong, hollow piece of a smoking pipe. Larger sharp, butterfly-shaped pieces of stone, probably tools, and smooth flat rocks with small holes in the center that might have adorned the necks of people alive thousands of years ago.
Late last year, all 120 of them were rediscovered in a dusty, cluttered attic — a collection that Ellsworth's grandmother Beverly hung on to for decades. Once gathered together they fit in a moderately-sized cardboard box.
It's a rare collection insofar as all of the pieces were pulled from the same 140 acres and kept together over the decades.
It's also solid proof that the Ellsworth family wasn't the first to make their home there. Groups of American Indians have inhabited that open stretch of land between Charlotte and Eaton Rapids intermittently since before the ancient Egyptians built the Pyramids at Giza.
A simple donation
Ellsworth and her father Chris made a decision.
The family would let the stones go, donate them to the Eaton Rapids Historical Society.
Deb Malewski, the historical society's vice president, got her first look at the artifacts in December. Within a day, she had convinced herself that the stones were special.
"If all this came from one farm, this is not your normal find," she said. "This isn't, somebody picks up an arrowhead out in the farmer's field. This means something more than a causal find. This is too much and in too good of shape to just have been a random thing. This is a sign of some kind of settlement."
Enter Stacy Tchorzynski, an archaeologist with the Michigan State Historical Preservation Office and no stranger to significant finds.
"It's a great collection and we're only beginning to learn about it," said Tchorzynski.
The items are in good shape. Spear points, arrowheads, pestles used to grind spices and other items, banner stones used as weights on spears, knives, a smoking pipe and pendants were found on the farm.
"People of all ages and genders would have used a tool kit like this," Tchorzynski said.
More importantly, she added, the collection was kept together, not scattered among relatives.
That has allowed experts to date what's there. Some of the Ellsworth farm artifacts date back 350 years. Some of them date back 5,000 years.
Farm's rich back story
Clyde Ellsworth bought the 140-acre farm in 1937. The land has stayed in the family since.
The flat, vast, snow-covered property was once home to cows, chickens, pigs and sheep and to acres of corn, wheat and hay.
Today, one of Clyde's grandsons lives there in a one-story home. There are a few barns too, off the rural, snow-drifted roadway, along with rows of now-frozen corn stalks.
Most of the artifacts were found before the family used massive, efficient machinery to work the land, back when Clyde was still using horses to plow the fields. They popped up from the freshly tilled earth in the animals' lumbering wake.
"As my grandfather followed the horses, he would pick up the arrowheads," Brooke Ellsworth said.
It's easy to see why prehistoric people made their homes at site that is now the Ellsworth farm. People chose settlements then for the same reason they do today — location — and the farm was high ground between the Grand and Kalamazoo rivers.
"It looks like people were living there for several thousands of years on and off," said Tchorzynski. "People kept coming back and back over the years there."
And even something as inconsequential as trace amounts of burned food found inside a ceramic pot can give scientists important information about how they lived, said William Lovis, an anthropology professor at Michigan State University and a curator at the MSU Museum.
"It can be carbon dated," said Lovis. "Looking at the chemistry of the food can tell us what plants and animals are there. You can tell generally what they were cooking in the pot. That's all from a few milligrams of burned on food."
American Indians living there 350 years ago during the Late Woodland period likely would have made pottery and grown corn, squash and beans, storing it to use later.
"These folks were actually very different from their ancestors," said Lovis. "They did not travel as much."
For the earlier groups, whose use of the site goes back 5,000 years ago to what's known as the Late Archaic period, it probably would have been more a stopping place than a settlement.
They were nomads, living in small groups, moving with the seasons and in search of food. They hadn't begun making pottery yet and relied on hunting and gathering to survive.
But when it comes what life was like for American Indians that lived here long ago, experts don't actually know very much, Lovis said.
Preserving, learning more
The donation is a piece of the area's history, the 138th recorded historical site in the county, one of roughly 22,000 in the state.
The Eaton Rapids Historical Society wants to share and display it. A program focused on the artifacts will be offered this summer. The group will display the pieces at the historical Miller Farm.
"We really have something cool here," said Malewski. "Other counties have thousands of sites but very few are recorded here in Eaton County."
That may be because property owners aren't talking about what they find.
"People have found stuff," said Malewski. "They just haven't reported it to the state because they're afraid the state will take it away."
Which can happen in certain cases but doesn't usually, according to Matthew Fletcher, a Michigan State University law professor and the director of the Indigenous Law & Policy Center.
"In general, private property owners often can retain ownership over privately acquired Indian artifacts and materials," said Fletcher. "However, if the artifacts include eagle feathers or any eagle parts, and the owner is not a member of a federally recognized tribe, then the ownership is illegal under federal law."
Tchorzynski said her office does want to document finds and offer land owners help in preserving and keeping their collections together. Both efforts are key to helping experts learn more about the history of the places where they were found.
"Really the value of these sites can't be measured," she said. "Each site is its own unique story. These are things to treasure."
Ellsworth said her family had "no idea" the stones her great-grandfather found were valuable pieces of the area's history.
"I'm so glad that we decided to donate them," she said, "because we never would have known otherwise."
At a glance
The Spicerville Highway farm has been designated by the Michigan State Historical Preservation Office as the 138th recorded historical site in Eaton County.
There are 22,000 recorded historical sites on land in Michigan. Some were once American Indian settlements. Others were pioneer homesteads or logging sites. Another 1,500 shipwrecks or underwater sites are on record.

Spear points, arrowheads, pestles used to grind spices and other items, banner stones used as weights on spears, knives, a smoking pipe and pendants were found on the farm.
The items have led experts to believe that more than one group of prehistoric Native Americans lived on the land. Some of the 120 artifacts date 350 years, while others date as far as 5,000 years.
The farm was likely considered high ground between two viable water sources, the Grand and Kalamazoo rivers

Site of rare Indian artifacts paved over in California

An ancient American Indian burial ground and village dating back 4,500 years was found in California's Marin County and quietly destroyed to make way for a multimillion-dollar housing development, the San
Archaeologists tell the newspaper that a 300-foot-long site in Larkspur contained Coast Miwok life from before the time of King Tut's tomb, including 600 human burials, tools, musical instruments and harpoon tips along with bones of bears and a ceremonial California condor burial.
Not a single artifact was saved, Chronicle staff writer Peter Fimrite reports.
"This was a site of considerable archaeological value," Dwight Simons, a consulting archaeologist who analyzed 7,200 bones, tells the Chronicle. "My estimate of bones and fragments in the entire site was easily over a million, and probably more than that. It was staggering."
The newspaper says all of the items were reburied in an undisclosed location at the site north of San Francisco and apparently graded over.

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The $55 million development project will include a mix of homes, from senior housing units to single-family dwellings selling for $2.5 million.
As required by law, developers brought in archaeological experts to excavate the site and the work was monitored by the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, who were designated the most likely descendants of the indigenous people in the area.
Because the work was carried out under a non-disclosure agreement, word of the find was not widely known until some of the archaeologists discussed their work at a Society for California Archaeology symposium in March.

The American Indian leaders ultimately decided how the findings would be handled, and defended their decision to remove and rebury the human remains and burial artifacts.
"Our policy is that those things belong to us, end of story," Greg Sarris, the chairman for the 1,300-member tribe, tells the Chronicle. "Let us worry about our own preservation. If we determine that they are sacred objects, we will rebury them because in our tradition many of those artifacts, be they beads, charm stones or whatever, go with the person who died. ... How would Jewish or Christian people feel if we wanted to dig up skeletal remains in a cemetery and study them? Nobody has that right."
Archaeologist Simons says he believes developers were behind keeping it secret to avoid any comparison to the 1982 movie Poltergeist in which a family was tormented by ghosts and demons because their house was built on top of a burial ground.

NATIVE AMERICAN DAY

Native American Day is a large annual event that will be held at Norristown Farm Park on Sept. 27th.

Native American Day will occur at Norristown Farm Park on Sunday, September 27th from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.  The rain date is
It is an annual event that is held at the pavilions.  Lee Hallman, president of the Indian Artifact Collectors Association of the Northeast, will display many artifacts.  Bring some of your own for free appraisal.  Other presenters give demonstrations and displays of Lenape culture, including flint knapping, jewelry, clothing, tools, and foods.  Come and talk to these knowledgeable people.  There will be Native American games and crafts for children.  All ages are welcome.  This is a free event with free parking.  Pre-registration is not required.  For more information call the park (610-270-0215).

Syrian archaeologist 'killed in Palmyra' by IS militants

Palmyra is considered one of the most important historical sites in the Middle East

The man who looked after the Roman ruins in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra is reported to have been killed by Islamic State (IS) militants.

Khaled Asaad was taken hostage by the group after it seized the Unesco World Heritage site earlier this year.
The family of the 82-year-old scholar said he had been beheaded by IS fighters, according to Syria's director of antiquities, Maamoun Abdulkarim.
Mr Asaad had spent more than 50 years working on Palmyra.
He was head of antiquities at the ancient ruins, which is considered one of the most important historic sites in the Middle East.

'Curse on the city'

On Tuesday, Mr Abdulkarim said the scholar's family told him that Mr Asaad had been killed and his body hung from a column in Palmyra's main square.
"Just imagine that such a scholar who gave such memorable services to the place and to history would be beheaded," Mr Abdulkarim said.
"The continued presence of these criminals in this city is a curse and bad omen on [Palmyra] and every column and every archaeological piece in it."

Islamic State fighters remain in control of Palmyra despite a Syrian army offensive

IS fighters, who control large areas of Syria and Iraq, captured the site from Syrian government forces in May.
The group has previously destroyed ancient ruins in Syria and Iraq but it is unclear how much damage they have caused at Palmyra.
UN cultural organisation Unesco says its destruction would be "an enormous loss to humanity".
Syrian troops have sought to drive IS militants out of the area in recent months and there has been fierce fighting in nearby towns - but the group remains in control of Palmyra.

Ancient artifacts uncovered in East Texas

Ancient artifacts uncovered in East Texas highway project

TxDOT reports artifacts uncovered

Photo courtesy TxDOT - Examples of arrowheads found in the Frankston area during excavations in 2011 along SH 155 in Anderson County.

From Staff Reports

TYLER – The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) announced Tuesday the discovery of archeological sites along the US 175 Expansion project in Anderson and Henderson counties that contains artifacts dating back to the 1400s. The findings suggest that the locations could have been a temporary Native American settlement. The US 175 Expansion has been in the planning stages for years and is a top priority for TxDOT in an effort to improve the safety and mobility of the roadway. It includes three separate projects covering 13.8 miles from Baxter to Frankston and is designed to widen the roadway from two lanes to four-lane divided with a depressed median. TxDOT has hired a consulting firm that specializes in cultural resources which investigated and found at least three sites along US 175 that could have been small farmsteads or settlements of the native people who lived in this area from the 1400s up to 1650. Artifacts such as pieces of ceramic vessels, stone tools, and more have been found at these sites and will be researched and then curated at one of the state's facilities. The data will be compiled into a report once the field activities conclude. Archeologists are working under the guidance of the National Historic Preservation Act which prescribes how to address historic and archeological sites during the planning of transportation projects. “Our teams are working carefully to excavate these areas in order to reduce the impact of the highway project on the heritage of the tribal community and the state of Texas,” said Kathi White, TxDOT Public Information Officer. “Construction can still occur on other segments of the highway while the investigation continues at the protected locations.”

Safely Collecting Indian Artifacts

Ethical issues have been raised about Indian artifacts.
Pots are highly sought Native American artifacts.
These Anasazi bowls were excavated before laws were passed to protect them.
Bruce recommends being careful to do business only with reputable dealers.

Collectors with an eye for beauty and history have long been lured by the power of Native American artifacts. People have brought examples of these to ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, including pre-historic objects once placed in ancient graves as burial offerings, such as Southwest Anasazi pots.

For new and seasoned collectors alike, a simple primer on the legal and ethical issues that surround Native American collecting

While Indian artifacts old and new are among the most sought-after collectibles on the market today, the controversial selling of funereal objects leads ANTIQUES ROADSHOW appraiser Bruce Shackelford, an independent San Antonio appraiser and consultant who deals with Indian art and culture, to call it "a dangerous field to collect in." That's because laws on the books—and ethical issues brought to the fore by Native American groups—have raised important legal and moral issues about collecting Native American objects. Here we've put together a simple primer on the laws governing Native American collecting to help new and seasoned collectors alike navigate legally and ethically in this field.
Illegal Goods
A series of laws passed in 1906, 1966, 1979, and 1992 forbid the taking of Native American artifacts from federal land, including national forests, parks and Bureau of Land Management land, unless granted a permit to do so. Over the years, states have passed their own laws that restrict the taking of Native American objects from state land, echoing the federal laws. There are also laws that deal with pre-Columbian art and taking native works out of other countries.
Ed Wade is senior vice president at the Museum of Northern Arizona, a private institution in Flagstaff that has a repository of over 2 million Native American artifacts. Ed explains that these laws were enacted to restrict "pot hunting," the illegal excavation and sale of Native American objects. Under these laws, those who dig up artifacts from federal or state lands can be fined hundreds of thousands of dollars and can also be prosecuted and sent to jail.
If someone knowingly or even unknowingly purchases these illegally excavated objects, Ed says federal or state officials might seize them without giving any financial compensation.
Expensive Art Breeds Shady Sellers
Bruce says that enforcement of these laws has been stepped up in recent years because the potential to make money from these archaeological treasures has expanded. "Pieces that have once sold for $50 now sell for thousands," Bruce says. "There's a large market for Indian artifacts in the decorator crowd. A lot of people who grew up with little Anasazi bowls on the coffee table now want bigger bowls to fill up large Southwest-style houses."
Ed notes that prices on Indian artifacts above $5,000 are commonplace, with some of the rarest objects selling routinely for half-a-million dollars. Unfortunately, jacked up demand for these beautiful objects has created an incentive for people to excavate them illegally.
Grave Robbing
Pot hunters know that they are likely to find the best objects at Indian graves. "Pieces from the graves tend to be the more spectacular ones," Bruce says. "Native Americans buried their better pieces in graves, so they are often protected from use and tend to survive in a more complete state." At the Austin ANTIQUES ROADSHOW Bruce saw two Anasazi pots that were between 800 and 1,200 years old. One of the pots had what is called a "kill hole," made in a pot when it was buried in order to release the spirit from the pot. The existence of this hole in a pot indicates that it was ritually buried.
If artifacts such as the two Anasazi pots were to be dug up on federal lands today, under existing law, it would certainly be illegal to sell them. But even if bought prior to the 1906 passage of the first federal law restricting removal of Indian property from federal lands—as these were in the late 1800s—it should not be assumed that such artifacts are legally marketable today. In many cases they are not. Legal or illegal, moreover, buying and selling artifacts that were originally taken from burial sites also raises serious ethical issues.
"All cultures have taken part in grave robbing," Ed explains. "The question is, 'Is it ethical?' If we saw people digging in our family plots we'd probably be very upset." Ed adds that by digging up the burial grounds we're "damaging someone's last wish" and also interfering with the Native American expectation that they will "arrive at a better place."
How To Protect Yourself
Whatever one decides is ethical, collectors need to protect themselves from the law. Bruce recommends you check the laws with your local museum, if it has a major Native American collection, or with reputable dealers, scholars and appraisers before you make a purchase. Ed suggests buyers always make sure to get a letter of certification that authenticates where an object came from and when it was found.
"That way, if someone lies, you can sue them," says Ed, who emphasizes that it is worth getting these for less expensive objects as well, because they will inevitably appreciate in value. "If your son inherits a piece and wants to sell it in 20 years," Ed explains. "A museum won't be able to take it if there's no documentation." Ed says that buying these objects blind is the equivalent of "buying a car or a house without a title."
Bruce emphasizes the importance of dealing with reputable dealers. He gives the lover of Native American artifacts clear advice. "If someone can't tell you where an object came from and how it was acquired, don't buy it," he says. Bruce also notes that there are plenty of beautiful—and safe—Native American materials on the market, such as clothing, or pottery made by contemporary Native American craftsmen.