Arrowheads & Stone Artifacts: A Practical Guide for the Amateur
Archaeologist
by C.G.Yeager
This one is a MUST HAVE... it's the ABSOLUTE BEST guide for
finding ancient arrowheads and artifacts. The reason I like this one best
is because it first educates the reader about all sorts of artifacts, with
lots of photos; it explains what they look like and what they were used
for, etc... just so you'll know "what" to look for out in the field. It then
goes on to give information about the types of ancient sites, AND how
to locate them ! (I also like it because it's VERY inexpensive, for the
information it imparts.)
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By clicking on the Blue Link button below the books, you will NOT be
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purchase the book, and you can view all of the information
about the book before making a decision.
Hint: Check out the table of contents !
The second book I recommend for pointers on how to find ancient artifacts is
shown below; This one is not as "light" of a reading as the book above, and
definitely has a HEAVY Archaeological "slant" with an emphasis on conducting
organized and documented excavations (even of burials)... so it's intended
as a "primer" for the serious Archaeology student. It has a few GREAT
features, one being, it covers in more detail how to locate potential
Archaeological sites for excavation and covers the incorporation of topology
maps in your search. The 5 appendixes are VERY useful, as they list
information by each state for Archaeological sites open to the public (and
visiting these sites is one of my personal hunting techniques, as it
provides insight as to what sort of terrain and land features you should be
on the lookout for when searching for your own sites), Archaeological
societies which you can join, listed again by state, a good listing of museums,
etc. It has both photographs and professionally drawn pictures of artifacts
and sites and even covers recording methods as well as artifact preservation
techniques. Although most of the information in this book is "timeless",
meaning that it still applies in this day and age, it was copyrighted in
1965, so the information given on museums and societies may no longer apply.
Still a great read !
This is the second book
which I recommend to artifact hunters to help them in their quest... it's a
little bit more scientific than "Arrowheads and Stone Artifacts" and covers
MANY more and diverse topics, but it does center around "digging" and all of
the necessary steps to organize, carry out and record an archaeological dig.
Still, it's an inexpensive book, and has a lot to offer. The examples given
in how to use a Topology map to locate potential hunting sites alone make
this book worth it's price.
This is
a must have, if you're a moderate to serious collector of Arrowheads. It's
the arrowhead collectors' "Bible", and no other works can compare to the
thoroughness of this one.
If you
regularly buy arrowheads on Ebay, or buy artifacts from artifact shows, this
one is a MUST HAVE... in order to keep from getting cheated. The writer has
an excellent and entertaining style, and for the topics he covers, no other
book out there is it's equal for determining if an artifact is genuine and
not modernly altered.
All I
can say is "I'M IMPRESSED !!!". If there is a single item that the Native
American Indians made which isn't pictured in this book, I have no idea what
it could possibly be. This book contains TONS of (Black & White) photos of
everything imaginable, from bows and arrows to baskets, hunting utilities,
food processing relics, footwear and clothing, adornments, gaming and more.
Although it doesn't cover "types of Arrowheads" like Overstreet's book
covers, for the breadth of artifacts covered in this publication, Charles
did a VERY thorough job !... If you've ever held an artifact in your hand
and asked yourself "What the heck is it ?", then this book's for you ! A GREAT book to learn more about all of the
different types of relics created and used by the Native Americans in the
pre-Columbian days ! (Better, still... I was able to get my copy for only
2.99, plus shipping... a solid bargain !)
I can
wholeheartedly and without reservation recommend ALL of Lar Hothem's books.
Lar was very consistent with his "style", and I would suggest purchasing
one, to see what his style truly is, and then judge from there whether to
buy more or not. Basically his publications have page after page of black &
white artifact photos, organized by Period (Paleo, Archaic, etc.) which is
very helpful in determining which artifacts were "diagnostic" for any given
period. He did tend to favor mid-western material, but he also covered
topics which are not to be found in any other publications. The "average"
price for his books SHOULD BE between 15.00 to 20.00, and if a particular
book is listed for more, I think I'd play the waiting game to get a better
price. One which is definitely UNDERPRICED (currently around 14.00) is his
book on "Paleo Indian Artifacts"... this is a hard-bound book just LOADED
with TONS of FULL COLOR photographs of Paleo "Arrowheads" and tools. (More
than 340 pages worth !!!) Definitely a book to drool over. One of his lesser
publications, "Arrowheads and Projectile Points" doesn't follow his "large
book" format, but is still a decent buy, currently listed around 2.95.
The Who's Who Series
These
are a series of hard-bound books featuring many of the old-time and high-end
collectors' collections in full color. I consider these to be a "boredom
buy", (and an expensive one at that)... although I don't own any of these
myself, I've seen other people's copies, and I'm just luke-warm to this
series as they do tend to be pricey, without offering significant
educational value.
This is
a MUST HAVE IF you live in California, and intend to hunt for artifacts in
California... otherwise, this one's not for you. It lists EVERY registered
and documented Native American Indian site recorded in the state, and offers
an abundance of GREAT knowledge coupled with good black & white photographs,
maps and scientific analysis. The original printings are being offered at
this time for as high as 300.00, but there is no reason to pay this
ridiculous price, as the book was FINALLY re-printed recently, and I believe
a "fair price" for the reprint (which is identical to the original) is
around 40.00. My main complaint on this one is, it doesn't have very many
photographs at all... it IS scientifically oriented, and can be somewhat of
a "dry read"... again, if you're hunting in California, this one's for you,
otherwise, spend your money on something else.
If
you're into Columbia River items, this is a must have. Emory has a very
entertaining writing style, and covers a lot of Lewis and Clark's expedition
on the Great Columbia River. It alternates between notes from this
expedition and more recent times and finds from this area. A GREAT read !
The same
applies to Emory Strong's second book. A great read with many photographs IF
you're into material from the Great Basin.
The Amateur Archaeologist in the Great Basin by L.J. Ettinger
Frankly, I was
disappointed with this one. It's a small paperback, having only 116 pages.
The author covers some boring topics, such as the migration of early man and
climate changes, and, although he does list "sites" in the Great Basin, he
doesn't go into any depth in covering specific sites at all. He does cover
the laws surrounding our hobby, but basically I don't think that he offers
any information in this book which couldn't be readily found on the internet
today. A boredom buy at best. (I've removed it's listing from our Artifact
books section)
This is
a book with a "different slant" on how to "classify" arrowheads and
projectile points in the Great Basin area. It starts out strong, with 8
full-color plates of arrowheads (NOT the best examples, by the way), and
quickly goes downhill from there. It's main strength is in introducing a
simplified method of classifying arrowheads into related groups termed
"Clusters". It introduces these "Clusters" (groups of related "arrowheads")
and goes into GREAT DEPTH in describing their distribution as well as a LOT
of other scientifically oriented stuff... in all fairness, it does have a
fair amount of professional diagrams of the different artifact types, and
isn't half bad as a secondary resource for arrowhead classification from
this area, but honestly, if you were to try to read this one, cover to
cover... it would probably take you at least 10 years... a GREAT CURE for
insomnia !!!
This one
has a completely IDENTICAL description as it's sister publication above
(Stone age spear and arrow points of California and the Great Basin) only
geared to the mid-west... A GREAT CURE for insomnia !!!
This one
is for "Columbia River" collectors... it's a paper-back having a fair number
of black & white photographs, and a lot of text. Not a bad purchase for
around 12.00... news flash... currently this one is listed on Amazon.com
for 8.95 all the way up to 250.96 !!!, come on now... GIVE ME A BREAK !!!...
this is a dinky little paper-back book... 250.00 dollars ?!?!?!... shop
carefully, my friends !
This one reads
like Earl's own private diary, of visiting sites and having great successes
"back in the day"... He's an old time hunter, and a brave one at that, who
has a casual and somewhat entertaining writing style. This book has A LOT of
black and white photos to drool over, many of them taken "out in the field".
He does mention specific sites and shows his personal finds from these
sites, although he doesn't provide useful maps to get there, still an
entertaining read.
My
apologies, since basketry is outside of my area of expertise, I can offer no opinion on the basketry books.
Books
NOT TO BUY
How to find Indian relics of different types, and how and
where to sell them by James L Hill
This one
can't even be called a book... it's more of a pamphlet having just a tad
over 50 pages and is very amateurish. Although I'm sure that the author was
well-meaning in his efforts to share his knowledge, he falls way short in
the department of professional thoroughness. The section regarding where to
look for artifacts fills less than half a page and although it does have a
few good photographs, I wouldn't pay more than 3 or 4 dollars for this one,
and that INCLUDES postage !
And, since the "bookstore" is new to our website, please let me know if I
"steered you right", or if you have any comments on the books we've
recommended... it IS appreciated, since it's "people" who make our website
so special ! Email: tbaxter99@msn.com
with your comments.
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