Fellow Collector: There are coins. There are stamps. And then there are arrowheads!
Celts in the Middle Ages when they found stone arrow points left behind by the ancients. These European ethnic groups had used metal for tools and weapons for so long that they retained no cultural memory of ever making stone tools. They did not even consider that people might have created those stone “angel faerie tears”; instead, they made up fantastic stories to explain what they occasionally found. Only when European explorers accidently stumbled upon the “New World” did they once again come in contact with people who used very little metal, but excelled in the manufacture of stone, bone, shell and wooden tools and weapons. Discover An Arrowhead In Your Garden And You’ll Never Look At Bare Dirt The Same Way Again Forever I know I sure don’t. Not since I found an agate arrowhead when I was digging a new garden plot on my family’s land in Oregon. That spring I was just 13 years old.
several others which I found over the next few years, in our other gardens, in our plowed fields, on old paths and dirt driveways up in the forested hills around our place, out in fields where I was moving irrigation pipes, etc. I never missed a chance to keep an eye on the open spaces and freshly disturbed soil, just to see what I could find. And over the years, my close observation has been rewarded many times, in many places. Just like thousands of other kids all over the country, I was intrigued and fascinated by these arrowheads, the hunting weapons left behind over hundreds and thousands of years of use by the peoples here before us. Maybe you are doing the same thing today. Perhaps you have the same questions about arrowheads which you find in the soil around your home. My name is Franklin Scott Crawford. I grew up in Oregon and now I live in Texas. A few years ago I put together this internet web site called www.ArrowheadCollectingOnTheWeb.com to help kids and parents understand what they are finding, to learn about arrowheads and other stone tools made by the earliest pioneering inhabitants of our lands. Those ancient peoples were ancestors to some of us who live here now. And some of them have been gone for such a long time that no one today knows who might be descended from them. Yet we always want to know about them, to understand their lives, and to study the evidence of their time here. It is that evidence which we find all around us today. To help understand these things, I also publish a monthly printed newsletter which illustrates and explains the tools and weapons which we find: “ARROWHEAD Collecting On The Web”. I Invite You To Read “ARROWHEAD Collecting On The Web” Every Month “ARROWHEAD Collecting On The Web" explores all of our questions about the people who made these fascinating stone weapons and tools over the past ten or twelve thousand years here in North and South America and for many thousands of years before that in the “Old World”:
to the Rocky Mountains, from the Great Plains to the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, from the Desert Southwest to the Gulf of Mexico; • how to find and identify their stone tools; • how they made these weapons and tools; • how old these tools are; • and so much more.
of arrowheads and of collections which show how different collectors display the points they find. Another photo story might follow an individual expert collector or even an archaeological project excavation to see what is found and where. One month I toured the Gault Paleo- Indian excavation site in central Texas and shared the stories told by the Executive Director of the Gault School of Archaeological Research about their Clovis culture finds and their continuing research into the evidence of “pre-Clovis” materials being found below the Clovis horizon at the site. The “Fine Print” Of Arrowhead Collecting Activities You will read about the rules of looking for arrowheads, the you can look. Every different part of the country has different rules, so we examine these rules and legal guidelines for the various regions or states across the country.
federal law (Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979), which specifically protects arrowhead collectors from imprisonment or fines for “removal of arrowheads located on the surface of the ground” on public lands or Indian lands. Each month you will learn about sharing or trading with other collectors across the country, to examine and enjoy the many different types of arrowheads found in the various regions. You’ll read e-mail letters from collectors and readers all around the world, from New Zealand, from Argentina, from Europe, Africa, Asia, from Alaska and Canada, just to name a few. Each one is eager to see and to share their ancient and authentic finds with you. Modern Reproduction Implements And The Arrowhead Collector’s Bane: Fake Artifacts Another recurring theme in “ARROWHEAD Collecting On The Web” is the discussion and illustration of modern flint knapping activities. We talk about critically important information which helps collectors recognize the difference between ancient, authentic artifacts and modern-made reproductions. It is an unfortunate fact of collecting life that copies of the most popular types of authentic projectile points and tools are sometimes sold as ancient. On occasion this happens innocently, through ignorance.
you of the fact that their points are modern-made. They are proud of their artwork and will sign it with a diamond scribe or with indelible ink. Yet, too often, slick operators, with fraudulent intent, will let you believe or even tell you that a modern- made piece is ancient in origin. They are trying to separate you from as much money as possible. In “ARROWHEAD Collecting On The Web" we advise you to deal with someone whom you trust, and to be careful even then, when you consider buying or trading for any artifact. Require signed provenance for your purchases; “certificates of authenticity” whenever possible. That’s why “ARROWHEAD Collecting On The Web” always includes a regular list of “authenticators” who are well-respected within the
someone who can render an informed opinion about artifacts from across the continent and even from around the world. As a collector myself, and as a flint knapper since I was a teen-ager, I see artifacts which are likely to be modern reproductions, yet on occasion they are still virtually indistinguishable from ancient weapons and tools. I know how to look carefully and critically at many details of the flint knapper’s manufacturing processes and to examine the evidence of use and wear on the artifact. Even so, I sometimes wonder about examples in my own collection which appear to be authentic. I have to remember that, still, if a story sounds too good to be true, it usually is too good to be true.
understanding can give you peace of mind about the artifact collection you and your family are building today or may have inherited from previous generations. It will also enable you to discern and detect examples of modern-made pieces which may have been purchased or otherwise obtained even decades ago in this country, and which have been in your family’s collection so long that the originally known and recent (rather than ancient) source has been forgotten. So, to that end, you will find articles and photographs comparing ancient artifacts and similar modern repro- ductions side by side, in detail, and up close; to see the similarities and to note the important differences. That way you will learn how to compare surfaces and edges, what to look at and what to feel for, and how to recognize what you see.
taken for a ride in purchasing or trading for an intriguing artifact; only to later discover that it is a modern “fake”. By the way, the difference between a “fake” and a modern-made reproduction is mostly in the mind of the sneaky seller, who is not telling his buyer that an “artifact” is newly made, and in the mind of the eager buyer, who thinks he is getting an amazing deal on an unrecognized ancient piece being sold by an ignorant farmer or plowboy. “Caveat Emptor” definitely applies to arrowhead collecting, and “ARROWHEAD Collecting On The Web” seeks to inform each reader about the opportunities and the risks involved in buying, trading and exchanging arrowheads in person to person transactions and over the internet through personal contacts, auction sites, and dealer websites.
... Every Month! Every month your printed copy of “ARROWHEAD Collecting On The Web” will show you arrowheads which have been found on the internet, on the world wide web, wandering the fields and streams of eBay, and bring you the stories about the person who originally discovered it ... in the place where it was last used, abandoned or stored away and forgotten. Each issue is usually 16 pages, with extra pages for special features which deserve more space, especially for more photographs of artifacts and displays. When you subscribe to the "ARROWHEAD Collecting On The Web" newsletter, which is distributed by postal delivery every month, your first edition is provided WITHOUT CHARGE, that is FREE! issue sent to you right after I receive your order, so you can be assured of the quality of the newsletter which you will be receiving on a monthly basis at the normal publishing interval. For arrowhead collectors who subscribe to receive the color printed edition of the monthly “ARROWHEAD Collecting On The Web”, we offer monthly billing through PayPal’s secure ordering system, for a renewable two-year period, at $19.95 each month.
of “ARROWHEAD Collecting On The Web”, delivered by first class mail. To place and pay for your order for the monthly hard copy edition of “ARROWHEAD Collecting On The Web”, through the secure PayPal® system, where you never have to expose your credit card or other personal information to make a purchase, just click on this Subscribe button: Click Here To Order The Monthly Hard Copy Edition Of “ARROWHEAD Collecting On The Web” If you are ever not fully satisfied with the printed, hard copy edition, simply reply to the monthly billing notice, sent from PayPal®, saying “Cancel”, and, no questions asked, you will receive no further billing and no more printed, hard copies of “ARROWHEAD Collecting On The Web”. Cordially, Franklin Scott Crawford Publisher “ARROWHEAD Collecting On The Web” P.S. The quantity of old arrowheads is limited to the first 50 paid orders! They are likely to go fast, so why risk missing the opportunity to hold a piece of ancient history in your hand? Since your ancient, authentic arrowhead (with a value of $15 to $20.00) will be sent as soon as your paid order for the printed, hard-copy edition of “ARROWHEAD Collecting On The Web” is received, why not place your secure PayPal order today? Click now:
To Order & Pay For Your Subscription To The Monthly Hard Copy Printed Edition Of “ARROWHEAD Collecting On The Web” PayPal® is a registered trademark of the world’s leading on-line payment company, PayPal. PayPal is an eBay® company, located in San Jose, California. Franklin Scott Crawford “ARROWHEAD Collecting On The Web” Carrollton, Texas USA E-mail: fscottcrawford@ArrowheadCollectingOnTheWeb.com Web site: www.ArrowheadCollectingOnTheWeb.com Flint knapper’s product site: www.StoneBreaker-FSC.net Flint knapper’s demonstration site: www.Arrowhead-Maker.com Flint knapper’s teaching site: www.Arrowhead-MakeYourOwn.com Flint knapper’s blog: http://Arrowhead-MakeYourOwn.blogspot.com Copywriter's web site: www.PushTheButton2FSC.com
husband and I fight over the new issue every month” … Jennifer P., California. “I really enjoyed the extensive display of old Northwest artifact collections in the April issue; I know many of those collectors and have seen their collections in person. Wish I was back there today” … Matt S., Pennsylvania. “Come to Argentina and visit the sites where we have found some amazing, ancient artifacts and see our collections of stone relics which date back many thousands of years. Many are very similar to Paleo-Indian artifacts from North America” … Javier L., Argentina. “Thanks for showing the spear points and arrowheads from my grandfather’s Nebraska collection in the recent issue of ACOTW. I will be taking some of them to Jackson Galleries to get evaluations and Certificates of Authenticity so we can get an insurance policy to protect his documented collection” … Stephanie R., Kansas.
On The Web’. I have been a collector since I was a child in the 50’s … involved in archaeological digs, surveys, and field/river searches in Kentucky since college. I would like to share some of my finds with you” … Rudy T., Kentucky. been so rich in Paleo-Indian artifacts. I come from Port Arthur and loved the article about McFadden Beach and its prehistoric finds” … Roxie H., Texas. looks better than I expected. That’s a good idea, which saves me a lot of printing ink each month, as I always liked to print out the pdf file of ACOTW, but the large photos tend to use up a lot of ink jet ink” … Ed K., California.
Subscription To The Monthly Newsletter “ARROWHEAD Collecting On The Web” With First Class Mail Delivery, Click Here:
© 2011. All rights reserved. F. Scott Crawford, Carrollton, Texas. http://www.ArrowheadCollectingOnTheWeb.com http://www.StoneBreaker-FSC.net |
If You Were A Subscriber To "ARROWHEAD Collecting On The Web" You Would Have Access To All Of The Previously Published Editions (from 2009 through 2012) Of The Now Retired Monthly e-Magazine! Click Here To See The Archive Page, Where You Can Also Sign Up To Receive The Printed Newsletter Each Month: "ACOTW" Archive Page |
Arrowheads Spoken Here! Clovis, Dalton, Eden, Folsom, Scottsbluff; Avonlea, Cahokia, Calapooya, Catahoula, Gunther, Hernando, Huffaker, Perdiz, Scallorn, Wallula Gap, Washita, Wintu, Yadkin, Yana & More... Do you dream about arrowheads? Request your subscription to the monthly printed newsletter: "ARROWHEAD Collecting On The Web" Perhaps "ARROWHEAD Collecting On The Web" is the best therapy for victims of this magnificently obsessive / compulsive / addictive collecting mania -- the newsletter is fully described below. Consider this additional offer: When you are one of the first 50 to order & pay for a printed, hard copy subscription to "ARROWHEAD Collecting On The Web", we will throw in an AUTHENTIC, OLD ARROWHEAD! The details of this intriguing offer are explained below. |