Beach Combing and Metal Detecting for Treasure Part ll

1.18th century wine bottle neck 2.17th century Bellarmine jug neck 3.glass wine bottle seal 4.lip/rim of Iberian olive jar.

18th and 19th century pipe bowls and broken stem pieces.

Paleo-Indian pottery fragments.

Paleo-Indian projectile points. (Gloucester County Virginia)

As mentioned in part one of this article some times when metal detecting and beach combing not all articles found are coins or metal. Ship wrecks contain a wide assortment of articles of daily life that may survive the ravages of time. Glass and ceramic articles or fragments of do quite well under water. Encrustation may take place but not necessarily deterioration. Porcelain and high fired ceramics many times can be cleaned up to look new. Glass dependent upon age and length of time in water and soil does well also.
    Indian and Paleo period artifacts can be found washed up on river and shore lines. In Florida the shore line of today was much further out into the water a thousand or more years ago leading to remnants of those times being buried under sand and salt water. I must mention that in Florida and many other areas the collecting of Indian artifacts is regulated by Federal and State laws. Always check with authorities when attempting to collect such items. Florida has numerous shell mounds near the water. Do not try to dig in or near these mounds. It is against the law and destroys part of Tribal/ National heritage. Part three I will discuss how to clean and preserve your finds.