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Thursday, December 2, 2021

12/2/21 Report - Florida's Fossils. Important Pendant Find. Bronze Age Hoards. Wrought Iron Hand Tolls From 17th Century Port Royal.


Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.


A gold Bronze Age pendant, described as one of the most important finds of the last 100 years, has gone on display for the first time.

It was discovered on farmland in Shropshire by metal detectorist Bob Greenaway in May 2018.

"I knew it was something special, but I didn't know it was going to be as special as it was," he said.

Mr Greenaway said he loved history since he was at school and began metal detecting nearly 25 years ago....


Here is the link for more about that.

Metal detectorist's Bronze Age find on display for first time - BBC News

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About 200 artefacts have been unearthed after two Bronze Age hoards were found by metal detectorists.

A 13-year-old girl uncovered a hoard of about 65 axes and other items on her third detecting trip in a field near Royston, Hertfordshire, and another hoard was found close by.

Archaeologists excavated about 200 items from the adjacent sites.

The council said the hoards could be related and both were being treated as potential treasure.

The items were being sent to the British Museum where experts will examine them...


And here is that link.


Two Bronze Age hoards found on farm near Royston - BBC News

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Here is a good thesis on wrought iron hand tools from Port Royal.  Might help you identify some finds.

Wrought Iron Hand Tools From The Underwater Arcaheological Excavations of Colonial Port Royal, Jamaica, Circa 1692, a thesis by Katie Custer is worth browsing.  232 pages with many helpful illustrations.

Here is the link.

Custer-MA2004.pdf (tamu.edu)

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You might not think of Florida as having great fossils because they don't have dinosaurs, but they do have fossils.

Fossils can be found everywhere in Florida. They are found in limerock, beach sand, riverbeds and phosphate mines. Florida is known for its rich fossil record and is acknowledged as unique in North America for the number and variety of vertebrate fossils that have been found.

Many areas of North America have no fossils. Fossils that are found in other areas are mostly of invertebrate specimens such as mollusks, corals or crinoids. Any vertebrate fossils that are found are usually encased in rock and hard to reach and dig out. This makes Florida’s land vertebrate fossils from the Oligocene, Miocene and Pliocene periods extremely important because they are so rare elsewhere in eastern North America...

Here is that link.

Fossils: What They Tell Us About Floridas Natural History (floridapoly.edu)

If you want to collect fossils, you should get a fossil permit from the state.  I've written about that before.  

You don't need a permit to collect shark teeth.

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We're starting to get some bigger tides now, but the surf is small.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net