Written by the Treasureguide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Source: See RareGoldNuggests link below. |
I found a cool article on ground sluicing for gold. I always liked the idea of hydraulic mining and remember reading of hydraulic mining for Spanish shipwreck coins on Padre Island. Of course, they put a stop to that as well as prohibiting metal detecting on Padre Island.
You might wander what ground sluicing has to do with the beach, especially since you aren't allowed to do hydraulic mining, ground sluicing, or anything like it on the beach. The thing is, many of the same principles are a work when a beach erodes. The difference is that the waves provide the moving water that moves the sand and other objects. I've discussed those forces in the past several times. The force of the water and the amount of water movement to suspend and move sand and various types of objects remains the same whether the water is pumped onto the beach or is provided by natural forces. You can read about that by using the following link.
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| Source: See RareGoldNuggets link below. |
Ground Sluicing for Gold - Trenches Cut Down to Bedrock - RareGoldNuggets.com
I also remember many years ago reading in Diamonds in the Surf, how the authors (Trevillian and Carter) encountered a fellow on the beach that constructed gold traps by arranging rocks. They him him sticking his hand into the sand at one of his traps and pulling out a gold ring. He wasn't using a metal detector. Again, the same principles were at work. The rock trap worked like a gold sluice.
A couple days ago I posted a photo showing a fellow that dug a trench to release water that was trapped behind the beach. When the water was released, it eroded a channel and as the flow increased, so did the erosion. You can see that photo once again below. Note the large amount of water flowing down the beach in the photo on the right. Nature can at times do the same thing by itself. It works something like a rip tide.
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| Source: 8/3/23 Post in this blog. |
You've probably seen times when a large amount of water remained trapped behind the beach after a high tide. The water trapped high on the beach creates potential energy, which when released to flow down the beach turns into kinetic energy. And that flow can move a lot of sand. As the water flowed down the slope, if there were rocks or other obstacles that would modify the flow, it would act very much like a sluice and trap coins and other objects.
I'm always looking for erosion, and almost always check it out even when it is small such as after a rain.
One of the TV programs I enjoy is Gold Rush: White Water. When I watch that show, I'm always thinking about all the energy in that water and how it might be redirected and used to greater advantage. I think that is one of the main reasons I enjoy that program.
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Potential energy can turn into kinetic energy, as ideas can turn into productive actions.
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I have long argued for the public having more access to archaeological reports and information. Instead of being a threat to archaeological sites, I believe an informed public would protect those sites and add to the body of knowledge.
I once conducted a poll that showed that many people learned about Florida's shipwreck treasures and the 1715 Fleet by visiting treasure museums and auctions. Many of the readers of this blog had visited museums such as the Mel Fisher museums and McClarty museum, but few had ever seen a single coin from the Florida Collection. Over the years I've seen slightly better relations between the metal detecting public and the academic archaeological community - at least in public media. I think there has been some improvement.
Here is something I posted back in 2016. I just looked at it and thought it was worth reposting seven years later. Here is part of that post once again.
http://pasttimesandpresnttensions.blogspot.com/2014/06/in-praise-of-metal-detecting-1-celtic.html
I am big fan of Open Access, which helps scholarly publishing achieve its purpose: spreading knowledge and allowing that knowledge to be built upon. Price barriers should not prevent the public from getting access to research.
The Right To Research, an organization promoting Open Access, says, "Open Access, and the open availability and searchability of scholarly research that it entails, will have a significant positive impact on everything from education to the practice of medicine to the ability of entrepreneurs to innovate."
Here is the link to the Right To Research web site.
(http://www.righttoresearch.org/learn/whyOA/index.shtml#The_Public)
And here are a couple more excerpts from the Right To Research web site that describes the benefits of Open Access.
Exercising our right to research: as taxpayers who pay for much of the research published in journals, we have a collective right to access the information resulting from our investment.
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One disappointment is the amount of trash on the internet, which makes it difficult to find quality information. Very much like metal detecting a trashy site.
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If you've been following this blog, you know that I tried researching what appears to be a crucifixion corpus that is in female form. The item was found by Dan K. Besides the body appearing to be female, I thought the drooping arms were unusual.
Below is Dan's find followed by a picture of a crucifix sculpture showing a figure, although not appearing to be female, with bent arms.
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| Oldest Cruceiro In Galicia. 13th Century Crucifix Sculpture. Source: The Cruceiro of Melide (christianiconography.info) |