Any Archaeologists Here?

Maybe I should get serious. ;D

Don't know any archeologist, but you should be able to find most of what you have on the net. It'll cost you a lot of time, but no money.

Curt

If this collection is actually valuable, it would be worth paying someone a fee to look at it for you. After all, time is money. As for the university not accepting liability, I'm sure that is standard practice - CYA. Likely your collection would be fine with them, but that is your call.

Tom had a good idea with the natural history museum - maybe St. Louis has one?

Good luck.

Thanks for the suggestions! I hadn't thought of museums. Duh!

I did contact a local club that collects stone artifacts, but they said they couldn't help because the stuff is from south america.

What I think is really neat is the book! But it's in Spanish and I can't read it.

I've also heard of a law prohibiting posession of foreign artifacts... Anyone know anything about that?

Later,
jeri

I took a degree in Anthro fifteen years ago with emphasis on Plains Archaeology, so I know a very little bit about these things. My opinion, after looking over the photos for a while and doing some googling, is that you have some potentially valuable pieces. The good news is that you actually have ID and provenance for most of them. The names you have are site names and cultural complex names and most pieces seem to have been excavated scientifically (not gathered). Keep the pieces with the ID papers/cards/envelopes!! This adds to the value for collectors and insures that the pieces can be sold through legal and above board venues or dealt directly to museums if the provenance is very solid. Just for collectors, the finer points and obsidian pieces, the better formed and preserved blades/scrapers/projectile points are attractive if the sites they came from and the dating is available. The bronze axe (possible Tiwanaku) is potentially very valuable I would think. The Paijan material is paleo, very old indeed, and should appeal to someone though the value may not be high since the material is mostly broken and from the production processes (cores - thus the emphasis of the thesis on the identifiable changes in lithic processes). I would first try to shop the collection, all the papers and and the thesis with it, and try to find any scientific papers you can about the particular sites that are the sources for the material. As long as you know where the pieces came from you can try to sell the better individual items like the really nice points and the bronze axe. I wouldn't dare to say what you might get for them, dealing antiquities is all about finding the buyers who really want the item, and that can be tough. Start with the big name reputable artifact dealers, they could probably ballpark for you just from the photos you already have. Good luck, hope this helps!!!

Scott

You never know who might know something here. Give it a shot.

Overstreet is good for a picture book and point ID but forget those prices they have on there, its a joke. THe book is broken up into regions and that should be helpfull

Well, I certainly wouldn't throw any of them in the tumbler...

The book is called "Arrowheads & Projectile Points- Identification & Values" by Lar Hothem. It covers mostly the US and Canada, but I imagine that points from other regions would be similar in many respects, it would at least give you an idea....

If you need a loose translation, try something like:
babelfish.yahoo.com/

It will translate, as best it can, Spanish to English. You're talking about Peruvian Spanish and that is slightly different. If there is a lot to translate, try the Spanish teacher in the school.