dtcmor
freely admits to licking rocks
Back to lickin' rocks again!
Member since May 2006
Posts: 898
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Post by dtcmor on Jun 14, 2011 12:38:19 GMT -5
After getting some info from Tanya, my son Christian and I finally made the trip to Newark, Oh to dig for flint at the Nether's Farm near the ancient indian pits at Flint Ridge Park. We had been there to the park before, but never had a chance to visit the farm for digging. It was 6 hours round trip driving plus about 4 hours of digging around in the pits but it was definitly worth it as we brought back about 150lbs of really awesome stone with every color you can imagine mixed together. I went mostly to get some flint for knapping, but ended up with more pieces for cutting or cabbing with lots of crystals and druzzies. There was so much incredible stone there and in such huge quantities, that it was almost overwhelming. We are definitly going back(and as many times as we can afford!!) as there were more pits that we couldn't get to because the trail was under water and everything was so muddy. Here are some pics to get you drooling.... A huge outcrop(about the size of our car) of flint on the back side of the hill....  One of the pits dug by Roy Miller - a master flintknapper....Christian thought he could tackle the big boulder in the center of the pit....   Our haul of cutting and cabbing pieces...     Chunks and spalls for knapping...  Thanks for looking!! ;D Dave |
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Post by rockrookie on Jun 14, 2011 15:03:31 GMT -5
Nice haul !!!!
--paul
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Post by Toad on Jun 14, 2011 16:20:22 GMT -5
Looks well worth the effort to pull them out.
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snuffy
Cave Dweller 
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Jun 14, 2011 17:26:53 GMT -5
I'd love to make that trip if it wasn't 1300 miles away.  It speaks volumes of the quality of the material there,being collected for thousands of years by the Amerinds and for years after them up to the present.Love to see pics of the place. snuffy |
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Post by kap on Jun 14, 2011 17:45:46 GMT -5
Nice haul  . What does it cost to collect there? Keith |
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Sabre52
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Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,504
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Post by Sabre52 on Jun 14, 2011 18:13:20 GMT -5
Awesome trip report! Field trip reports are my favorite thing to read. Your haul is wonderful too. I love Flint Ridge Flint and the array of color you dug out is really something. Love the black and blue one center right in your second pile pic. A guy once told me that if you pick your spot in a flint ridge slab, your cab can resemble material from many many other locations. I've seen fortifications, crystal vugs, mossy stuff, bands, spots, brecciated patterns etc. in a ton of colors. I was told green is the really rare color. Anyway, truly an all purpose quartz gem.....Mel
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Post by tanyafrench on Jun 14, 2011 18:55:46 GMT -5
Christian looks like a great assistant Dave. Glad he was along for the artifacts, good eye.
Yes Mel, the green is very rare in that area and the Nellie Blue which used to be rather abundant is now getting more rare. Mrs Nethers has opened her farm since 1957 to rock hounds and there is still plenty of flint in the area. She is very gracious, full of stories and loves rock hounds.
Tanya
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dtcmor
freely admits to licking rocks
Back to lickin' rocks again!
Member since May 2006
Posts: 898
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Post by dtcmor on Jun 14, 2011 22:30:00 GMT -5
Thanks guys for the great comments!
Snuffy - It is a great trip, and so worth the effort. There is a lot of history there in the area with the Flint Ridge Park and the ancient quarries, but also in Newark are the burial mounds and archialogical museums to visit too. And it is amazing how far the ancient people traveled just to come to this area to dig the stone for their tools.
Keith - The Nethers Farm is about 8 miles from the park and Mrs. Nethers let you dig across the road from her house. She is a wonderful lady to talk with. She charges $5 to go in and dig, and .50c a pound for the flint you bring home. Roy Miller is a local master flintknapping legend who digs the pits with a backhoe and gathers alot of the better quality flint for his works of art. There are literally hundreds of tons of flint still in the pits and more in the ground for the more ambitious ones who want to crack at it with hammer and chisels. If you ever get the chance to get there, you will definitly not be disappointed. It was the best rockhounding trip I've ever made!!
Mel - You are right about the quality and colors of the Flint Ridge materials - I was amazed that it resembled agates and jaspers from out west, but some also was a dead ringer for lakers also. Lots of crystals make for a cabbers dreams in this stone. The greens are the hardest colors to find, and it mostly comes out after heat treating. I love the black with the blue crystal lightning bolts the best but the crystals make it really hard to knap without breaking.
Tanya - thanks again for all the info - it was definitly a great trip and it's now officially my favorite rockhounding area!! ;D
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brent
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2008
Posts: 1,316
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Post by brent on Jun 14, 2011 22:32:57 GMT -5
I would love to make the trip too. It's 1500 miles for me...one way. To bad it isn't on the way to Az...lol. It would have to be a separate trip, maybe a rockhound get-together.
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lparker
fully equipped rock polisher
Still doing too much for being retired!
Member since March 2008
Posts: 1,202
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Post by lparker on Jun 15, 2011 6:12:01 GMT -5
I don't know about John Miller, but Roy Miller is a heck of a nice guy, has a backhoe, and also owns a chunk of the Ridge near the park. I see him a couple times a year.
Lee
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
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Post by Fossilman on Jun 15, 2011 9:35:35 GMT -5
Awesome finds..Congrads......Do you heat treat the flint yourself?  |
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Post by tanyafrench on Jun 15, 2011 10:00:18 GMT -5
It is Roy Miller and a Rock Hound get together would be awesome. I would finally have a chance to meet some of you guys and gals. I would certainly go, it's on 180 miles for me and a great place to go for rock hounding.
Tanya
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Post by stonesthatrock on Jun 15, 2011 10:21:35 GMT -5
you done good....... looks like you have fun too. Isn't that the best part?
mary ann
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dtcmor
freely admits to licking rocks
Back to lickin' rocks again!
Member since May 2006
Posts: 898
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Post by dtcmor on Jun 15, 2011 10:47:31 GMT -5
Thanks Lee and Tanya for the correction - it is Roy Miller - dont know how I messed the name up - must be all the colors still dancing in my head!!LOL
Fossilman - I intend to try heat treating some of the spalls and flakes for knapping. I use a turkey roaster for some of the local chert I gather, and it works great at about 300-400 deg. , but I don't know if it will get hot enough for doing the flint ridge stuff, as I hear that it needs 500-550 deg. to get the best colors - especially greens.
Maryann - It was the most fun we've ever had rockhounding! ;D
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Post by Woodyrock on Jun 16, 2011 1:01:24 GMT -5
From the colours in the raw, I just can not wait to see the cooked colours. If you ever want to swap for obsidian, I have some of just about kind from Glass Buttes.
Woody
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dtcmor
freely admits to licking rocks
Back to lickin' rocks again!
Member since May 2006
Posts: 898
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Post by dtcmor on Jun 16, 2011 15:19:33 GMT -5
Woody - I might be interested in a trade, but I have to see what I'm going to do with all that we brought back - most of it looks like cutting rock rather than for knapping. I might make another trip in the future, and could get more specific material now that I know what I'm looking for. Unfortunatly the better pieces for knapping appear to be the banded Nethers in grey, black and tans - and the black Nelly, which has the blue crystal "lightning bolt" veins in it, and only mild color variations. Still they make great points and small blades.
I am 'cooking' some in the turkey roaster right now to see if the colors might come out, and to see how much better it knaps. If it turns out I will post some pics!
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Post by Bikerrandy on Jun 18, 2011 12:39:34 GMT -5
Amazing load of flint, great variety of colors!  (I would have took the hill home with me) ;D |
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It speaks volumes of the quality of the material there,being collected for thousands of years by the Amerinds and for years after them up to the present.Love to see pics of the place.
. What does it cost to collect there?
(I would have took the hill home with me) ;D 
