Post by blackcrowheart on Feb 14, 2006 13:53:06 GMT -5
ILLINOIS STYLE: Towanda man has collected thousands of Indian artifacts
SCOTT RICHARDSON
The (Bloomington) Pantagraph
TOWANDA, Ill. - There's a point to the hobby that Lyle Merritt has
enjoyed for more than 50 years. Merritt, 76, has been collecting
arrowheads, ax heads and other American Indian artifacts since he was a
boy on his way to fish in Money Creek near his native Towanda.
It's a pastime that keeps him in shape. He walks miles along creek beds,
freshly plowed farm fields and even subdivisions under construction,
looking for the unearthed treasures made of flint or other stone.
He's collected more than 5,500 individual items dating back thousands of
years.
Much of his collection came from within 20 miles of his home. He's
explored several river valleys, including the Illinois, the Mississippi
and the Rock, which would have provided food, water and transportation
routes for American Indians.
"Anywhere I go and look for arrowheads, I can find some," said Merritt.
"My son says I can almost sniff them out."
For his trained eye, finding a place to locate pieces from the past is
not hard, he said.
"They (American Indians) were everywhere in the United States,
everywhere in Illinois. There's probably not a square inch you couldn't
find something," he said.
The best time to hunt? Anytime you want to take a walk. Spring is good,
especially after a gully washer cuts new soil from the creek banks;
summer can be a difficult time after corn has grown, he said.
Merritt's oldest piece was made 12,000 to 20,000 years ago.
A retired heavy equipment operator, Merritt was on a job site near Downs
one day when he looked over to see a nearby farm field where rain had
just fallen. He decided to explore and soon saw the point standing
straight up.
Closer examination revealed the piece was a flint honed to a sharp
point, which archeologists link to a time hunters used spears to hunt
mastodons.
"It's really neat," he said.
Merritt thinks touching something fashioned so long ago creates a bond
with the hunter who made it. There's something awe-inspiring about
holding something that moved from his hands to yours with only time in
between, he said.
"You go out and find an arrowhead, and you're probably the first person
to touch it since it was lost," he said.
Merritt studies topographical maps he's gotten from the state of
Illinois. They could reveal a hidden creek bed or bluff where American
Indians might have camped or a low point in a field that once was a
buffalo wallow. Where there was food, there were hunters.
His collection also includes rarer finds, like a nutting stone. Nine
holes were drilled in a piece of sandstone to hold nuts so someone could
use a larger stone to crack all of them at once.
"They made all kinds of stuff. Everything they made was made of stone or
bone or wood. It's fascinating," he said.
There's a market for American Indian artifacts, and some pieces can
yield several hundred dollars. Collectors have gatherings where they
buy, sell and trade.
But there's a chance you could come across a fake piece made by modern
hands, Merritt said. They are usually easy to discern from the real
things, which are weathered and dull from exposure. Newer arrowheads
have sharp edges that bear no sign of age, he said.
Merritt likes to collect his own samples of American Indian handiwork.
In that way, he gets the benefit of exercise and knows what he finds is
authentic. And, with arrowhead collecting, there's no end to the chance
for discoveries, he added.
"There'll be things here until the end of time. You'll never get all the
things the Indians left behind."
SCOTT RICHARDSON
The (Bloomington) Pantagraph
TOWANDA, Ill. - There's a point to the hobby that Lyle Merritt has
enjoyed for more than 50 years. Merritt, 76, has been collecting
arrowheads, ax heads and other American Indian artifacts since he was a
boy on his way to fish in Money Creek near his native Towanda.
It's a pastime that keeps him in shape. He walks miles along creek beds,
freshly plowed farm fields and even subdivisions under construction,
looking for the unearthed treasures made of flint or other stone.
He's collected more than 5,500 individual items dating back thousands of
years.
Much of his collection came from within 20 miles of his home. He's
explored several river valleys, including the Illinois, the Mississippi
and the Rock, which would have provided food, water and transportation
routes for American Indians.
"Anywhere I go and look for arrowheads, I can find some," said Merritt.
"My son says I can almost sniff them out."
For his trained eye, finding a place to locate pieces from the past is
not hard, he said.
"They (American Indians) were everywhere in the United States,
everywhere in Illinois. There's probably not a square inch you couldn't
find something," he said.
The best time to hunt? Anytime you want to take a walk. Spring is good,
especially after a gully washer cuts new soil from the creek banks;
summer can be a difficult time after corn has grown, he said.
Merritt's oldest piece was made 12,000 to 20,000 years ago.
A retired heavy equipment operator, Merritt was on a job site near Downs
one day when he looked over to see a nearby farm field where rain had
just fallen. He decided to explore and soon saw the point standing
straight up.
Closer examination revealed the piece was a flint honed to a sharp
point, which archeologists link to a time hunters used spears to hunt
mastodons.
"It's really neat," he said.
Merritt thinks touching something fashioned so long ago creates a bond
with the hunter who made it. There's something awe-inspiring about
holding something that moved from his hands to yours with only time in
between, he said.
"You go out and find an arrowhead, and you're probably the first person
to touch it since it was lost," he said.
Merritt studies topographical maps he's gotten from the state of
Illinois. They could reveal a hidden creek bed or bluff where American
Indians might have camped or a low point in a field that once was a
buffalo wallow. Where there was food, there were hunters.
His collection also includes rarer finds, like a nutting stone. Nine
holes were drilled in a piece of sandstone to hold nuts so someone could
use a larger stone to crack all of them at once.
"They made all kinds of stuff. Everything they made was made of stone or
bone or wood. It's fascinating," he said.
There's a market for American Indian artifacts, and some pieces can
yield several hundred dollars. Collectors have gatherings where they
buy, sell and trade.
But there's a chance you could come across a fake piece made by modern
hands, Merritt said. They are usually easy to discern from the real
things, which are weathered and dull from exposure. Newer arrowheads
have sharp edges that bear no sign of age, he said.
Merritt likes to collect his own samples of American Indian handiwork.
In that way, he gets the benefit of exercise and knows what he finds is
authentic. And, with arrowhead collecting, there's no end to the chance
for discoveries, he added.
"There'll be things here until the end of time. You'll never get all the
things the Indians left behind."