i see you guys find so much in drainages, we have walked miles of river beds , some still have water in them , some are driad and only have water after a rain , they range from sandy to rocky , even under where camps are on the ridges over them , we have yet to find anything in them , are we looking in the wrong places , not looking hard enough , or could anything there be so cover in sand that it wont be found ? and as far as the drainages , are you talking about the deep run off crevices that come off the ridges into the river bottom , i know stuff has to be there , there are simply so many run offs up and down all these ridges its crazy !

Jer, I try to use the term "drainage" because it applies to any and every cut in the land made by water, from a slight hillside depression to a canyon.

From a long defunct running spring to the Brazos river and the term can be applied to all of Texas,
Desert or Piney woods !

While all drainages are where water is seeking the lowest way to the Gulf of Mexico and will collect artifacts and loose stones, there are probably less than half the drainages that are producers.
Consider that up to 10 thousand years worth of artifacts may have laid in a channel BUT those TX 100 - 500 and 1000 year cloudbursts / floods, has completly blown an area clean. Thats why drainages with plenty of sand / gravel tend to be repeat producers, artifacts get SLOWLY covered in normal weather conditions and that protective covering slows / uncovers artifacts in flash flood events.

I have only done a bit of true semi desert surfacing and as I recall, anything of interest was around the base of little plants, never in the cuts.

A good example is close at hand. . . Recheck that most recent update Badger just posted [ front page, February ] " birthday dig and creek walk "
An absolutly secluded drainage, in close proximity to a known campsite. Only a few flint flakes.! Note the lack of gravel bars, almost a polished bedrock, even a slight rain sprinkle moves everything out.

Thank goodness for imbedded fossils !

thanks for the reply Hal , i have gooten to where i do look around the upside of plants and bushes on a slope , i know there has to be things burried down under even on these hill tops considering most of the burnt rock is usually half burried , one thing i do find amazing is how you guys who dig can pick a spot and start digging , esp like in badgers post where it would just seem to be a spot in the woods full of trees and leaf's . and i suppose were gonna have to just get down in the river beds and really look hard , i imagine by the time i find something ill be blind from looking in all the rocks so long and hard ! you have a great hunting partner in badger , she doesnt mind getting down and really dirty , those waiders she has on ! i know what would happen to me , ill get in the water and oh heck i just sank in mud and the water and mud spilled right over the top and down into them lol.