What ya calling the bandy looking one at 6:00 from the kerrville?Schumla?Looks like the second camp has ran out of Valverdes?

You clean up well Hal,Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for info Hal. I wish there was a better way than screening to find the masses. I have parti****ted in screening in the past and the fine delicate stuff that I love to find seems to always be the first casualities of the bucket or the screen. I have damaged my share with a pick and a shovel but It's not the same. When you remove all the overburden with a pick and shovel out the hole, Then you get to the goodies it's like you have arrived back in their camp and your the first visitor since they left. It's just as they left it. All of the surviving artifacts have been inplace for thousands of years. (Un-disturbed except for the elements) I want to take my time going through it where it lies inplace. When your screening it's like you take the overburden and the camp throw it in a blender and pour it out on a table. ( not the same rush ) I have identified wash areas in the camp I'm digging that are rich with un-used heads, probably the result of a flood or massacare. If you ran a tractor through the heart of these rich spots in the camp you would get about a 50 % whole to broke ratio. diggin 90 % come out whole. Plus, I know where their footpaths are that went up the hill and around the camp. I know where they cooked, cleaned, slept, knapped stones. You can see it all if you dig it from stem to stern. Wish you luck. Thanks again for the show.

Here Here! I agree 100% It seems the only way to keep diggers happy at a sub-par site is to give them tonage.If you had to hand dig the site, the good points to brokes ratio might not be good enough to keep people coming back.A lot of the enjoyment for me is to see what the site was like the last time these camps were used. You don't see to many archaeologist using bobcats,it's all about quanity.

I have to disagree only with the numbers of brokes screening. I've done my share and watched hundreds of people screen and only seen a very small percentage damaged by equipment. Hand digging is just as destructive too points, even if you are very careful how you go about it. I've heard the same argument for wiggle picks being better and doubt that as well. If you are careful it's all about luck. You still have to take a metal object and poke it into the ground. I have never had a point damaged by equipment screening, and only broke a handful hand digging. Some of my friends haven't been so lucky and might agree with you. This is just my opinion based on many years of digging by hand and with equipment.

Here's some middle of the road fence straddling comments from me.

For those lucky very few people with an ancient camp on their private property, they obviously make their own decision on hand dig or power
excavate.

But for the masses of amateur collectors, hand dig or screen is just a matter of what is available to them if they want to grow their collections.

After the first couple of months, pay hand digs become a nice intense exercise day in the great outdoors moving someone elses' old dirt. Still worthwhile vs zero finds sitting at home watching TV.

Power screening a viable mound is the land owners perogative on how he wants to deal with having strangers on his property. The central area of a mound can be very productive as at the present Juno site then get "slow" where hand digging would be non productive..

In favor of power screen digging consider the Nacho Barksdale site that is so well known over the last FIVE YEARS.. It's about a half mile long all
along the highest bank of the Nueces river.
That was not a " camp " a half mile long but rather many firerock midden camps with a barren space between.
It's unthinkable that even a troop of hand diggers would ever be able to carefully move 2500 X 200 X 6 feet deep.

There have been 5 full years of absolute treasures gleaned by power screening between camps that might have been covered over by future " land
developers " ( indeed the present owner had it platted out for ranchettes )

How about a compromise...serious diggers like Travis 1 have made their own
small power vibrating screen, just hand dig / load the screen !
.
.

?

All right !! Now I got some good opinions on a contraversial subject. I think there are certain benefits to power equipment on arch sites like, take off the top couple of feet of sand or clay. Also certain point types and blades are much hardier just as they were made thicker or more rugged. Not damaged as easily as the fine stuff. You can't tell me that needle tips and delicate ears and power equipment are EVER a good mix...A wiggle pick and concrete camp bottom are tricky enough. When you see bone beads and shell Gorgets come out two or three feet down mixed with rock you thank the lord you didn't stick your pick through one or find the pieces on a screen table. My point was not how many you find by moving acres of dirt. Some areas along the Nueces should have been designated (hand dig only) IMO but like you said Hal there's a ranchette on it now... If your in no hurry and you have access that is not going away in the near future, don't let people pot hole it. Study it as you pick it apart learn the layers and make an informed decision to use power equipmet to clear the top or clean out back dirt to expose un-dug areas.
Filling a frame is fun but the knowledge of how the Natives functioned is priceless.
Be a guardian to the areas you have access to and you will be rewarded.