Artifacts in the Sierra question

[mort]

On a recent trip in the high Sierra we came across a few artifacts of indigenous origin (Paiute-Shoshone perhaps). Is there a "best practice" method to report the location of these kinds of objects? Or other information about where such things are to be seen?
I've found obsidian chips in the Koip Crest area, and also west of the Minarets. Which I think are well known areas of obsidian chipping. I wasn't aware that the area in which these were found was used by the pre-european occupants.

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Obsidian chips. Many more were found, some large.
Also a probable arrow point of some non-local rock was found. I don't have a good photo.

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Grinding Stone?

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It could be a river rock, but how far was it carried to get here?

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The chips were found around were the green bivy is set up. The round rock was on the other side of the large boulder near the grey tent.
-m

[rightstar76]

Excellent question. I think it's a judgment call. A few arrowheads and I would just move on. If it's something big, then contacting the agency's archaeologist is probably in order. Challenge is finding contact info. Looked at Inyo and gosh that website is difficult to find anything.

[Ikan Mas]

Not an unusual finding in the Sierra. A watcher spending his time tuning up his tool kit. I've developed a bit of an eye for places where you find these things. Typically a view down the pass to where people would be coming from, nearby water, and an nice place to sit are the requisites. Sometime I'm amazed how easy such places are to find once you view the world with their eyes. I thought I had found one at a pass area, but instead of obsidian, I found a couple of blackened and obsolete rifle cartridges, a bit of a surprise considering how deep we were in the wilderness. That said, I did find the older site, not far away. I have also found trading camps where the ground is blanketed in obsidian chips. There is one of these at an easy to access lake in Ansel Adams.

I tend to leave things where I find them. Obsidian chips are pretty good at wearing holes in things and there isn't any point of picking them up. Not much point in reporting to the rangers, as the Sierra is covered with them. Keep in mind that people have been roaming the Sierra for the 10,000 to 15,000 years, perhaps more, so there were a lot of watch points. I am often curious how old the chips might be, given that 15,000 years ago, the Sierra might have been a very different place. You realize this when you find a very large and old log far above the timberline. How long has that been here? How much has the climate changed? What did this tree witness?

Because its difficult to determine the age of obsidian in the field (I understand there are lab methods), its really hard to say which group created the chips. There have been different waves of migrants, and its hard to say who was and wasn't here and when. What you find provides a glimpse into the past, but not necessarily a clear one.