How to Look for Arrowheads in Southwest Louisiana

Research. There are plenty of resources available to those who are serious about finding Native American artifacts. Search the web, go to your local library, and consult those who know about the area's history. The Louisiana Archaeological Society is a great place to start for amateur archaeologists. They may even have a few sites where they are already digging, and they would love your help with unearthing past treasures.

Go to the library and find out where the tribes set up towns, as well as sites of battles. Your chances of finding ancient weapons are higher if you opt for the latter, but along with a splendor of weapons, you may also dig up fallen warriors of the past. Be careful that you're not getting more than you bargained for.

Narrow the list of potential dig sites down. Sites near water are good, because the water does a lot of digging for you and you may find some lying on the ground or in shallow water. Water is a particularly good place to look for arrowheads, because the Native Americans would go there to hunt animals that watered there. Areas that have been recently developed or plowed are also a good place to look, as the digging may be done for you.

Try finding out where their campsites and towns were located. These areas may be protected by the government or some other organization, so make sure that you're not breaking any laws by searching in these areas before you get started. If you do go this route, make sure you do more than just search the immediate campsite. Search around as well, since over time these artifacts may have been moved.

Look around you and examine the terrain. If you were a Native American, where would you have set up camp or hunted for animals? Search these areas first. Keep in mind that where there is now a farm, there may have been a dense forest. But the hills and rivers will be largely the same now as they were a thousand years ago.

Look very closely once you've chosen your site. Erosion may be a factor on the artifacts. After surviving a few thousand rain storms, arrowheads may not be immediately obvious. Examine each stone carefully, and if you think you're on to something, get it as clean as possible to examine it more closely.

Take all your suspected arrowheads to an expert, so he can help you identify the genuine pieces of history from the coincidentally pointy rocks. At this point it's up to you whether you want to keep your finds or donate them to a museum so that others can share the wonder of these ancient people.