Kane Dieball was about 10 or 11 years old when he found his first arrowhead in the driveway of his dad’s former girlfriend’s home. A few months later, he found more.
Dieball stopped looking for arrowheads for a while, but in the past three to four years, he started collecting again.
“I pick them up where I walk, it seems like,” Dieball said.
Part of Dieball’s collection of arrowheads and other artifacts is on display at Oglethorpe County Public Library. It includes broken pieces of pottery, scrappers, arrowheads, hand axes and more.
That’s only a portion of the items that Dieball has collected. He has more at home.
Leta Bird, Dieball’s mom, talked to branch manager Katherine Ratcliffe about putting the collection on display there. Bird thought that it would be good for other children to learn about things they could find in their own backyards.
“It was something the kids could just maybe walk out in their yard and find and see,” Bird said. “I just thought it'd be something that would interest the children and give them an idea of what they could do for adventure.”
Ratcliffe encourages residents to ask about displaying items at the library. She also is open to those who would like to teach classes.
“We would love to have more displays in the lobby,” Ratcliffe said.
Dieball has been educating himself on the different classifications of the artifacts that he collects. He has read extensively about Native American culture and creates his own arrowheads using a process called flint knapping.
He was interested in the history behind the items that he was finding.
“Something about picking them up, saying about who made this, and what they look like, and what they were doing, how it ended up, where it is, and, all that kind of stuff like that,” Dieball said.
Collecting the items became an interest when he kept finding them when he went hunting. A friend of his dad’s had a bigger collection, which drew his attention.
“I was always interested when I saw his, and I thought, ‘Man, I’d love to find something like that,’ ” Dieball said.
The process of collecting includes looking around creeks and ridges in several area counties. He also uses maps to find tributaries that run into rivers.
Some of the items that Dieball collected were out of pure luck, when he wasn’t looking. One time, he found a projectile point while kayaking.
“It's kind of like I got magic or something,” Dieball said.
Dieball said he hopes to add to his collection and see someone who could provide more background on pieces in his collection.
“I really would like to see a specialist about them, find out more about some of them,” Dieball said.