Double Geode Billet or Bopper - A Very Special Find

[Spike]

I humbly submit for your viewing pleasure and / or critical review what I believe to be a find for the record books.

On a tip from a friend I spent all day yesterday artifact hunting an area that is well documented to be a place where Indians mined and processed flint. Found a rock that I thought might be worth looking at more closely later on. I also picked up a few Geodes from the same spot. Got to looking at everything today and the rock that I thought was interesting looks very much like a billet or bopper. It fits into the hand perfectly, with a nice carve out for the thumb. It also has an amazing spectrum of patina, with the part where the front of the thumb rests being noticeably more smooth and worn than the rest of the edge of the depression made for the thumb.

I also picked up several geodes from the same immediate area and you can really see how much patina is on this tool. I'm not a geologist but I noticed that all these geodes have (for lack of the correct technical term) a "belly button". In picture 5 of 7 you can clearly see the 2 "belly buttons" on each respective end of the tool. That also explains why each end of the tool is a nearly perfect sphere, except where they are joined, which gives it a distinctive bean shape.

Pictures 6 and 7 of 7 are of the un-patinaed geode.

What do you guys think of it and my analysis?

 

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[Hippy]

Sorry man, but that's just a naturally shaped rock. Nice geodes though.

Hippy

 

[Spike]

Sorry man, but that's just a naturally shaped rock. Nice geodes though.

Hippy

So your saying there is no patina on it?

 

[flinthunter]

Sure it has patina. Patina is not exclusive to artifacts. Almost all stone has an external patina. From the pictures I can see no sign of human use. As hippy said, nice geode.

So your saying there is no patina on it?

 

[Spike]

Well if it's just a neat rock I guess I'll feel pretty stupid. It's very smooth where I would expect it to be smooth from being held, but I am pretty new at this.

I guess I have some doubts about it now, but it seems pretty convincing in person. Maybe I might try to find someone more knowledgable than me to look at it in person. I mean it is what it is, and if it is just a rock I'll at least learn better how to differentiate.

 

[austin]

Look, Do Not be disappointed. There is a bunch more out there for you to find and I, like everyone else so far am sincere when we say really Nice Geodes. Just keep looking partner. I promise you'll get there...

 

[trevmma]

another one willing to learn, hats off to ya, yes natural

 

[trevmma]

maybe a omar stone too

 

[Spike]

So a stone tool with a well developed patina just means it wasn't made recently? In other words a real vintage stone artifact will have a good patina, but a good patina doesn't necessarily mean it is genuinely vintage tooled. Kinda obvious in retrospect.

I still have to get it looked at if for no other reason than there are probably things I am either not seeing, or seeing things that aren't there. Hey, I think the Cubs will win the World Series one day too, for no other reason than I am from Chicago, and I like them.

Say, what is an Omar stone?

Thanks

 

[GatorBoy]

Man.. you have a great attitude.
I wish you the best of luck and look forward to seeing your artifact finds from that spot.
It sounds like you will find some there for sure.
Take a good look at the material the artifacts your friend has found from your area and concentrate on that while hunting.
I don't know the terrian where this quarry site is located but if it's not a plowed field ...try to target areas where there has been erosion or root systems of large trees may have brought pieces to the surface,where creeks or other bodies of water have uncovered things...that sort of thing.

 

[NC field hunter]

I would never feel stupid for picking this one up. It's practically a gem. I can't make the slightest reply on it being an artifact, or not an artifact, without lying to you. I will not lie tonight. Mother Nature makes definite keepers!! Good luck and I look forward to seeing more of you in the future.

 

[The Grim Reaper]

I have to agree with every else. That is just a natural stone, but thanks for taking the bad news so well and not being argumentative about it.

 

[Jon Stewart]

You made reference to your rock being a bopper or a billet. If that was the case the rock would have noticeable bruising where the rock met rock when being used. Much like hammer stones that have been posted in past submissions on here. Boppers/hammer stones are smaller in size so they can be controlled when striking a rock during percussion work. Billets are much larger like yours for spalling larger rocks out.

With that written it does not mean that it is not an artifact tool of some sort. I have a rock that looks like a shoe/foot. I had thoughts that it is a moccasin last so I took photos and sent them to C.G. Yeager. He responded by saying if there were such things as moccasin lasts, I have one of the finest ones he had ever seen. So I think I have one of the finest door stops Mr. Yeager has ever seen but it is a neat looking rock next to my family room entrance.

I have Mr. Yeager's address if you would like it to forward photo's to him for his thoughts.

 

[Spike]

I'd love to forward some photos to him and get his take on it. I know there's alot of things I don't know to look for, and this stone has really got me stumped. I don't have much more than a (strong) gut feeling, but if nothing else I can learn some things by seeing it through, regardless of the final analysis. "If" it's a tooled stone, and at present I'm not saying it is or isn't, I am not seeing the billet marks you referred to, so it would have to have had a different purpose if not made by nature.

I am on a long week of work, but if you could PM me Yeager's info I would like to ask him. Also thought I'd hit a Michigan Archeological Society meeting and pass it around.

The outing wasn't a total loss though, I learned that if you have to do in the woods what bears do, don't make contact with poison ivy when you do it.

You made reference to your rock being a bopper or a billet. If that was the case the rock would have noticeable bruising where the rock met rock when being used. Much like hammer stones that have been posted in past submissions on here. Boppers/hammer stones are smaller in size so they can be controlled when striking a rock during percussion work. Billets are much larger like yours for spalling larger rocks out.

With that written it does not mean that it is not an artifact tool of some sort. I have a rock that looks like a shoe/foot. I had thoughts that it is a moccasin last so I took photos and sent them to C.G. Yeager. He responded by saying if there were such things as moccasin lasts, I have one of the finest ones he had ever seen. So I think I have one of the finest door stops Mr. Yeager has ever seen but it is a neat looking rock next to my family room entrance.

I have Mr. Yeager's address if you would like it to forward photo's to him for his thoughts.

 

[yakker]

Hey Spike,
Depending on where you found it, the smooth areas- the scoop and so on- could be made by water- like a smaller rock being constantly washed around and around, creating that smooth appearance. It happens. What a lot of people get stumped on is when things 'fit in the hand' or 'the thumb fits just right- and is smooth, as if worn down by a thumb'... Now, there are a couple things going on here. One is that a thumb will not wear down a rock unless that rock had been used for thousands of years and thousands and thousands of thumbs. Consider how long it takes for a stair tread to wear down due to shoes scuffing it. And shoes are tougher than thumbs. That said, Mother Nature creates a lot of very useful objects, so it's possible that someone, somewhere along the line, found and picked up this stone and decided it was a very good shape for ding some sort of job, so they used it. But then, there would be signs of that work- whatever the task was that it was to be used for. It's an awesome geode. Maybe it was used for something. But I sincerely doubt it was man-made. But I could be wrong..... HH! Yak

 

[Spike]

That makes alot of sense, cause I am not seeing any rock on rock marks. At the most it might be a nutting stone, but the more I look at it the more I think it is just a super cool rock. I don't think I have ever spent so much time thinking about or looking at a piece, and in alot of ways it's the most compelling (at least for me right now) item I have ever found.

This rock gave me the final push I needed to join the Michigan Archeological Society yesterday.

I in fact did find it lake shore in a spot where geodes pour forth from Mother Earth, as does flint also. Flint tooling was a major industry on this site, so that had been fueling my billet theory. I also found an almost soccer ball size geode that has a large patch of outer rock worn away to expose a big patch of crystal. I think I am going to install an LED light in it from the back and place it on display. The geode is actually shaped like a sitting woman - I'll have to post it when I get it done. It is uncanny and almost creepy.

 

[yakker]

can't wait to see what you come up with!