An unusal assortment of bought things

[alexlenehan]

I picked these up at a consignment store auction, I really know nothing about them although I have been around long enough to know that these are probably reproductions or flights of fancy. I am also not sure of what to photograph or what terms to use so please bear with me!

Thanks ever so much for any help or advice!

Alex



First, a broken granite ax head









A pointy scraper?









A round hammer?





A decorated plummet?



















A decorated stone that seems to have been joined or repaired

 

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[quito]

Broken hammer looks good, the hammer stone looks good the pointy scraper, most likely natural and not an artifact.

The rest, the incised pieces, I couldn't tell you, but I would be cautious.

 

[alexlenehan]

Thanks so much quito, that is better news than expected!

 

[ShieldJaguar]

Pointy scraper is actually a broken axe or adze but I'm more inclined to say axe.

 

[alexlenehan]

Cool! I am guessing the other two pieces are probably modern fanciful etchings. Although, the plummetish one definitely seems to have been done in a very time consuming way, chipped and worn rather than drilled and filed, is that a good sign or just the way they are done?

 

[monsterrack]

The broken axe or adze looks Ok, the second item as stated already looks natural. The item don't look like a plummet from NA and the lines looks good, but seem to be real deeper than usual.The cravings on the other stone from what I see were made by a modern rotary tool. There cool, the plummet I would have to see under a scope.

 

[alexlenehan]

Wow, thanks monsterrack. If I can pick up a scope what should I be looking for? This all new to me and so interesting!

 

[monsterrack]

Wow, thanks monsterrack. If I can pick up a scope what should I be looking for? This all new to me and so interesting!

If you notice ,the lines on the flat slab have a rounded look to them and some just stop with a straight end. With a good strong scope you will be able to see the marks left by a drill. A hand held scope some times are not strong enough to see this, you may have to use a microscope, but you can get some strong hand held scopes off of Amazon. Also some of the lines have a angel cut to them , when using a stone tool you want get that type of mark. When ancient people made items that had cravings, every mark was at a different angle so you never get that smooth straight cut, because your hand moves a small amount. I meant to say the hammer stone looks good and well used, most people will not fake a hammer stone that looks that good because they are not worth much money. The plummet just looks different in shape and style from what I have seen that's why I not sure on it. The last photo of the tablet is where I get my call that it was done with modern tools ,look how the lines of the head just stop like a dug out ditch with a straight up bank at the end. I have not had the chance to look over the photos on my computer at home, I can get a closer look then.

 

[alexlenehan]

It's interesting, I have had someone contact me outside the board to suggest that the plummet might be neolithic Chinese...the plot thickens! Thank you all so much for your help with this, I have ordered a 40x magnifier with a light which it will be fun to play with. In the meantime I have taken a few pictures with my macro lens, mostly for practice!

Face stone









"Plummet"

 

[monsterrack]

The grooves in the plummet thing looks better than the flat rock. Here is what just jumps out at me. Every where I have a red line or a circle, are spots that look like ones made by modern tools. On the deer's leg and the armadillo's head look like where the tool stopped and the lines on the body of the deer look to be the same size in width and depth. On the fish you can see the same thing and also on the fish where they were making scale marks in between the 2 spots I have marked you can see where the tool dipped down into the other markings making a deeper cut. Also if you look at the grooves made on the deer and the armadillo they have one side that is at a good slant and the other side is almost straight down in the angle, this happens when you hold a modern tool at an angle. Hope this helps.

 

[stefen]

Might think about the overall relationship of the grouping...

Also research historically the geographic location of the armadillo (Texas Speed-bump) their migration range began in Mexico and slowly moved northwestward. There are some varieties of deer, in the Mexican territory but trout?

The mixture doesn't make sense.

 

[alexlenehan]

This is great monsterrack, I actually noticed the overlap on the deer leg when I was preparing the pictures, as you say it seems like the side effect of tools that work faster than traditional methods.

 

[alexlenehan]

You are, of course, right stefen. To be honest I thought the midde animal was an anteater!

 

[stefen]

Could be an anteater...something ain't right...maybe its me.

That's my WAG...

 

[quito]

I'd say it is an armadillo being depicted.

The ears are to big, and the snout to short for an ant eater.