Artifact? Found near arrowheads and native pottery

[Unitedstatesofamerica1]

 

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[Arrow1492]

You are certainly eager to look-I like that. However it look like glass or plastic. Not native.

 

[Unitedstatesofamerica1]

I took it to a gemstone place and they said it is quartz

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Not an artifact.....

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[NCPeaches]

It certainly would make a beautiful pendant in the right setting, I would wire wrap it. A great find even if not Native American.

 

[sawmill man]

Of all the woods romping i do i dont belive i ever seen a piece of weathered so smooth , i would keep it .

 

[reuellis]

If it is quartz is it natural? Nice looking rock regardless who shaped it.

 

[Unitedstatesofamerica1]

The lady at the gemstone place said it was polished, but who had it that is a mystery

 

[Charl]

Well, there are such things as "shaman stones", ranging from gastroliths to crystals, etc., and the shaman would keep them in a pouch for whatever usage, usually associated with his activity as a healer. Of course, since they are seldom actually altered, it's hard to be certain when one finds one. But, when found on a camp or village site, some things are just worth collecting because of the possibilities. And frankly, if ever there existed a possible shaman's stone, a piece of clear quartz like that would be one good candidate. I know I have several such candidates of highly polished and pretty rocks that had no business being where I found them. So I keep them for that reason, and actually consider them part of the particular site assemblage. So I would keep that stone with your collection from that site....

 

[oxbowbarefoot]

Could be a gizzard stone. Nice piece of quartz.

 

[Old Pueblo]

You can find polished stones like that here in AZ that were used for making pottery. Others could have been used as game pieces or shamans stones ect... A good way to tell if its been touched by Native Americans back then is by judging what else was found around it. If there are other artifacts in the immediate vicinity, thats a really good sign, but also consider what kind of stone you see laying around on the ground. I dont know what the ground looks like there, but if there are a lot of little smooth round stones like that all over the place, that would tell me its just natural. But if I were to find that at an old Indian village site anywhere around here where I live, It would definitely stand out and I would consider it artificial.

 

[Old Pueblo]

I think its artificial, if there were other artifacts found right nearby. It does look a bit too nicely shaped and polished to be natural, in my opinion. And they did make quartz arrowheads and so forth.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Here is the thing, there are no signs on it of it being touched by man at all that can be seen so to call it an indian artifact is strictly guessing.

I have found quartz rocks like that when I was hunting artifacts in Missouri. It can easily be water polished and remember creeks, streams and rivers all change course so it doesn't need to be in the water or beside water to be water polished. They found a riverboat in a farmers corn field a half mile from the Missouri river. I have found small rocks in holes in larger rocks that are almost perfectly round and polished because they were stuck in a deep hole in a rock spinning for years.



Natural polished river rock..

 

[sugarquartz]

Like Old Pueblo said , i also believe if found around pottery they are usually used as a burnishing stone. Like a modern day glaze on a ceramic they would polish the outside and interior with small pebbles and other objects to create a smooth surface. If you do a google search for "burnishing stones" you will see a few examples. In my eyes no doubt an artifact , Nice Find!

 

[unclemac]

this one is too small to be such a stone

 

[Old Pueblo]

It looks pretty flat, but obviously smooth and rounded. The Natives liked using the flat ones like that for pottery.

 

[Charl]

You may not be able to prove a thing where something like that is concerned. But, the person who can best judge what may be out of place or not out of place at a known site is the person who may know the site like the back of his hand, so to speak. That person knows the context better then anyone. That's why, just as an example, when I find a fossil at a known site and know, from the distribution of fossils in RI, that it really has no business being there, I can be all but certain it was transported there by human beings. Of course there is always the chance someone transported it there last week, but I will still collect it as likely anciently transported. Context cannot prove beyond any doubt whatsoever that an unaltered polished pebble is related to ancient activity, but the person who knows a site better then anyone else is at least better equipped then anyone else to act on his/her hunches where such finds are concerned. When I find certain rocks that simply seem out of place in my experience, I usually do collect them. It does not mean I am able to prove ancient man transported them. It just means I am acting on a hunch based on knowing a site at an intuitive level....

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Those type of rocks and stones went into my rock garden.

 

[1320]

It looks pretty flat, but obviously smooth and rounded. The Natives liked using the flat ones like that for pottery.

How were flat round stones used for pottery?

 

[Riverbum]

Hello,
I have found several Black Obsidian type pyramid shaped stones at many sites. I'm told they are called "pathos" sort of like a Rabbits Foot to ancient people. I've never seen one or what ever this is ..... as clear quartz. A keeper for sure........

Well, there are such things as "shaman stones", ranging from gastroliths to crystals, etc., and the shaman would keep them in a pouch for whatever usage, usually associated with his activity as a healer. Of course, since they are seldom actually altered, it's hard to be certain when one finds one. But, when found on a camp or village site, some things are just worth collecting because of the possibilities. And frankly, if ever there existed a possible shaman's stone, a piece of clear quartz like that would be one good candidate. I know I have several such candidates of highly polished and pretty rocks that had no business being where I found them. So I keep them for that reason, and actually consider them part of the particular site assemblage. So I would keep that stone with your collection from that site....