Brazoria County, Texas - Beach Bone Artifact/Fossil

[texasriverdigger2.0]

Brazoria County, Texas - Beach Bone Fossil/Artifact

I found this bone fossil fragment with a what looks like a paleolithic hieroglyph on a Brazoria County, Texas beach the other day. I've been studying this piece since I found it on the hightide.

It looks to be Paleolithic vs Neolithic. The Paleolithic Era (or Old Stone Age) is a period of prehistory from about 2.6 million years ago to around 10,000 years ago.

My conclusion. It is ancient and authentic bone art. The bone fragment is 1.25×1.25 and .25 thick. It looks like a hieroglyph shark to me. The engraving is about 1/8" deep and the entire fragment has a nice patina.

After looking at it in 4 different orientations, the picture with (head left) seems to be the best orientation because the fins are longer. I also have a picture to show the depth of the engraving. There aren't any other visible marks on the fragment.

I've searched thru a lot of hieroglyphs, cave paintings and other bone art and I've not found anything fish/shark or water/sea related.

In closing..... I'm also still looking hard for the rest of the bone/story. It seems like it might be a pretty good read.....)

Your thoughts?

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[texasriverdigger2.0]

A example of American Neolithic art....


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Bone Carving May Be Oldest Art in North America

 

[arrow86]

How do you know the age of it without sending for some type of carbon testing? How do know a kid didn't pic it up and carve it 20 years ago

 

[Indian Steve]

It is a cool piece but it could be ancient or it could be 10 years old. When I was a kid in the 50s/ 60s, we carved all kinds of messages and signs on trees, rocks, and anything else we could find. There is a chunk of a tree branch on my front porch with my initials and a date of March 31 1968 on it. We stayed outside whenever possible, no video games, very little TV and parents that let you run free as long as you were home for supper. I really hope that it is ancient but without being tested, you can never really know.

 

[texasriverdigger2.0]

I can understand all skepticism and doubt.

My paleolithic/neolithic comparison is based on me and others finding a lot of "undesirable" old paleo stone & bone artifacts here at the mouths of the Brazos and San Bernard River and in the surf line. I've posted a few pics here in TN of some of the old paleo points and bone artifacts/fossils I dug up on the rivers.

Under a magnifying glass. I can see what 'maybe' a faint start cut mark, where one end of the lower front fin might have been started. There are also what looks like, a few faint step marks in the width of the groove, that makes me think, a gouge tool was worked/walked back and forth to cut and widen out the body of the character.

Even tho the bone is weathered. The start and stop points and gouging looks very uniform and defined. The entire bone and character have a nice aged patina glaze too.

I have no doubt a ancient man made it. Until its proven otherwise.

I'm trying to make contact with someone who has COA some of my artifacts to see if he could look at it. Either or... I look forward to getting this piece to someone to at least verify it's authenticity. I'll post the result when I do.

Thanks for the input guys....

 

[Charl]

When I enlarge your first photo, below what you're interpreting as a fin, it looks like the remains of or start of another lower extension. If it were to look like the upper "fin", the entire thing would look like a very common type of stick figure as seen in petroglyphs. Sometimes human, sometimes a thunderbird, as seen in these examples from southern New England.

If all you and everyone else has ever found at the location, in terms of human artifacts, are diagnostic Paleo, such as fluted points or later diagnostic Paleo artifacts, and absolutely no Archaic or Woodland Period artifacts have ever been found there, then, if it were done anciently, one might hypothesize a Paleo affiliation.

 

[arrow86]

I'm interested to see the test results but I think safer thinking would be to assume modern until proven Paleo instead of the other way around. Either way good luck I hope it is Paleo that would be cool.

 

[texasriverdigger2.0]

Thanks again guys.....

This is a link is to some of the old paleo stone and bone artifacts I dug up at a site on the Brazos river. Today the site is only a couple of miles as a crow flys from the surf line where I found this bone fragment. I'll never know for sure. But, I can't help but to think they are connected.

One of the most interesting aspects to me is if it is a Shark or water related hieroglyph, it is the first I've ever seen. Most every painting or carving I've ever seen is of mammals.

But what do I know. I'm just an amateur indy....

.
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/n...s-river-texas-artifacts-fossils-geofacts.html

 

[1320]

Thanks again guys.....

This is a link is to some of the old paleo stone and bone artifacts I dug up at a site on the Brazos river. Today the site is only a couple of miles as a crow flys from the surf line where I found this bone fragment. I'll never know for sure. But, I can't help but to think they are connected.

One of the most interesting aspects to me is if it is a Shark or water related hieroglyph, it is the first I've ever seen. Most every painting or carving I've ever seen is of mammals.

But what do I know. I'm just an amateur indy....

.
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/n...s-river-texas-artifacts-fossils-geofacts.html

I'm not seeing anything remotely Paleo in your link.

 

[Charl]

I'm interested to see the test results but I think safer thinking would be to assume modern until proven Paleo instead of the other way around. Either way good luck I hope it is Paleo that would be cool.

Yep. Parsimony. The simplest explanation is usually the one that works. Follow the path of least resistance where evidence is concerned. Eliminate the simplest explanation before concentrating on the more exotic. Etcetera, etcetera....

 

[Charl]

I'm not seeing anything remotely Paleo in your link.

Yes, I think the OP is somewhat ill informed on the various eras in North American prehistory. For example, this interesting object is also posted in the fossil section of TNet, where the OP posts a link to the now famous mammoth carving appearing on a fossilized bone from Florida. And refers to it as American Neolithic art. Yet, it is clearly Paleolithic, as it involves the image of a mammoth. So, some education is likely in order here....

 

[unclemac]

It is a cool piece but it could be ancient or it could be 10 years old. When I was a kid in the 50s/ 60s, we carved all kinds of messages and signs on trees, rocks, and anything else we could find. There is a chunk of a tree branch on my front porch with my initials and a date of March 31 1968 on it. We stayed outside whenever possible, no video games, very little TV and parents that let you run free as long as you were home for supper. I really hope that it is ancient but without being tested, you can never really know.

yep, and we all had jack knives and 22's too!!!!

 

[newnan man]

I don't think it's man made at all. No discernable tool marks/scratches. I have seen the bone art in the post at the musuem in Gainesille. Yours doe not resemble it in the least in tool marks. I hope it is but I pesonally doubt it. JMHO. I don't think the museum has the carving anymore but does have a cast made from it.

 

[quito]

I have to agree with newnan man.
The grooves in the piece remind me of insect damage in wood.

 

[Charl]

This interesting item has now been viewed(but not yet in hand)and discussed elsewhere by individuals proficient in the study of Native American portable petroglyphs. It is most likely a stylized human figure and it is very likely to be a great example of a Native American portable petroglyph. An offer has been extended to have the piece examined by an individual who will be able to determine a great deal. But, initially at least, there is no reason to believe this is natural. Without having been found in direct association with artifacts that can be relatively dated, an age for the carving may never be possible to determine. But that this is indeed a portable petroglyph now appears very possible...

 

[Charl]

In this example of a petroglyph panel from Pa., several styalized human figures can be seen. Looking near the top, to the left of what appears to be a 4 legged animal, one sees a very basic, minimalist styalized human figure very closely resembling the figure on this fossilized bone from Texas....

Examples like this are one good reason for believing this may indeed be a styalized human petroglyph, and not simply a modern doodle....

Petroglyphs of Pennsylvania | PHMC > Pennsylvania Archaeology

 

[Charl]

Here we see styalized stick figures or styalized human forms on a painted pictograph panel located in Maine. My own research and photos from RI sites were included in this first of many books by Ed Lenik dealing with rock art in the Northeast Woodlands. Ed's works contain numerous illustrations of what are termed "portable petroglyphs".

 

[joshuaream]

Charl, I know you know petroglyphs better than most, but I've found a lot of engraved bone and none of it worked like that. Stone can be pecked resulting in channels like that, but bone is incised with something sharp and looks different than that.

In any event, I hope someone gets to look at the piece in hand and reports back.

 

[sandchip]

The edges of the incising look very sharp to be anywhere from 10,000 to 2.6 million years old. One would expect to see them rounded and weathered like the rest of the bone if it had been knocked around by Mother Nature for that length of time. "Looks like something done with a Dremel tool," saith the gut.

 

[unclemac]

time for some close ups and different angles....interesting piece for sure, natural or not