Broken Flint Bead ???

[steelheadwill]

Hi all, found this non native flint, large fragment with thru hole.

from what I've been reading the marks around the hole on intact end
can result from rubbing against other beads on a string, and out of round hole can result from 'picking' technique or wear from long contact with string.
could it be natural, like a geode is hollow. Any thoughts thanks for looking, Herbie.

 

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[unclemac]

yes natural, neat all the same

 

[BosnMate]

Great pictures. I've got a stone bead found in Nevada, and the bead was drilled from both directions, making the hold not match up in the center, and being larger on one side than the other. All I can say is, if it's not a bead it sure ought to be. The holes not being round bother me, but then again, I've never seen a small rock with a hole dead center all the way through. Could the rock have had a natural hole and been worked down around the hole to make the bead?

 

[steelheadwill]

Thanks Bosunmate and Unclemac,
Chance of this ocurring naturally are one in a billion, but since many billion stones exist I suppose it's possible.
Here's some pix, #4 looks like the one you describe Bosunmate,
They are from the best site I can find about ancient bead production,
Ancient bead production Best wishes all !

 

[unclemac]

i like how you can see the drill hole through that one bead, all the same...notice the rings of "growth" around your piece, dead give away that it is natural. Sure it could be a natural piece used as a bead, i woulda if i found it....

 

[steelheadwill]

i like how you can see the drill hole through that one bead, all the same...notice the rings of "growth" around your piece, dead give away that it is natural. Sure it could be a natural piece used as a bead, i woulda if i found it....

Thanks Unclemac, I appreciate that knowledgeable people helped on this, as I am not.
Figure I will show you my favorite bead, enough metal in it to set off my detector, else I'd never have found it.
(was on a rocky beach where much non-native flint is strewn)
What appears to be a gold seam, steel needle scratches the yellow, rather than flaking.
Been told that Native Americans disliked gold, so it is a mysterious item, it ranks as one of my top ten finds. Thanks for looking & HH, Herbie.

 

[unclemac]

nice! I always wonder how they made the small holes...here is one I found, nice and round, with a very small hole.

 

[steelheadwill]

Nice bead. you have a sharp eye. I think these 'small hole' beads could be produced by bow drill,
"It could be a stone drill made of jasper or chert, it could have been a drill made of copper with abrasives
at the end of the drill."
and much time ... Ancient bead production

 

[tamrock]

It is hard to say for sure what you have there, man made or natural? I will though give an example on how a mineral can end up with a bore hole through the center by the mechanics of nature. This is a piece of Stalactite given to me by a teacher I had in the 3rd or 4th grade?. She was so impressed with some of the rock and fossils I brought for show and tell, she thought I should have it. She said she broke it off from a cave she took a tour of. I can't remember what cave she said it was, but she would have been in big trouble if she did a act like that today. At best I can remember she said the cave was in Missouri or maybe Arkansas. It would be around 1962 or 1963 when I was given this?