Lets see what you consider your rarest personal find...

[mainejman]

I have older artifacts but I would consider my avatar to be my rarest of finds...it is a white ground slate point probably made by the Red paint people of Maine...3,000-4,000 years old...let's see them mjm...

 

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[Ammoman]

Sorry about posting my tooth on this thread...i just looked at the title and posted without noticing it was North American Indian artifacts. that said, This May be my rarest Indian Artifact find.

It was suggested this may be a tomahawk.
I would love any input for or against the suggestion.

 

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[Terry Soloman]

Yavapai Stuff

Don't know what the grinding stones are called, but other than arrow heads, this was my best discovery.

 

[Old Pueblo]

They're called bedrock mortars. Its always cool finding those out and about.

 

[GaRebel1861]

So is this thing Native American? It looks pretty amazing to me! Id love to know more about it and the people who made it.

This is from the Central States Archaeological Journal of April 2015. Our friend Rock was kind enough to mail me this magazine. For some reason the pictures did not down load but, here is the write up;

A Vulture Effigy Pipe From Lee County, Georgia
​

By Lloyd E. Schroder​

​

I recently had the privilege of getting to know one of our newest friends through the Peach State Archaeological Society web site. I will honor his request by not sharing his name in this report, but his story is one that resonates with many of our members that have used our hobby of artifact collecting as a meaningful way to spend time with family members. Our friend shared with me that he and his family had taken a trip to the Kinchafoonee Creek area in Lee County, Georgia to find some relief from the 101 degree heat on July 1, 2012. The temperatures that summer had been so consistently hot and the drought so severe that the level of the creek was extremely low. The irrigation needs of local farms had further driven water tables to a record low. While standing near the creek, he had noticed a few chips of flint and some sherds of pottery that were visible in the shallow water. His eye then caught a piece of, what appeared to be drift wood, half submerged in the sandy bottom of the creek. You can imagine his surprise when he lifted the “drift wood” out of the water, discovering that it was not only a clay pipe, but that it was a “buzzard holding a human head!” After 35 years of collecting and many nice finds, the Vulture effigy pipe was the find of a lifetime for our friend. While he is proud of his find and more than happy to share it with us through this article and through our web site, he is clearly not interested in selling the pipe. He wants to leave it to his daughter for her future enjoyment.Lamar Complicated Stamped pottery (left) and Lamar Bold Incised pottery (right) were found within a few feet of the Vulture effigy pipe.

The pipe is made of shell-tempered pottery, a strong indication that it is part of the Mississippian period culture. It was found in close association with both Lamar Complicated Stamped (left) and Lamar Bold Incised pottery (right) that dates to the Late Mississippian period, probably between 1350 and 1450 A.D. The date of the pipe is early enough to retain the Quincunx or cross-in-circle symbol of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. The Cross in Circle Motif is prevalent in most Native American religions. It has solar connotationsand usually symbolizes the sacred fire that exists in the Middle World. A Cross in Circle Motif combined with a Petaloid Motif symbolized the Above World. The arches with lines and punctations are one of the many Cool Branch Incised design variations. Frank T. and Gail S. Schnell and Vernon J. Knight Jr. (Cemochechobee 1981) gave no suggestion of a symbolic meaning of the arches. Cool Branch pottery was made during the Middle and Late Mississippian periods between 1200 and 1400 A.D. The Vulture eating a human head effigy is clearly a death theme. The sacred fire may continue that theme into the upper world. Neither Lamar or Cool Branch pottery was shell tempered, but many other Late Mississippian pottery types in the central Chattahoochee River were.

 

[Old Pueblo]

This is from the Central States Archaeological Journal of April 2015. Our friend Rock was kind enough to mail me this magazine. For some reason the pictures did not down load but, here is the write up;

A Vulture Effigy Pipe From Lee County, Georgia
​

By Lloyd E. Schroder​

​

I recently had the privilege of getting to know one of our newest friends through the Peach State Archaeological Society web site. I will honor his request by not sharing his name in this report, but his story is one that resonates with many of our members that have used our hobby of artifact collecting as a meaningful way to spend time with family members. Our friend shared with me that he and his family had taken a trip to the Kinchafoonee Creek area in Lee County, Georgia to find some relief from the 101 degree heat on July 1, 2012. The temperatures that summer had been so consistently hot and the drought so severe that the level of the creek was extremely low. The irrigation needs of local farms had further driven water tables to a record low. While standing near the creek, he had noticed a few chips of flint and some sherds of pottery that were visible in the shallow water. His eye then caught a piece of, what appeared to be drift wood, half submerged in the sandy bottom of the creek. You can imagine his surprise when he lifted the “drift wood” out of the water, discovering that it was not only a clay pipe, but that it was a “buzzard holding a human head!” After 35 years of collecting and many nice finds, the Vulture effigy pipe was the find of a lifetime for our friend. While he is proud of his find and more than happy to share it with us through this article and through our web site, he is clearly not interested in selling the pipe. He wants to leave it to his daughter for her future enjoyment.Lamar Complicated Stamped pottery (left) and Lamar Bold Incised pottery (right) were found within a few feet of the Vulture effigy pipe.

The pipe is made of shell-tempered pottery, a strong indication that it is part of the Mississippian period culture. It was found in close association with both Lamar Complicated Stamped (left) and Lamar Bold Incised pottery (right) that dates to the Late Mississippian period, probably between 1350 and 1450 A.D. The date of the pipe is early enough to retain the Quincunx or cross-in-circle symbol of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. The Cross in Circle Motif is prevalent in most Native American religions. It has solar connotationsand usually symbolizes the sacred fire that exists in the Middle World. A Cross in Circle Motif combined with a Petaloid Motif symbolized the Above World. The arches with lines and punctations are one of the many Cool Branch Incised design variations. Frank T. and Gail S. Schnell and Vernon J. Knight Jr. (Cemochechobee 1981) gave no suggestion of a symbolic meaning of the arches. Cool Branch pottery was made during the Middle and Late Mississippian periods between 1200 and 1400 A.D. The Vulture eating a human head effigy is clearly a death theme. The sacred fire may continue that theme into the upper world. Neither Lamar or Cool Branch pottery was shell tempered, but many other Late Mississippian pottery types in the central Chattahoochee River were.

That is one amazing find for sure. I always enjoy learning about artifacts. People tend to think of our Native American cousins as being very primitive, but artifacts like these show they were very much an intelligent, thinking people. Part of the reason I love the Southwest so much, with all of our ancient Indian ruins and irrigation canals and so forth. They were some truly amazing people.

 

[tamrock]

Hands down this is mine.View attachment 1506761

I wonder if that's made of Minnesota Pipestone? I went to where the red Rock quarries are once.

 

[quito]

I wonder if that's made of Minnesota Pipestone? I went to where the red Rock quarries are once.

Sure looks like pipestone to me. I live within a couple dozen miles of Pipestone Minn. it's not uncommon here.

 

[tnmudman]

Ammoman I think that may be a hatchet/hammer possibly from the colonial or trade era , so it could have belonged to an indian, though it was made by white men. That is just my guess.

 

[yakker]

Hi folks! Jumping in (a little late, as usual) with these two. The notched (pendant?) is the most unique and remains full of questions. The second is a beautiful paleo point. Both give me a thrill to hold- even to this day





Thanks for looking !

 

[quito]

Two nice pieces yakker

 

[Old Pueblo]

Sorry about posting my tooth on this thread...i just looked at the title and posted without noticing it was North American Indian artifacts. that said, This May be my rarest Indian Artifact find.

It was suggested this may be a tomahawk.
I would love any input for or against the suggestion.

View attachment 1507328 View attachment 1507329 View attachment 1507330

Thats an axe head for sure. Awesome find. Maybe one of those fur trade artifacts?

 

[brandybobo1973]

Dude what is that !! Is it someones finger ??

It’s a tooth with a filling, the long part is the root. Just in case the question has not been answered yet.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[brandybobo1973]

Not sure what it was used for, neither are the state archeologist or any of his peers.
View attachment 1506633
View attachment 1506634View attachment 1506635

It looks like a ‘notch tool’ to me. Like Notching out the edges of a spear tip, or sharpening the edges maybe, is what I mean. Something like that...I am guessing here. What do you think?


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[quito]

Welcome aboard brandybobo

i think the edge was grooved to provided for a better grip. The opposing ends are so highly polished it had to have been doing a lot of rubbing on something.

 

[jamus peek]

Here is a rare find of mine it is a creek find. It is a phallic plummet/charmstone. I have found a few but this one is a big one almost 8 inches. The glans were used as the groove. It could have also been used as a mano because one side is flattened. The last pic shows some possible paint flakes still intact.

 

[Mark Todd]

An interesting rock, what's it look like on the other side and from a side view?

 

[SpectateSwamp]

Sacred Medicine Stone maybe?

This stone popped out of a gravel crusher in 1972..



I have 2 others that are almost as cool.

 

[DigIron2]

You guys have some very nice stuff.Mine would probably be this claystone gorget and the fresh water pearl. The gorget is a personal find but I didn't find it in the field. I found under my granddads bed in a cigar box after he passed. The pearl I found on A Archaic site. It looks like it was half polished before it was lost.