Meteorite hand axe?

[Boneray]

Found a Indian hand axe .I think it might be made of meteorite

 

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[Boneray]

Meteorite hand axe continued

It is very magnetic. Lighter colored spots are actually magnetized I'm guessing( they push a magnet away from them . leaves no streak on porcelain. Very heavy . Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated

 

[Jason in Enid]

First of all, its not an ax. An ax would be created or modified by hand for the task. Your item shows no signs of human working. IF its a meteorite, the fusion crust is still intact so it has never been shaped or used for anything like an ax.

 

[Kray Gelder]

One blurry photo? Welcome Boneray, how about pics all around, in focus, please. And toss a quarter down next to it, for reference.

 

[david680]

Alright, I'll bite. What are the reasons you think this is made out of a meteorite?

 

[vpnavy]

I moved ya from TODAY'S FINDS! over to WHAT IS IT? for more exposure.

 

[Colorado2]

Welcome Boneray. Looks like that stone is knapped to me. Shaped more like a hide scraper though.

 

[galenrog]

Awfully good of you to add a few mor pics. Now we can see that it has some resemblance to a typical hide scraper.

What are the characteristics of this item that lead you to believe it is made from a meteorite? Please keep I’m mind that there are many common terrestrial rocks that are dark, attracted to a magnet, and leave little to no streak on unglazed porcelain. Many of the rocks in my driveway fit that description.

Time for more coffee.

 

[Plug N Play]

First of all, its not an ax. An ax would be created or modified by hand for the task. Your item shows no signs of human working. IF its a meteorite, the fusion crust is still intact so it has never been shaped or used for anything like an ax.

This piece shows ample evidence to suspect human intervention. Items such as this are known as unifaces and this exhibits all the attributes one would expect to see on a common scraper. We see the outer skin of the rock is untouched, but, the other side is extensively chipped. The chips line up exactly with the straight edge of the rock to give a sharp and continuous working edge. Not only can you see the carefully aligned chip scars ... it's easy to make out which direction the maker made the chips.

(The chips were made starting from the right and the newer chips overlapped the previous chips as they progressed to the left.) The evidence is very patterned and planned.

Natives worked a lot of Hematite but it's somewhat rare that they would chip it. Sometimes they would break or chip it in preparation to then grind it for beads or such. Hematite varies a lot depending on which part of the world it is found in. (this is a pet peeve of mine that we see all the time on this site. People come here with a rock and do not give you the most important information needed. It's the 3rd Rock From the Sun ! It's covered in rocks. I'll never understand how folks look for identification of a rock and completely ignore where in the world it came from. Geologic maps are localized. If you want to understand what rocks are in an area ... YOU NEED TO KNOW WHAT THAT AREA IS ! )

That said, hematite is a possibility. Iowa, Missouri and Oklahoma are a few areas where chipped hematite has been found. Hematite is not magnetic ... but ... in some areas it can contain enough magnetite that it will be. That brings us back to "Where in the World was this found".

Anyway, that's my best guess at this point. Somewhere in the world you found a chipped hematite scraper that was made by a person of stone-age persuasion, that contained enough magnetite to give it magnetic qualities.

 

[Jason in Enid]

This piece shows ample evidence to suspect human intervention. Items such as this are known as unifaces and this exhibits all the attributes one would expect to see on a common scraper. We see the outer skin of the rock is untouched, but, the other side is extensively chipped. The chips line up exactly with the straight edge of the rock to give a sharp and continuous working edge. Not only can you see the carefully aligned chip scars ... it's easy to make out which direction the maker made the chips.

In case you missed the beginning, this is an altered thread. The original picture only showed a single pic (now the post #2). A separate thread was combined into it.

As for the amended pics, I agree that it MIGHT be possible that this piece was worked but I'm not convinced.

 

[randazzo1]

Looks like textbook flaking scars to me. River cobble uniface as plug n play said.