Stone Artifact?

[Monty]

Eyeballed this by an old spring I discovered and dug open on my hunting lease. Its texture is much like a honing stone and one end is tapered and flattened to a dull edge. The other end is flattened and edged to a lesser degree and it feels like it is designed to b the end that is held in the hand. I suspect it is some kind of a crude shaped scraper or even perhaps a sharpening stone for knives or maybe even metal arrow heads. I can tell by the way it is formed it is not a natural occuring rock. There have been several flint points found on this land but this is the first implement of this type I have come across. Any idea as to what it might actually be? Monty

 

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[Eu_citzen]

No expert, but it looks like a axe, or maybe a spear "head". But as I said I'm no expert.

 

[dugupfinds]

A Stone.

 

[dg39]

Could be a chipper .

 

[SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS]

Monty,

no idea, but interesting.

Hope that someone can give you some ideas
on what it could be.

have a good un..........

 

[Boobydoo]

Looks like a Celt to me Monty. Great find!

Similar to these...

http://www.relicshack.com/list.cfm?type_id=32

Smiles!
BDoo

 

[Angelo]

Obviously Sharp! Look at his finger.

Nice one Boobydo!

Here's a couple of more pics.

Tony

 

[Gribnitz]

Celt pre-form that was never completed. Very cool find, found some pre-forms, but never a celt pre-form.

 

[Monty]

It looks as if it was being shaped and a crack appeared in the "handle" so it is probably a discarded tool of some kind. It just fits the palm of the hand with the sharp flat end being the working end for whatever? The old spring I found was walled in by rocks stacked up forming a small collection pool. Also you could see where a couple of rusted pipes were added later to drain off some of the water that collected. This was the site of a WPA camp in the mid to late 30s. They built a road through the property that dead ended at an old quary, but you can tell the walled in portion of the spring was there way before the WPA was. The property owner grew up on or near the property and vaguely remembers the spring when he was a small child. He is in his mid 70s. He also told me an Indian family lived "up there" in the woods at one time and they had a secret place on the creek where they would go and dig out lead to make their bullets. I have looked but haven't found it. all that remains of the Indian house is a vague outline of a small shack and parts of an old rusted out Model T pickup. He said the original white owner of the land found the Indians living there and just let them stay until one day they just disappeared and never came back. I have detected around it a little and just found some nails and some rusted cans and pieces of iron car parts. It's too grown up to do much else. Very interesting background information I think. Monty P.S. The finger got cut when I was wrestling with a propane bottle Did I tell you I am accident prone? LOL

 

[DigMO]

Hey Monty,neat find and very interesting history on the place.Did you win the fight with the propane bottle or did it kick yer butt?Take care~DM

 

[Monty]

I won the fight but I was armed! Monty

 

[stefen]

My hero

 

[Sonnydigs]

Doesn't appear to be smooth enough on the edges to have been worked.. Also it looks like a piece of limestone.. Typically a celt is made from Chert or a fine grained quartzite and wouldn't have such a fault in the stone or have such an irregular shape to it.. I would like to see some more pics of the surfaces that are supposed to be ground down.. If you look at the earlier post you will see how finely they are worked.
Good luck..
Just my opinion..

 

[TreasureTales]

Monty, those propane bottles can talk tough, but they're full of gas! LOL

I'm going with the guys who think you found a partially completed celt. Nice going. Maybe you can have some fire crew come in and do a practice burn to get rid of some of the brush? It would improve the hunting, possibly, and expose more Indian artifacts. Who knows what's under all the overgrowth?? Seems like you have a very intriguing piece of land there.

 

[Monty]

Sonny, whatever kind of stone it is it is not limestone. There is a lot of limestone around here and it is full of fossils and such and has a very irregular and often hollowed out appearance. This is different than the surrounding rock and I think it was imported from somewhere else. It has more of the consistancy of sandstone but a little harder and not the same color of the local sandstone. I'm not sure just what exactly a celtic artifact is, but I think this crude tool it is probably linked to a very early Indian culture that lived in the area. It is hard to see in the picture but the sharp scraper like end is a duckbill shape with rounded sharpened edge. The opposite end appears to have once been similarly shaped but through use or accident was broken off. I think it is hide scraper as the area once teemed with buffalo (bison), elk and blackbears. According to the local university the early indians in the area were hunter/gatherers and many flint points,(arrow and spear heads) are found in the area as well. Of course I may never know exactly what it is or its origin, but I am comfortable it was once some type of tool and it was not formed this way by nature. So, to me it is just a curiosity that I will hold on to and perhaps display someday. Monty

 

[TreasureTales]

Monty, here's a little blurp about celts, including a simple definition.

http://www.ou.edu/cas/archsur/OKArtifacts/celt.htm

 

[Sonnydigs]

Sonny, whatever kind of stone it is it is not limestone. There is a lot of limestone around here and it is full of fossils and such and has a very irregular and often hollowed out appearance. This is different than the surrounding rock and I think it was imported from somewhere else. It has more of the consistancy of sandstone but a little harder and not the same color of the local sandstone. I'm not sure just what exactly a celtic artifact is, but I think this crude tool it is probably linked to a very early Indian culture that lived in the area. It is hard to see in the picture but the sharp scraper like end is a duckbill shape with rounded sharpened edge. The opposite end appears to have once been similarly shaped but through use or accident was broken off. I think it is hide scraper as the area once teemed with buffalo (bison), elk and blackbears. According to the local university the early indians in the area were hunter/gatherers and many flint points,(arrow and spear heads) are found in the area as well. Of course I may never know exactly what it is or its origin, but I am comfortable it was once some type of tool and it was not formed this way by nature. So, to me it is just a curiosity that I will hold on to and perhaps display someday.

Hi Monty,
I didn't mean to step on any toes, it's only my opinion.. I'm an archaeologist in Texas and I'm only able to make an assessment with the pictures I see..It just appears that there isn't any area that really shows any significant wear. You have to remember if it was used as a scraper it would show discoloration from the fats and the oils in the hides and simply from handling it..You will have to be the one to make that call, it's hard in many cases to see in a photo..I'm looking at the photo and it appears there are very small bumps where it should be very smooth.. Perhaps it's only because I can't see it in the pics posted.. If you have a local archaeological society in your area you could attend one of their meetings and they would be happy to look at it for you.. Monty if you look at the link that Treasuretales posted you will see where they will be highly polished, I just can't see that in your pics.. I could be wrong and have been wrong, I'm only able to give you my opinion based upon what I'm able to see in the pics.. I hope that it is.. They make for an excellent addition to any collection..Have you found any chert (flint) in and around the area you found it..
Anyway Monty I am shooting your pics off to my boss who has 40 yrs in archaeology and ran the archaeology department for 12 yrs at SMU in Dallas.. He has much more experience than myself and maybe he can give a more definitive answer..
Thanks for posting the pics..
Thanks,
Sonny

 

[Sonnydigs]

Hi Monty,
Here is the e-mail I received back from my boss.. Remember you ask for opinions and that is what these are.. If you really want to know fo sure go to your local university and get another opinion from someone that can actually hold it and look it over..
Also limestone can often have small shell fossils in it..
I hope there are no hard feelings I am only telling you our opinions..His e-mail follows..
Thanks,
Sonny

Sonny,

While the bit appears to be a celt bit, I see no evidence of grinding that would have been needed in order to shape it and clearly photo 2 and 4 show no evidence of formal shaping. If the rock is limestone as it appears to be, it is not likely to have sufficient strength internally to withstand battering or to sharpen to a sharp end that can withstand use on wood or other tough materials. My judgment is that it is not likely to be a prehistoric Native American tool.

Alan

 

[Monty]

Thanks for the info on celts and it is not a celt stone. I didn't think it was. And Sonny, it may have just been used by someone as a whet stone as it has that consistency. You didn't step on my toes, that's why I posted it on What Is It, to get some opinions. But it is not a natural occuring stone and it isn't limestone at least of the variety in the area found. I have had several people look at it and all most of them say is, well, someone was trying to make something out of it, it's not natureal looking. So, anyway it is a good paperweight and because it is so unsual I will keep it here on my desk as it makes me happy. Thanks, Monty

 

[Sonnydigs]

Thanks for the info on celts and it is not a celt stone. I didn't think it was. And Sonny, it may have just been used by someone as a whet stone as it has that consistency. You didn't step on my toes, that's why I posted it on What Is It, to get some opinions. But it is not a natural occuring stone and it isn't limestone at least of the variety in the area found. I have had several people look at it and all most of them say is, well, someone was trying to make something out of it, it's not natureal looking. So, anyway it is a good paperweight and because it is so unsual I will keep it here on my desk as it makes me happy. Thanks, Monty

Your welcome, thanks Monty,
I'm glad I didn't offend you because I certainly would never intentionally do so ..I enjoy looking at artifacts so I hope you will post some more in the future..I have one artifact/natural occurrence of nature I picked up once that I will try to post on here as soon as I can get a photo of..
Thanks,
Sonny