rockhoundoz
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2017
Posts: 135 
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Post by rockhoundoz on Jan 26, 2021 13:20:52 GMT -5
Here's an artifact that I recently found in Kentucky stream gravels (on the surface), from a location with lots of arrowheads/cores etc. As you can see, it's girdled/ grooved all the way around, roughly oval (2.5" x 2"), concave on one face & flat on the other. I had a few initial thoughts on what it could be used for, primarily as a belt/cord driven tool (firestarting, grinding, or even to process sinew fibers). Shape wise, it looks like a match for groove-wrap war-club heads, but then it's made of soft stone. Or, maybe an early groove-wrapped pendant 😋. Any ideas?      Thanks for looking! |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 26, 2021 15:53:02 GMT -5
You've got me curious on this one! I hope someone on here can shed some light on it! Cool find!!!  |
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Post by RickB on Jan 26, 2021 17:06:37 GMT -5
rockhoundoz It looks to me like a Native American ear spool. Some were small and some were very large. I saw a pair bought at a local bottle show a few years ago and was surprised by the size of them. A rare find, congratulations. I bet mjflintycan chime in on this one. "The history of body modification is as long as human history itself. People from various cultures and time periods throughout the world have stretched their earlobes because the cartilage of the ear has adequate strength to hold up large pieces of jewelry placed in pierced and stretched earlobes. We think of stretching a modern practice but it has actually been a tradition for many cultures for thousands of years."
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rockhoundoz
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2017
Posts: 135
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Post by rockhoundoz on Jan 26, 2021 19:32:32 GMT -5
rockhoundoz It looks to me like a Native American ear spool. Some were small and some were very large. I saw a pair bought at a local bottle show a few years ago and was surprised by the size of them. A rare find, congratulations. I bet mjflintycan chime in on this one. "The history of body modification is as long as human history itself. People from various cultures and time periods throughout the world have stretched their earlobes because the cartilage of the ear has adequate strength to hold up large pieces of jewelry placed in pierced and stretched earlobes. We think of stretching a modern practice but it has actually been a tradition for many cultures for thousands of years." Wow RickB, That would be wild! Thanks for that 🙏. While I was searching for lookalike artifacts by google search, I did see that ear spools (along with war club heads), were both similarly shaped items, but did assume it was way too big for the ears... Quite some weight to it. I would guess that it was created by the Shawnee tribe, and historical portraits do so often show ear ornaments & lobe stretching from the Shawnee. The area where it was found seems like a an ideal village-or even ancient city site. An example of Shawnee ear work, a collage of portraits from the internet, at least two of the men having been Chiefs.  Jasoninsd: I have been super curious! Checked out your tongue-rock thread there, beautiful patterns! Would make a cool carving. I liked how you can see the same pattern from the top through the opening on the other side 👍. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 26, 2021 20:00:17 GMT -5
rockhoundoz It looks to me like a Native American ear spool. Some were small and some were very large. I saw a pair bought at a local bottle show a few years ago and was surprised by the size of them. A rare find, congratulations. I bet mjflinty can chime in on this one. "The history of body modification is as long as human history itself. People from various cultures and time periods throughout the world have stretched their earlobes because the cartilage of the ear has adequate strength to hold up large pieces of jewelry placed in pierced and stretched earlobes. We think of stretching a modern practice but it has actually been a tradition for many cultures for thousands of years." Wow RickB, That would be wild! Thanks for that 🙏. While I was searching for lookalike artifacts by google search, I did see that ear spools (along with war club heads), were both similarly shaped items, but did assume it was way too big for the ears... Quite some weight to it. I would guess that it was created by the Shawnee tribe, and historical portraits do so often show ear ornaments & lobe stretching from the Shawnee. The area where it was found seems like a an ideal village-or even ancient city site. An example of Shawnee ear work, a collage of portraits from the internet, at least two of the men having been Chiefs. Jasoninsd: I have been super curious! Checked out your tongue-rock thread there, beautiful patterns! Would make a cool carving. I liked how you can see the same pattern from the top through the opening on the other side 👍. - Great thought on the ear spool! That wouldn't have occurred to me. I was onboard with the war club idea, but this really does have the look! rockhoundoz - have you found many other artifacts from the general location where you found this one? I really need to get that darn tongue-rock down to the local college to have the geology department make a final decision on what that thing is! LOL |
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Post by RickB on Jan 26, 2021 20:32:01 GMT -5
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rockhoundoz
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2017
Posts: 135
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Post by rockhoundoz on Jan 26, 2021 21:27:33 GMT -5
Wow RickB, That would be wild! Thanks for that 🙏. While I was searching for lookalike artifacts by google search, I did see that ear spools (along with war club heads), were both similarly shaped items, but did assume it was way too big for the ears... Quite some weight to it. I would guess that it was created by the Shawnee tribe, and historical portraits do so often show ear ornaments & lobe stretching from the Shawnee. The area where it was found seems like a an ideal village-or even ancient city site. An example of Shawnee ear work, a collage of portraits from the internet, at least two of the men having been Chiefs. Jasoninsd: I have been super curious! Checked out your tongue-rock thread there, beautiful patterns! Would make a cool carving. I liked how you can see the same pattern from the top through the opening on the other side 👍. - Great thought on the ear spool! That wouldn't have occurred to me. I was onboard with the war club idea, but this really does have the look! rockhoundoz - have you found many other artifacts from the general location where you found this one? I really need to get that darn tongue-rock down to the local college to have the geology department make a final decision on what that thing is! LOL Jasoninsd, at that area, I have found a couple arrowheads (one broken & one intact), & a ton of cores (the remaining center of a flint/chert etc. rock which had tools flaked off of it), plus debitage. However, I'm always hunting rocks & only find artifacts on the surface, coincidentally. This area has had truckloads of artifacts removed & wouldn't be surprised if this was one of many locations of this area where mounds had been located & subsequently bulldozed/razed. Hope the tongue-rock is some cool fossil, but it's neat looking anyhow 😎. Rickb, got it, so soapstone would be even heavier. After checking out the great website that you linked, it brings to mind that this could be a much older artifact- perhaps Hopewell, or older. From this exact spot, a friend has found pieces including a large spear-head, which were identified as 'paleoindian', super old, including on the basis of the much finer craftsmanship. Tools are always more well made in the good-old-days I reckon 😉. |
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Brian
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2020
Posts: 1,512
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Post by Brian on Jan 26, 2021 21:27:57 GMT -5
That is really cool! RickB's guess had me doing some image searches on Google and it certainly seems plausible. Now if you had only found a match to complete the pair it would have made identifying it much easier! I did some reading on the fire starters, too. It looks like soft stones were used for those, but I did not see any shapes that matched as well as the ear spool's that came up in the search. |
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rockhoundoz
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2017
Posts: 135
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Post by rockhoundoz on Jan 26, 2021 21:33:42 GMT -5
That is really cool! RickB's guess had me doing some image searches on Google and it certainly seems plausible. Now if you had only found a match to complete the pair it would have made identifying it much easier! I did some reading on the fire starters, too. It looks like soft stones were used for those, but I did not see any shapes that matched as well as the ear spool's that came up in the search. Indeed, a pair would be awesome! Never know, might find the 2nd one day . Yup, while it came to mind, as a person who has made a fair number of friction fires from self-made tools, the flat/thin top part wouldn't really make practical sense. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 26, 2021 21:51:12 GMT -5
That is really cool! RickB 's guess had me doing some image searches on Google and it certainly seems plausible. Now if you had only found a match to complete the pair it would have made identifying it much easier! I did some reading on the fire starters, too. It looks like soft stones were used for those, but I did not see any shapes that matched as well as the ear spool's that came up in the search. Indeed, a pair would be awesome! Never know, might find the 2nd one day . Yup, while it came to mind, as a person who has made a fair number of friction fires from self-made tools, the flat/thin top part wouldn't really make practical sense. Would it be more apropos to say "keep your ear out for the other one" rather than saying keep an eye out for it! LOL  My father-in-law has a lot of farm/ranch land...and I mean A LOT! LOL - He has quite a collection of arrowheads and some spearheads he's found on his property over the years. I'm fascinated with the uncovering of ancient tools and artifacts...just thinking of how many eons it's been buried and waiting to feel the touch of another human's hands. And just to think of what the world was like when these were created and being used when they were "new". |
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rockhoundoz
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2017
Posts: 135
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Post by rockhoundoz on Jan 26, 2021 22:37:25 GMT -5
Indeed, a pair would be awesome! Never know, might find the 2nd one day . Yup, while it came to mind, as a person who has made a fair number of friction fires from self-made tools, the flat/thin top part wouldn't really make practical sense. Would it be more apropos to say "keep your ear out for the other one" rather than saying keep an eye out for it! LOL My father-in-law has a lot of farm/ranch land...and I mean A LOT! LOL - He has quite a collection of arrowheads and some spearheads he's found on his property over the years. I'm fascinated with the uncovering of ancient tools and artifacts...just thinking of how many eons it's been buried and waiting to feel the touch of another human's hands. And just to think of what the world was like when these were created and being used when they were "new". Hahaha, good point 👂😂. Absolutely, & I easily & happily drift into imagining being there amongst ancient times in these places. Fantasizing about the fish, game, wildlife which was there especially 😅🎣. That sounds fantastic on your Father-I.L's ranchland! South Dakota has so much great rock! |
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rockhoundoz
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2017
Posts: 135
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Post by rockhoundoz on Jan 26, 2021 22:47:33 GMT -5
While there's experts around, now that I'm thinking about it, here's another artifact that I've been meaning to ask about. At least I think it's an artifact. It has a very smoothed, hand worn feeling & it would be an extremely unusual shape for natural rock. Found this in the same exact place, few years back. It's chert/flint. My best guess is something like a spear-shaft straightener. Also find that it fits into the hand perfectly, like a trigger. As you can see in the pictures, it's 'curved' lengthwise, it has one side which sits flush/carved into the fingers while the other side is convex.     & a bonus pic of moss agate just cut, from the same place.  |
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Post by RickB on Jan 27, 2021 8:55:25 GMT -5
In my first post I tagged Michael Miller (mjflinty). He is an archaeologist specializing in Native American culture and artifacts. He should be able to identify both of them for us. Good news for me while I was searching that link that I posted - I found out that a piece of deer antler that I found a few years ago back here at Edisto Beach SC is actually an antler atlatl weight. Fixing to look for a photo of it and will post it right here. Never could figure out why a piece of antler would have a hole in it. Have found many artifacts here and a lady actually found a Clovis point last year. Bone Tools - peachstatearchaeologicalsociety.org/index.php/14-bone-tools/134-bone-toolsA hole has been drilled through this deer antler by humans - great find.   |
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rockhoundoz
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2017
Posts: 135
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Post by rockhoundoz on Jan 27, 2021 10:06:41 GMT -5
In my first post I tagged Michael Miller (mjflinty). He is an archaeologist specializing in Native American culture and artifacts. He should be able to identify both of them for us. Good news for me while I was searching that link that I posted - I found out that a piece of deer antler that I found a few years ago back here at Edisto Beach SC is actually an antler atlatl weight. Fixing to look for a photo of it and will post it right here. Never could figure out why a piece of antler would have a hole in it. Have found many artifacts here and a lady actually found a Clovis point last year. A hole has been drilled through this deer antler by humans - great find. Very interesting item there & awesome to ID it! Definitely would've assumed it was a dart shaft straightener myself. After reading your post, checked out the website that you linked again & read that those antler atlatl weights were used in places like FL (& SC), where less stone is available. I can relate to that, always lament the shortage of stone on the S.E. U.S. coastal plain. On SC beaches, I usually resort to collecting those thick, many layered blue & white shell pieces (fossilized? IDK) & although most of it is full of holes, hope to find a nice piece one day that's solid enough to carve a cameo. Just checked out some threads with your found artifiacts rickb, very impressive, what an array of finds you have!! & thanks for tagging in a professional, will be cool to see what he says. |
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Post by miket on Jan 27, 2021 10:38:25 GMT -5
Would it be more apropos to say "keep your ear out for the other one" rather than saying keep an eye out for it! LOL My father-in-law has a lot of farm/ranch land...and I mean A LOT! LOL - He has quite a collection of arrowheads and some spearheads he's found on his property over the years. I'm fascinated with the uncovering of ancient tools and artifacts...just thinking of how many eons it's been buried and waiting to feel the touch of another human's hands. And just to think of what the world was like when these were created and being used when they were "new". Hahaha, good point 👂😂. Absolutely, & I easily & happily drift into imagining being there amongst ancient times in these places. Fantasizing about the fish, game, wildlife which was there especially 😅🎣. That sounds fantastic on your Father-I.L's ranchland! South Dakota has so much great rock! I'm fascinated with the artifacts, too. However, I fantasize about how many Fairburns were laying around before people started picking them up!!! |
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rockhoundoz
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2017
Posts: 135
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Post by rockhoundoz on Jan 27, 2021 13:02:57 GMT -5
Hahaha, good point 👂😂. Absolutely, & I easily & happily drift into imagining being there amongst ancient times in these places. Fantasizing about the fish, game, wildlife which was there especially 😅🎣. That sounds fantastic on your Father-I.L's ranchland! South Dakota has so much great rock! I'm fascinated with the artifacts, too. However, I fantasize about how many Fairburns were laying around before people started picking them up!!! Right there with ya on the dreams of bygone agate abundance, MikeT! Often think about the early days, maybe pre-1940's, pre-easy-roadtrip & rockhound craze days. We have a lot of places named for colorful rocks around here, like Paint Lick, & can only imagine how it would've looked full of giant agate boulders! I've seen a couple 20inch+ agates in other folk's collections- one with giant black & imperial red eyes covering the entire surface-uncut 😱🤪. Fairburns are gorgeous, wonder how big they would've been available back then... & Maybe fossil-bone out that way too? Also wonder if some of those early European settlers from places with centuries of agate carving, like Germany & Scotland, were collecting/ working U.S. agates early on. Maybe not, since survival was rough & gemstones might've been more of a 'royal' thing. At least in KY, the tribes weren't really big on using our agate for tools since it's so heavily fractured & the chert so knaps so much easier. |
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Post by jasoninsd on Jan 27, 2021 19:03:03 GMT -5
I'm fascinated with the artifacts, too. However, I fantasize about how many Fairburns were laying around before people started picking them up!!! Right there with ya on the dreams of bygone agate abundance, MikeT! Often think about the early days, maybe pre-1940's, pre-easy-roadtrip & rockhound craze days. We have a lot of places named for colorful rocks around here, like Paint Lick, & can only imagine how it would've looked full of giant agate boulders! I've seen a couple 20inch+ agates in other folk's collections- one with giant black & imperial red eyes covering the entire surface-uncut 😱🤪. Fairburns are gorgeous, wonder how big they would've been available back then... & Maybe fossil-bone out that way too? Also wonder if some of those early European settlers from places with centuries of agate carving, like Germany & Scotland, were collecting/ working U.S. agates early on. Maybe not, since survival was rough & gemstones might've been more of a 'royal' thing. At least in KY, the tribes weren't really big on using our agate for tools since it's so heavily fractured & the chert so knaps so much easier. Here's a link to mindat - it shows pics and describes "The Custer Queen"...it's 53.5 pounds... www.mindat.org/gl/303633I cringe when I hear stories from old-timers who describe knowing people who have/had buckets of Fairburns tucked away in closets and under beds...that right I said BUCKETS!!! LOL |
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agatemaggot
Cave Dweller 
Member since August 2006
Posts: 2,195
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Post by agatemaggot on Jan 27, 2021 21:40:51 GMT -5
My guess would be the grooved stone was used for smoothing something like a dart or arrow shaft !
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Post by Pat on Jan 27, 2021 22:05:47 GMT -5
I don’t know anything about the artifacts. However, the pictures of the men wearing very big rings in their ears intrigues me. Seems like the rings would be a problem in battle or hunting. Opinion?
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rockhoundoz
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2017
Posts: 135
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Post by rockhoundoz on Jan 27, 2021 23:23:02 GMT -5
Right there with ya on the dreams of bygone agate abundance, MikeT! Often think about the early days, maybe pre-1940's, pre-easy-roadtrip & rockhound craze days. We have a lot of places named for colorful rocks around here, like Paint Lick, & can only imagine how it would've looked full of giant agate boulders! I've seen a couple 20inch+ agates in other folk's collections- one with giant black & imperial red eyes covering the entire surface-uncut 😱🤪. Fairburns are gorgeous, wonder how big they would've been available back then... & Maybe fossil-bone out that way too? Also wonder if some of those early European settlers from places with centuries of agate carving, like Germany & Scotland, were collecting/ working U.S. agates early on. Maybe not, since survival was rough & gemstones might've been more of a 'royal' thing. At least in KY, the tribes weren't really big on using our agate for tools since it's so heavily fractured & the chert so knaps so much easier. Here's a link to mindat - it shows pics and describes "The Custer Queen"...it's 53.5 pounds... www.mindat.org/gl/303633I cringe when I hear stories from old-timers who describe knowing people who have/had buckets of Fairburns tucked away in closets and under beds...that right I said BUCKETS!!! LOL Wowzers!! That 53lber is gorgeous!& guess that thing is probably only less than 1/2 of the original whole nodule? Fairburns & Kentucky's have so many visual similarities & I look at them as sedimentary cousins, even though I know there's some debate about fairburns not being completely sedimentary. Maybe one day you shall discover & inherit such a bucket 🤞, may you be so lucky 🍀. agatemaggot: excellent idea, I like that one too. Are you thinking basically something like a rasp? Had you seen something like that before? Pat: great point! I have enough trouble with stabbing my plain ol' earlobes on random sharp branches, or ripping em with thorns etc in the woods just walking, heh. I wonder if the gentlemen with such elaborate & large ear-work were mostly all dignitaries & leaders, perhaps when stretched to such an extreme level, it's even an indication of being set aside from such grunt work as battle & hunting? |
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