Tuesday, January 24, 2006

The debate is over



I found this in the creek. A lively debate ensued concerning the origin.

Me: "It's an ancient Indian artifact!"

Hubby: "It's a rock."



Last weekend a chicken farmer/archaeologist gave a talk at the local museum. (Yes, in Alabama you can be a chicken farmer and an archaeologist at the same time.)

The newspaper had promised that after the presentation, he'd identify any local artifacts that people brought.

Most people had arrowheads. Except that we learned most were actually spear tips instead, and older than true arrowheads (which in this area apparently tend to be quite small). One kid had a particularly fine Clovis point. A man showed everyone a hematite atlatl weight (bannerstone) that his father had found.

There was a large crowd. I waited impatiently at the end of the line. And finally discovered that my curious artifact was... a rock.



A piece of chert. He told me the scientific name of the phenomenon that caused the groove. But in my crushing disappointment I've forgotten it.

18 comments:

Karen Schmautz said...

Oh, shoot. What does he know anyway? I think it's bee-utiful and it will always be an Indian artifact in my mind...of course, I hear voices, too.

Sometimes they give me good advice.

Heh!

robin andrea said...

Funny, I thought it looked like fossilized bone. It's cool no matter what.

Anonymous said...

I thought it was homemade bread. Now I'm hungry.

Rocks make nice pets by the way.

Anonymous said...

These are the kinds of artifacts I find too.

Anonymous said...

regardless, it is nicely formed and can suggest many uses! i'm with RD, i thought it was a vertebra or something!

Anonymous said...

Well, I thought it looked like a bone too! I started to go to that meeting (Fred went)but we were wrecking forms at our house site! Woo hoo!!

Rachel said...

Looks like a very interesting rock at that!

R.Powers said...

I have that same rock, have always wondered...weathering or human work. Now I too know the truth.


kpuabng = the sound made by throwing a now not mysterious rock into a pond.

Janet said...

Well, it was a neat lookin' rock, anyway! We have found quite a few arrowheads on our farm over the years.Every year when we till up the corn field,my husband finds more.

Taradharma said...

I'm with RD (in spirit and in her comment): I thought it must've been a fossilized vertebrae.

Anonymous said...

I thought it was a popover, Sandra style.*






*Sandra is my mother, can barley boil a pot of water.

Bill said...

Surely a rock like that would have been used by somebody as some kind of tool

Marsha said...

It kind of looks like an artificial knee replacement implant to me.

Hm.

Rhodent said...

Well, at least it is an INTERESTING rock!

Walter Jeffries said...

Bummer! And it would have been such an interesting hammer head. Well, make a handle for it! Then it will be an artifact. :)

Rurality said...

Yeah it does look a little like a bone, but when you look straight down on it you can see that it's not... I didn't get a good pic from that angle though.

It's possible that the guy said it was a concretion... but I really can't remember! I was soooo disappointed. I know Pablo feels my pain, since he hunts for Indian artifacts on his land too.

Weldergirl, we saw Fred there. Hubby talked to him while I waited in line. You don't know how thrilled I am whenever we go somewhere and end up knowing somebody! By the way you SO need to do a blog on your house construction!

Thank you all for loving my little faux stone implement/pet/bread/bone/ popover/knee/hammer rock even though it wasn't a high-falutin' art-ee-fact.

Elena said...

I thought popover, too.
Maybe I need a snack...

Anonymous said...

It looks a lot like something out of my bread machine. I must get fresh yeast!