I found this 'tool' in the Puget Sound area of Washington. I automatically gripped it by placing my thumb in the larger depression, and it fits perfectly. Very easy to hold, with a silky smooth feel to it. But what is it?
I didn't realize when I first posted this that it might be questionable if man-made vs. a natural object. Here's a little more info:
Found on a beach created some 13-14 thousand years ago by the last glacial epoch when this area was under thousands of feet of ice. Rocks on this beach are only glacial and surf rounded/oval shaped "pea sized gravel" and sand. I've spent hundreds of hours here, and all the other larger rocks I've seen here have been a scraper and 2 points that I found, and debitage. Not quite as easy as it sounds to hunt, as there are broken pieces of clam and oyster shells, lots of oval shaped leaves with serrated edges, pieces of bark, pieces of crab shells, etc. to distract your eye. I have seen other tools and points that were found here many years ago.
Rich.... I hope this turns out to be something, but we here cant figure it out. We'll need more/better pictures and something (coin) to show some scale as to size!
Rich what do you think it might be? You can hold it and it is hard to tell from a picture sometimes. Are you thinking a striking tool? Without distinct or faint workmanship it is hard to tell
Good luck !
I don't have a clue how it it was used or for what - other than it fits the hand perfectly and seems to be well worn before the additional effects of being water worn. Being a coastal area, there's a wide variety of tools not used inland - from 'salmon packers' to tools used for carving totem poles to opening oysters, getting oil from seals, etc. There's other tools that have been found here that also are not at all obvious what they are or what they were used for.
Below is an another unknown tool that I found at the same spot. The inner curve is smooth and a little more than 1/4" thick that gradually tapers off toward the slightly larger outer curve. Each end is also tapered towards it's outer edge. Towards each end is a slightly larger notch on the outer edge
Best guess to date is some kind of variant of a crescent, but I haven't been able to find a photo of anything that really fits. Any ideas on what kind of tool this is / what it was used for?