free bird stone, ill take it

[trevmma]

one of my good old time friends handed this to me the other day, looks good but the drill hole has the outer ring that coyuld be a drill
chuck . i dont know what do u think. thanks

[Felinepeachy]

It's beautiful but what is it? What's it for? Sorry, I just haven't learned about these yet.

[mickey]

did you say free? who knows for sure if it's the real thing. i look for plow scars, imperfect drill holes, wear on the holes, etc. i forwarded your pictures to some "experts" to see what they have to say. birdstones are predominately made of banded slate and are found mostly in the great lakes states. they date back to the glacial kame period (approx 3000bc to approx 500bc). their exact use is unknown, even though many people have suggested everything from a fixture put on the front of a canoe to causing fertility in females. a friend of mine found two birdstones in sandusky bay, ohio. they were located at the head of a burial, suggesting they may have been woven into the hair. i was lucky enough to find one in erie county ohio a couple of years ago. i'm just glad to see a picture of a birdstone on this site. i was beginning to think i found the last one! good hunting to all. brian.

[The Grim Reaper]

Do you know where your friend got it? Did he find it?

If real you just got the artifact of a lifetime. I have been hunting for 46 years and only have a half of one to show for my efforts (it's missing the head).

I would send it off and have it authenticated and then if it's real put it up and don't handle it a lot.

[Get-the-point]

did you say free? who knows for sure if it's the real thing. i look for plow scars, imperfect drill holes, wear on the holes, etc. i forwarded your pictures to some "experts" to see what they have to say. birdstones are predominately made of banded slate and are found mostly in the great lakes states. they date back to the glacial kame period (approx 3000bc to approx 500bc). their exact use is unknown, even though many people have suggested everything from a fixture put on the front of a canoe to causing fertility in females. a friend of mine found two birdstones in sandusky bay, ohio. they were located at the head of a burial, suggesting they may have been woven into the hair. i was lucky enough to find one in erie county ohio a couple of years ago. i'm just glad to see a picture of a birdstone on this site. i was beginning to think i found the last one! good hunting to all. brian.

Mickey, I would love to see the one you found, if you can post a couple of pictures of it that would be great. As far as this birdstone. The hole that has the circle around the outer edge has me questioning it. The rear hole looks to have mineralization in the hole suggesting age. The striation marks look like possible sanding on the bottom around the head and neck area. Have it looked at and authenticated and get back to us on it. I understand why you have ?'s on this though. I hope it is real, if it is..... that was one heck of a gift. About $2500+ worth of a gift!!!!................................GTP

[pointdlr]

Trevma,
It is a nice gift, but the birdstone is a reproduction. Lots of them coming out from a collector in New York who got ripped off. This example is very similar to the ones this guy got burnt on. I Wouldn't be surprised if it came through that guy. He is selling them for $25-$50 each on ebay after paying $2500-$5000 each.
Don't waste your money having it authenticated. Stick it on your shelf, and remember the gift. The only thing the maker got right was the material. Wish I had better news, but better to know.
Regards,
Jon Dickinson.

[Get-the-point]

Trevma,
It is a nice gift, but the birdstone is a reproduction. Lots of them coming out from a collector in New York who got ripped off. This example is very similar to the ones this guy got burnt on. I Wouldn't be surprised if it came through that guy. He is selling them for $25-$50 each on ebay after paying $2500-$5000 each.
Don't waste your money having it authenticated. Stick it on your shelf, and remember the gift. The only thing the maker got right was the material. Wish I had better news, but better to know.
Regards,
Jon Dickinson.

[trevmma]

i will find some artistic thing to do with it, thanks i was curious about that hole anyway.

[joshuaream]

Jon is absolutely correct. It's a nice gift that I am sure someone paid a lot of money for at one point...

[The Grim Reaper]

Thanks for that info Jon. I had my suspicions, but I haven't handled enough of these to be 100% sure about it being a repro.

[Th3rty7]

At least you aren't a couple of g's in the hole. Good repro study piece and a nice gift anyway.

Birdstones are way to scary for me.

[ohioaxeman]

either way, it will make a great study piece! Seeing how its a gift, I would get it authenticated anyways for the 50 or so bucks it would cost, just to see!

[The Grim Reaper]

Just to show what a real one looks like here is one I found back in 1984 in Lewis county Kentucky. It has the head missing and is broke out on the backside, but still a very nice study piece. The head was a fresh break and in the 27 years since I found this I have hunted the spot many times and never saw a trace of it. I asked every person I knew who hunted there and everyone I ever ran into in the fields and no one had ever found a Birdstone head.

[mickey]

here's my baby. erie county ohio. 2009. lady luck was smiling on me that day. now the pressure is on me to find another one. a friend of mine found a nice spineback gorget in the same field. maybe he'll let me post it some day on this site. good hunting. brian.

[moundbuilder]

Trevma,
It is a nice gift, but the birdstone is a reproduction. Lots of them coming out from a collector in New York who got ripped off. This example is very similar to the ones this guy got burnt on. I Wouldn't be surprised if it came through that guy. He is selling them for $25-$50 each on ebay after paying $2500-$5000 each.
Don't waste your money having it authenticated. Stick it on your shelf, and remember the gift. The only thing the maker got right was the material. Wish I had better news, but better to know.
Regards,
Jon Dickinson.

This is the wisest post I have ever seen on this board and as you said, better to know. Chuck showed me this tonight. The good thing about digging privies is you'll never find a fake at the bottom of a hole (call us, we have some permissions lined up)! Sorry to be such a stranger lately. Rob

[Tnmountains]

I have found the head to a popeye birdstone. I was lucky to find that. Nice gift fun to look at.

[Flint-seeker]

I have found the head to a popeye birdstone. I was lucky to find that. Nice gift fun to look at.

TnMountains, mind sharing a pick of your Popeye?