Here is a 5.25" spade that I found in Central Ky when I was a kid. It is made of cotton rock. This type of rock is very light-weight, but sturdy. It has a lot of polish from use on the bit. I put a penny in the pic for size comparison.
Sweet! How thick is that? I found a broken piece a couple days ago which looks like the bottom of your spade.
It is about 1/2 inch thick. It drives me crazy when I find broken celts or spades like that! It makes you wonder just how big it could have been! It's still a good find even if it is broken. Here lately, it seems I pick up 20 - 30 broken celts and points for every good point or celt that I find. I still save up the broken pieces just in case I find the other half. Keep looking, you just might find the other half! It looks like you are on a good site.
Damn nice celt. We find quite a bit of cottonrock here (celts generally) and the stuff mystified me for a long time. It's hard to find good reference on it, but banks did include it in one of his rare publications. It's actually a result of tripolitic weathering. Which makes sense, since the Ozarks is well known for tripoli mining. Here, the tripolitic weathering is a limey leaching of mainly the boone family (Reed Springs, Keokuk, Moorefield ) and Novaculite, Bigfork, etc, there is would be a different material.
I have found 20-30 "cottonrock" celts in different stages of manufacture & use and every single one of them I found were associated with Hopewell occupation. I have seen 2 specimens from Missouri (both full grooved axes) dating Archaic.
Damn nice celt. We find quite a bit of cottonrock here (celts generally) and the stuff mystified me for a long time. It's hard to find good reference on it, but banks did include it in one of his rare publications. It's actually a result of tripolitic weathering. Which makes sense, since the Ozarks is well known for tripoli mining. Here, the tripolitic weathering is a limey leaching of mainly the boone family (Reed Springs, Keokuk, Moorefield ) and Novaculite, Bigfork, etc, there is would be a different material.
I have found 20-30 "cottonrock" celts in different stages of manufacture & use and every single one of them I found were associated with Hopewell occupation. I have seen 2 specimens from Missouri (both full grooved axes) dating Archaic.
Hey Matt! Thanks for the good info. By looking at it, you would think that it would be pretty heavy. This piece is very light-weight. I was definitely surprised when I picked it up in the field. It was so light that I thought my uncle was playing tricks on me.
Yup, cottonrock can be some trippy stuff! It's so incredibly light that you know it can't serve a purpose in that particular form. People often raise an eyebrow and automatically think "fake" when they handle them. I sure do like them though!
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Originally Posted by romeo-1
