whatsit

[DirtDiggler]

Hopefully the pic will show up. Don't know if it relates to JS or not but I figured the readers on here could identify this smelter or whatsit. Me and a buddy come across this yesterday in the woods. The top part was broken and we placed it back the best way we could.

[boomer]

Hmmm, good question. it could go ether way. if it was a small test furnace there should be evidence of some type of slag in the bottom of the fire box. to me its important to carry a small pocket metal detector for checking places like this. dig in the ash to see whats in there. the sandstone is cut square, did they cut it this way? or is this part of an old stone structure of some kind, that they used for the fire place. this could be just a fireplace with a small hot fire the sandstone would heat up and put off radiant heat. this would keep it cozy warm close to the stone. look around and see if there are more of the stones in piles, are there any cliffs, caves or rockhouses. check the ground all around to see if there are any places that may have been dug into. remember that any holes would have filled up with debris over the years. check old stories on indians, mining the old outlaws of this area and don't forget the wars. go over a topo map. that cover rock on top with the hole? i'll give a guess on that. the way its chipped to form a hollow, could a small iron kettle be placed there and with that hole, it would consentrat the heat enough for melting something or heating up a stew or water? good luck.

[vamelungeon]

Have any more pictures of the site? What else is around it?

[-Ki-]

From just looking at this picture it looks like a Hematitic ore (iron ore) to me...
"iron sulfides" - that is pyrite. "fool's gold." Or in somecases cases, "fool's silver." is what the middle of the rock appears to be........ The outer part of the rock is red which means iron oxide is present...Is just my opinion

[BMan]

I've found lots of Hematite geodes in my area. The ones 6-7 inches are hollow with quartz crystals and ocher powder.

That's what that reminds me of.