Really cool find today. Gorget! Or ????

[Pancake]

First day we've had above freezing in a week. I went digging for a bit in a spot where I found three really nice points before it got cold and found a bunch of chips, a few shells and animal bones and then this. I've never found anything like it. You can see where a third hole was drilled but the stone broke. Thoughts or opinions. It was found in Massachusetts, 50 feet from a salt water pond.

 

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[jamey]

THAT IS NEAT..do nt know much about them as i have never found one.im not sure about it being anything but natural though.do you see any grooves inside the holes

 

[Pancake]

Yes, there are groove marks inside the holes. No way this is natural. It appears to be a very soft stone of some sort. A soapstone possibly. I was able to find a picture of a similar piece, only more broken and with only one hole drilled, in a book from an excavation done about a mile from where I am. They classified it as possible Gorget or Pendant.

 

[jamey]

dosent seem nice enough for a gorget or pendent,i think,maybe they used it to so to say temper their drills.but like i said i know very little about them,thanks for posting it as id like to learn more about it

 

[wells]

What is the material - looks like soapstone by the pic. - if so they should be repair holes in a fragment of a soapstone vessel. Looks a bit thin, but thats my best guess.

 

[Pancake]

I'm 99% sure it's soapstone. I'm fairly new to artifact hunting, what do you mean by repair holes to a soapstone vessel?

 

[NC field hunter]

I see where a third hole was. Interesting find. I can't say I'm familiar with the lithic on this one.

 

[jamey]

that wise one mr wells thinks it could of been a pot or cup or water bottle,so on.

 

[Gold Maven]

odd.

 

[bsit1361]

In my opinion it looks like a shard of soapstone drilled where handles would've been. I've got pieces of bowls with 2 holes but not 3. Pretty cool.

 

[Tnmountains]

I have seen bowls and vessels but all I have ever found was a gorget made of that material. That is a cool find. Very promising site for sure.

 

[wells]

I'm 99% sure it's soapstone. I'm fairly new to artifact hunting, what do you mean by repair holes to a soapstone vessel?

Soapstone bowls and pots sooner or later would crack from use. They were repaired by drilling a hole on either side of the crack and then drawn together with rawhide or cordage. The fragment you show looks like it had two or three cracks being repaired.

 

[musky44]

maybe the top of a steatite bowl. the holes may have been for running cordage through for carrying. i have a few pieces of steatite bowls that i have found but none with holes. that is a cool piece.

 

[Pancake]

After doing a bunch of research, I'm sure this is a piece of a soapstone vessel (bowl, etc..) with repair holes. Very excited about this find. We have no soapstone here so it would have been traded.

 

[wells]

After doing a bunch of research, I'm sure this is a piece of a soapstone vessel (bowl, etc..) with repair holes. Very excited about this find. We have no soapstone here so it would have been traded.

There are soapstone quarries in Mass., Pa. , Md. and Va.

 

[Pancake]

There are soapstone quarries in Mass., Pa. , Md. and Va.

I live on Martha's Vineyard, an island about 7 miles off the coast of Mass. No soapstone here.

 

[rock]

Very cool find. I cant wait to see what else you pull from that spot.

 

[Charl]

Soapstone bowls and pots sooner or later would crack from use. They were repaired by drilling a hole on either side of the crack and then drawn together with rawhide or cordage. The fragment you show looks like it had two or three cracks being repaired.

Yes, that's likely what it is. Even though soapstone is a soft stone, it was still time consuming, especially where large vessels are concerned, so repairs were the order of the day. Some of the largest quarries in the region were located in what is now RI. Have found bowl forms, partial bowls and countless shards. Here's a shard with repair hole and partial hole...

 

[Charl]

There are soapstone quarries in Mass., Pa. , Md. and Va.

Here's an old photo of the Ochee Springs soapstone quarry in Johnston, RI. Protected, and on the National Historic Register, bowl forms can still be seen attached to the outcrop.