Found Some Unusual Artifacts Today

[bmartin0693]

I went to a new spot where I ride 4wheelers today. I have been seeing a lot of broken, patinated schist pieces eroded out of the trail. Ended up finding more than I expected. Most of the pieces were too broken or weathered to see actual good worked edges. I left them laying on the ground along with some that are probably natural. One rock has a square notched out of it; I left it in the same spot as it always is in the trail. I kept 6 pieces that have the more noticeable lithics, but they're still in weathered condition. I found 5 of them in the trail and the dark colored knife in the middle I found in the creek. I just stuck my hands in the water to rinse the dirt off and picked that one right up. All the materials I think is schist/ garnet-schist. I found a quartz blade edge I think too. These schist materials are new to my collection. I've never seen any examples of schist from NC. Any one have ideas on what kind of age these are?

 

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[bmartin0693]

More pics. My girlfriend actually found the one that has the side notch and is broken. That was her first lol. She isn't very enthused about hunting for artifacts like me.

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Sorry bmartin, but I don't see anything in your pics that is an actual artifact. They all just look like natural stones to me.

 

[civil_war22]

Same here. All just natural stones. Sorry for bad news

 

[bmartin0693]

LOL. There looks to be edge work definitely on the piece of garnet schist though. Need opinions from those who know about schist materials. Most artifacts I find don't look like these pretty materials some of yall find. Plus something that is truly ancient will show it. I'm just speculating but if I lived in ancient times and didn't have flint/chert/rhyolite readily available I would resort to another source of material. Perhaps even finding stones that Mother Nature made already that looks like a weapon or a tool suited the use of your desire. I have a homemade tomahawk w/ handle. The stone I found may or may not have been an artifact, but it works for the weapon I desired to create. It looks really cool anyway. Actually, I found a Guilford very close by to this spot on the same ridge-side. Schists can be split along the plane in which the platy minerals lie, which mean they can be flaked or slabbed off. I'm about 60% sure it's made of schist also. Also, a Morrow Mtn, a broken Hardaway and a black flint eccentric stem were found close by too. This here place isnt your regular walk in the city park.

 

[NC field hunter]

B, I'm going to say it. Your first piece, not only will I tell you is an agricultural tool, I promise you. Reaper, you know I respect you and my jaw drops on most of your threads. I wish all of the finds around here were the quality of yours. Ours aren't even close for the most part. The Ph of our soil along with poor lithic makes NC a tough state to hunt. One must spend multiple hours in nature observing hafting scars, crude grinding, angles, and wear on specific spots along the angled bottoms. "Life ain't no crystal stair" once in a while, a nice polished piece will show up. For the most part, NC. Collectors have to trade and go to each other for answers. From what I can tell, our state has near the worst lithic of any. So, don't think I'm disagreeing with you just to be a fire starter. I have seen, and gathered many pieces that twin BMartins find. Much of the lithic here is either so frail or so hard, natural stones were gathered that needed little to no alteration. I have spent 25 or so years hunting. All of those years were spent hunting NC. And VA. No other states. I'm no expert, and for any of us to self proclaim expertise, well, would be sheer arrogance.

 

[bmartin0693]

This area erodes with very steep ridges and 5 foot deep ditches. Mainly, this part of NC I live, it's an old mountain range off to the side of the Appalachian Mtns. Weathering/soil conditions has really changed this area from it used to be, along with the artifacts that were left behind. I am not an expert either, just needing some backup. From what experience I have, I don't post every rock I find unless there is an unusual formation/modification that I can't explain as being natural. These finds aren't ordinary lithic materials so they have poor quality as well. When I look for artifacts, I do spend time looking for characteristics of lithic modification on some rocks and how they fracture. Then some have characteristics that are without a doubt noticeable. I haven't found many "pretty materials" in NC as long as I've been hunting for at least 15 years. Maybe some speckled rhyolite and quartz being the best, but they're not going to look perfect. Just as Rusty quoted, "Life ain't no crystal stair."

 

[bristowboy]

You guys would have a blast hunting with the guy I met at Calf Creek Caves in Arkansas. I sat there and watched him poking around in the creek bank and EVERY SINGLE ROCK he picked up was an "artifact". I had never seen such a loony guy LOL. I PROMISE you they were just creek gravel. No edges whatsoever. Just rocks. He did not have a single actual artifact at all. And he wasn't trying to hide the real stuff either. He told us there was an axe in the back of his truck so we went and looked. It was a larger piece of creek gravel with no signs of any human ever touching it before him. I kinda felt sorry for him lol. We were gonna check the caves out but when we got there we discovered that they had been dug a hundred times over. A group of guys were digging on the hillside outside but we didn't talk to them to see if they had found anything.

The things I see in these photos look a heck of a lot better than the rocks that man had in Arkansas. And I know a lot of eastern artifacts are just crappy. I have some NC artifacts a man gave me. They aren't the prettiest lol. But hey, at least you guys have some.

 

[rock]

The crude ones are always a tough call. Id go for the notched ones if any. I did have somebody look at my tan one I posted a while back. He said yeah its a tool . Thats all he could say on it. Not all " Tools" have names. Somethings will always be a mystery. It looks great in my flowerbed.

 

[GatorBoy]

Sorry I don't see an artifact either..
It should tell you something that these pieces were found amongst a bunch of other natural pieces of the same material.
Just being honest.. not trying to be a downer at all.

 

[bmartin0693]

Hmm ok. Still not set on this spot so I went back and found a weathered old Guilford. I also found another schist blade with heavy deposits and an unusual unfinished piece with heavy deposits. None of these look like the same material. If they are the same, they have an unusual form compared to all the others I have looked at. According to NC petrology, soils are very acidic in this area so the change is unavoidable. Also, I found all of these a few inches under ground so I'm not sure what process in nature made these like this in the same 25 yard radius. I'm speculating that these older, more weathered artifacts found its way further downhill toward the creek. Hopefully I can work my way uphill and/or across this ridge to find some fresher pieces. If I find a pretty material, that would be great. However, I won't be looking for anything spectacular b/c I know that's tough hunting here in NC.

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Still don't see any artifacts in that bunch either. That is not a Guilford and the schist piece isn't anything either.

 

[rock]

OK I am going to tell you a theory I have been thinking on for quite a while. I tend to believe in those type of rocks(the grainy type) if the cortex has been removed they will break down and eventually disappear just as leaves do but of course it would take thousands of yrs instead of months and the reason I say that is because I have found some that are indeed artifacts that look as if they were degrading in texture. I will show you one for an example. This one still has some flaking but not much. At the time it was made I believe it was a fine Bi Face. I am not saying yours is like this but I do believe it does happen and is not impossible. I have also included a knife made from Schist.
In all honesty I will say I do not believe those are anything more than river rocks and if I am wrong I will say I am sorry in advance for the wrong call, rock

 

[SCrocks]

bmartin- I'm in the same boat and find many crude tools and preforms. If I posted a photo many would call them just rocks. Just my opinion but I don't see any as being artifacts

 

[GatorBoy]

Still don't see any artifacts in that bunch either. That is not a Guilford and the schist piece isn't anything either.

He's right.

 

[bmartin0693]

I'm very particular about the rocks I find. I knew some expert would be reluctant to say natural, however given the context of how much experience I have in NC, a completely random rock will not make it in my collection. I know the Guilford isn't a piece of gold. If you were familiar with NC at all you would know that all them pretty materials isn't all that is found in NC. There is artifacts that couldn't stand the pressures over time and they look completely different than they used to. If there is some process that changed these rocks to have a shape and structure of a tool or artifact I would like to see it. Otherwise, I'm set on this area having artifacts especially since I have found artifacts here for the last 5 years. I stumbled across these forms recently and I agree they are unusual but it looks like there is a use that goes along with these finds. I am the only person that has ever hunted it and I could go hunt for arrowheads somewhere else but I haven't.

 

[GatorBoy]

I have many North Carolina points and tools.. and several friends who live there and have hundreds.
Its not the material that makes those rocks just rocks...its the fact that it's clearly evident to experienced eyes that no knapping was done to create those shapes.
I have many Guilford points and some pretty ugly ones too.

 

[rock]

Could it be possible the rocks you have were used for a camp fire seeing you have found artifacts in the past there or even for shelter? Just a thought seeing you are set on them being used. I have noticed rocks more in certain sections of the fields more than other sections. I figured they probably moved them for their camp and left them out of the way. I know if I had bare feet I wouldnt want to step on rocks where I lived at.

 

[GatorBoy]

 

[Tnmountains]

Everything has the right shape and some the right material just not worked by man. Each would give you pause in the field though. Do not let it get you down because when you get into them you will have learned a lot.