fake or real thunderbird?...is that even a real question?

[birdpointgriswold]

Ok so I'm in the huge debate about this piece... for one it was said to be found in Florida, and as Gatorboy has told me, thunderbirds, eagles blah blah were only associated with the west. The guy who posted is asking if it is real or fake.. there are some guys telling him 1000 percent it is real. While me on the other hand would bet everything I own that it is a fake. I've read 99.9 percent of these things are modern. I just wanted to see what you guys think and if anyone had a good website, or documented info about these things! Thanks

 

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[NC field hunter]

Ok so I'm in the huge debate about this piece... for one it was said to be found in Florida, and as Gatorboy has told me, thunderbirds, eagles blah blah were only associated with the west. The guy who posted is asking if it is real or fake.. there are some guys telling him 1000 percent it is real. While me on the other hand would bet everything I own that it is a fake. I've read 99.9 percent of these things are modern. I just wanted to see what you guys think and if anyone had a good website, or documented info about these things! Thanks

<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=820628"/>

Twitch and I were talking about these while hunting a few weeks back. I told him, it would totally be my luck to find a thunder bird. I would know it was real, but could never show it off due to the hype about these being fake. I think a the fakers had to get the idea of these from some place. A real one has to exist. Was this one supposedly found in NC?

 

[rock]

I about spit my drink all over the screen when I saw it

 

[birdpointgriswold]

Twitch and I were talking about these while hunting a few weeks back. I told him, it would totally be my luck to find a thunder bird. I would know it was real, but could never show it off due to the hype about these being fake. I think a the fakers had to get the idea of these from some place. A real one has to exist. Was this one supposedly found in NC?

No guy posted and said it was in florida

 

[NC field hunter]

I about spit my drink all over the screen when I saw it

Why?

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

They made effigy of lots of animals they considered spiritual and the eagle was at top of list spiritually. I am sure some were made, but with that said 99.9% of those for sale or trade are fake.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[RGINN]

To me it looks more like a representation of a water bird, like a cormorant. It is a crude representation, but closer to that than a thunderbird. I know a lot of folks in the Native American Church and they use the water bird symbol a lot and this looks similar. It might be somethin related to that.

 

[Mackaydon]

RGINN,
I agree with you.
A thunderbird has a short neck; the cormorant has a long neck--like in the OP's post.
Don

 

[NC field hunter]

To me it looks more like a representation of a water bird, like a cormorant. It is a crude representation, but closer to that than a thunderbird. I know a lot of folks in the Native American Church and they use the water bird symbol a lot and this looks similar. It might be somethin related to that.

I thought the long neck looked like a heron or Crain type bird as well.

 

[birdpointgriswold]

Well it may not be a thunderbird but what I really would like to know if you guys think it is authentic

 

[GatorBoy]

Without holding it or at least more and better photos I can't say anything very positive other than..if this piece was indeed found in Florida and is authentic there is a good chance its just a interesting drill made from a "Citrus" or "Clay"



projectile point.







I have seen a "bit" type end added to drills in the past.
Pretty common on shell drills



.then there is the possibility that some retouching was done to an authentic artifact then tossed in a bucket of rusty nails and water for a while.
All I can say for sure is..in all my studies I've never seen or heard of a similar artifact documented as a effigy bird in my home state.

 

[birdpointgriswold]

They made effigy of lots of animals they considered spiritual and the eagle was at top of list spiritually. I am sure some were made, but with that said 99.9% of those for sale or trade are fake.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Yep!

 

[GaRebel1861]

A drill also crossed my mind when I looked at the picture. If I found that while out hunting that is what I would have called it. JMO

 

[digordie]

Looks authentic to me.

 

[GaRebel1861]

This is the closest thing that I have in my collection to what yours is.

 

[rock]

Better pics and all sides would be great.

 

[GatorBoy]

This is the closest thing that I have in my collect to what yours is.

Nice one

 

[GaRebel1861]

Nice one

Thanks - Fire break find while walking back to the truck and took a shortcut far from where I thought stuff should be. I guess you just never know where it will all be. I also think this "Thunderbird" is just a drill and a really nice one, I might add!

 

[The Grim Reaper]

No such thing as a real Thunderbird so it is definitely a fake.

 

[eastTNJoe]

I don't know guys....I have no expertise about determining authentic from fake...the main reason why I decided not to buy anything...but looking at the cool drills posted and the original photo I see a big difference....the picture of the piece in question is very uniform and the "wings" are pronounced in their curvature, while the drills look like regular notches on a point. The "neck and head" are also really narrow, while most of the drill pics show a taper...even the "tail" is longer than the base on the drills shown...I again have no experience to judge...haven't even found a drill yet, but they just look very different to me...nonetheless, thanks for sharing and it makes for some interesting debate.