Looking for some opinions

darkwaterdivr

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I found something while fossil hunting this past weekend that has me curious. I'm really not sure if this is anything or not, but it just looked too unnatural for to me to leave it behind. It has four distinct sides with a groove between each, and one side looks like very much like a dovetail. The "dovetailed" side is almost perfectly flat. To my untrained eye it appears to have been worked, but I wanted see what others who are more familiar with artifacts thought. Thanks in advance for your input.

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rock

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Welcome aboard. Do you think it might be a type of bone or antler maybe? Im just guessing.
 

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darkwaterdivr

darkwaterdivr

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Thanks for the welcome y'all.

When I first picked it up rock, I was pretty convinced that it was bone, but the flat surface on what I'm calling the dovetail sure does have almost an antler type grain appearance to it. Honestly, the more I look at it the more confused and unsure I get. I'm still kind of leaning toward bone, but I think antler and to a lesser extent maybe even petrified wood might be a possibility.
 

VonPalm

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Yes looks like a piece of antler, perhaps worn at some point as a piece of jewelry (probably better chances of that is the native culture was more prominent in your area?)
 

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darkwaterdivr

darkwaterdivr

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Might have been used as a sharpening stone?

Maybe? My best guess so far is that it possibly could have been an arrow shaft smoother or something along those lines. I do OK on fossils, but when it comes to Native American stuff I wouldn't even consider myself an amateur. I'd be pretty happy just confirming that it is in fact something man made and not just something that fooled me.

Yes looks like a piece of antler, perhaps worn at some point as a piece of jewelry (probably better chances of that is the native culture was more prominent in your area?)

I found it in an area where several tribes would have most likely overlapped, with Creek probably being the largest of those tribes.
 

rock

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GatorBoy would know if he happens to drop by. He collects fossils and knows his stuff.
 

GatorBoy

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Georgia?
Also..it doesn't look like antler to me.
What type of fossil do you think it is?
 

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EccentricInTexas

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What ever it is its really neat!!!
 

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darkwaterdivr

darkwaterdivr

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Georgia?
Also..it doesn't look like antler to me.
What type of fossil do you think it is?

South Carolina, although not too far at all from GA. I picked it up because I thought it was fossil bone that had been worked. If its natural bone that hasnt been worked, I dont have clue as to what it might be from. I've made lots of dives and seen tons of bone in SC rivers over the years, but I've never ran across anything that looked quite like this before.
 

GatorBoy

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Sometimes things that separated long ago then worn by the elements look like a strange new fossil...
forgetting about the shape for a moment... What type fossils do you find at this spot?How does the bone material compare? Does it seem like turtle?, mammal? Edisto river maybe?
 

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darkwaterdivr

darkwaterdivr

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Sometimes things that separated long ago then worn by the elements look like a strange new fossil...
forgetting about the shape for a moment... What type fossils do you find at this spot?How does the bone material compare? Does it seem like turtle?, mammal? Edisto river maybe?

I'm primarily targeting Meg teeth when I go out, but a large majority of what I run accross is mammal (land & sea), and it seems more consistent with mammal to me. It doesn't strike me as whale, but it definitely doesn't look like any turtle or gator stuff that I've picked up in that area in color or material. That of course doesn't mean it isnt. I have also picked up a point or two in this particular area in the past, and that's probably how the idea that it could possibly be Indian got into my head.
 

GatorBoy

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10-4. I think posting in the fossil forum without mention of a possible native American connection might at very least rule out...or in..the possibility of it being completely natural.
I hunt the same type areas here in Florida.. Not sure what your piece is exactly...but I don't think it's an artifact.
Just for fun...check this one out.

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darkwaterdivr

darkwaterdivr

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Wow! That is pretty freaking sweet gatorboy!!

Thanks for the input and the fossil board idea. I'm perfectly willing to accept that its nothing more than a neat lookin' anomaly, and I know those river currents can really take their toll on stuff over time. This is just one of those occasional things that drives me crazy until I can figure it out.
 

rock

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Thanks, GB for helping out.
 

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