Tool or Not?

[IndianRiverSonrise]

I found this on a beach where some biface points have been found. I wonder if this could be a tool. It fits my hand so nicely, but I guess it could be shaped that way by chance, but I would guess that the large end would be more flat or even if it was used as a tool. I just don't know anything much about this stuff so need your help. Thanks

Here are the photos.

 

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[unitas]

My guess is that it is not a tool, rather just an unusual rock.

 

[The Grim Reaper]

It's a neat looking rock, but not a tool. I don't see any evidence of it being altered by man, only by Mother Nature.

 

[jpitt1970]

Knowing Florida artifacts, I would say that is definitely a "man altered" piece of fossilized bone or wood

 

[Lone Star]

I think both points of view have merit and here's why. Indians were opportunists, they had to be ,for an edge over the enviornment. This stone may have started out as any other. The fact of its context with a camp location has possabilities for possible use as is. Depending on the task at hand ,it may have been used to wack the snot out of a shellfish or crack a bone or two, possibly worked to sharpen an edge of a blade or was used as a hot stone in a cooking pot or basket. The latter being the most plausible. Rounded surfaces don't lose as much grit when heated and cooled. Pock marks from this is a common trait in all of them.
Coastal Florida is a lot like coastal Texas. There aint no rocks, no where, You may find a few sand concretions here and there but nothing else. On my local sites (Clam shell middens) I always find curious rocks of the same sort mixed in with the midden debris, and no where else. Most of them show the effects of several heatings. I've even found clay balls complete with finger indentions that show use as cooking stones. Thanks for the ear ya'll, have a blessed day. . G.

 

[IndianRiverSonrise]

Thanks for your thoughts. I'll look at the clay balls a little closer.

I think both points of view have merit and here's why. Indians were opportunists, they had to be ,for an edge over the enviornment. This stone may have started out as any other. The fact of its context with a camp location has possabilities for possible use as is. Depending on the task at hand ,it may have been used to wack the snot out of a shellfish or crack a bone or two, possibly worked to sharpen an edge of a blade or was used as a hot stone in a cooking pot or basket. The latter being the most plausible. Rounded surfaces don't lose as much grit when heated and cooled. Pock marks from this is a common trait in all of them.
Coastal Florida is a lot like coastal Texas. There aint no rocks, no where, You may find a few sand concretions here and there but nothing else. On my local sites (Clam shell middens) I always find curious rocks of the same sort mixed in with the midden debris, and no where else. Most of them show the effects of several heatings. I've even found clay balls complete with finger indentions that show use as cooking stones. Thanks for the ear ya'll, have a blessed day. . G.

 

[tomclark]

I totally agree with JPITT and Lone Star.
Tom
St. Pete, FL