Bottom line it is very likely not a true”artifact “ . People like me who are new to the hobby appreciate the knowledge. So when a find is posted as artifact those who know should say when it is not. Why sugar coat it? Heck if that’s a relic then any stone on any site where an arrowhead was found could have been used by the arrowhead makers at some point. So I guess any thing found on a site can be considered an artifact if it has the right look. For me if a rock requires a big imagination to say it’s an artifact I don’t take it or want it.
Its an artifact when it can be established it was made by humans( for instance, a projectile point), altered by humans(for instance a pebble with notches created to create a net weight), or if it shows utilization by man(for instance, a rock picked up and used as a hammerstone. Utilized, but not crafted or altered for use as whatever kind of tool, but showing battering to establish it was utilized). Now, when you say it can be called an artifact "if it has the right look", no, you are misunderstanding. It may be a manuport, but not an artifact. Now, in a controlled, professional dig, a manuport may show up in direct association with obvious artifacts, and its status as a true manuport established. But, if found out of context on the surface, it cannot always be known with certainty. But, as I mentioned, the finder, if he or she is very experienced on the site, is in the best position to make a call.
Manuports also include raw materials, such as chunks of graphite or hematite, that were used to produce pigment. For instance, I find chunks of graphite in one field, that show raw material was gouged and dug out of it. I can know with certainty that it is a manuport for that reason. But it's not truly an artifact. It's just raw material, but I can be certain a human transported it to camp to use for the creation of black pigment. I think you are just judging these things too harshly here, due to your lack of experience. If you were hunting a field a long time, and found a big, killer quartz crystal, and had never found such a thing in that field in 20 years of walking it, if you left it, you would likely be the only collector who would. But I don't believe you would. Why? Because crystals were common in shaman's kits. And we know this from the fact that shamans still exist today.
