Anyone seen anything like this?

[quito]

Found this a few years ago, one of the oddest finds I have picked up. Any ideas on use?

This side is flat and highly polished

This side is convex if you will.

 

[NC field hunter]

Just found this definition at Archeology Wordsmith site for Sinew stone.

"A rare stone artifact with incised lines of indentations through with sinew was drawn across it to prepare the material for use in making bowstring, thread, and string"

I'll go along with that.

That sounds good and stands to reason. Would the stone not be swinging as it intertwined two Sinew straps? If it is in mid air during use, why the polish? I may have this whole process envisioned wrong. Still one of the coolest finds I've seen.

 

[Rege-PA]

Looks kind of like a "Tectite", gas bubbles, convex shape, if so extremely rare.

 

[larson1951]

Just found this definition at Archeology Wordsmith site for Sinew stone.

"A rare stone artifact with incised lines of indentations through with sinew was drawn across it to prepare the material for use in making bowstring, thread, and string"

I'll go along with that.

ok joel
yup i think i'm wrong
i am gonna delete my post on this whatever it is....it is cool
ok my java man,.........i am glad you have started posting some of your stuff
it is bringing a good comparison for sure

 

[quito]

Looks kind of like a "Tectite", gas bubbles, convex shape, if so extremely rare.

I think you nailed it.

I googled Tectite, saw an example nicely dimpled just like this, and I am kind of blown away with what that stuff is.

 

[quito]

ok joel
yup i think i'm wrong
i am gonna delete my post on this whatever it is....it is cool
ok my java man,.........i am glad you have started posting some of your stuff
it is bringing a good comparison for sure

No need to delete your post Larson, your opinion just adds to the flavor of the thread.

I doubt very many people here have ever seen any of this material before, let alone know it's characteristics. As Rege-pa put it, Tektite is very rare. Google it.

An artifact made of it much rarer.

Joel

 

[GatorBoy]

Every tectite I saw in my search looked like obsidian either Burt black and grey or colored and glasslike. Can you post one that looks even close to yours?

 

[joshuaream]

I've found a couple of pieces like that in the Caribbean. This one is a thicker cog stone, but some of them also have the sharper edge. Google Cog Stone, you see most of them are from California and the West Coast area. Similar shaped items have been found in many other areas.

You can see a side edge shot in this picture.

 

[quito]

Every tectite I saw in my search looked like obsidian either Burt black and grey or colored and glasslike. Can you post one that looks even close to yours?

Yes I can. Now keep in mind, you asked for similar. They come in many types, sizes, shapes and colors Gator. Joshua has a nice example that is similar. Thanks Joshua! I also found where the natives were known to pick them up as use them as tools.

​

ABOVE: Philippinites. On the left a side view, with the grooved anterior surface facing down. The grooves are chemically enhanced thermal cracks. In the middle is the smooth unaltered posterior. To the right is the grooved anterior. Billitonites and Malaysianites basically have the same morphology as Philippinites, as do bediasites.

 

[GatorBoy]

He posted a cog stone. I see the shape of a tectite being similar.
Never saw a light tan tectite since they were formed by extreme heat is all.

 

[quito]

dang dude, you are editing while I am replying.

I better wait till a while till I am sure you are done before I reply to you I see.

 

[GatorBoy]

I wasn't even done with my reply. Good luck with your find.

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

I missed the "tektite" convo, I always saw green tectites.
Figuring animal, mineral, or vegetable, if you're saying you see signs it's hand made or formed, and the
hypothsis of bow stringer thingy ain't panning, could it possibly be a grinder? Pestal and mortar type tool?
That maize wasn't grinding itself, ya know!
just a thought......

 

[rginn]

It's my understanding that peyote was used for religious purposes. Why wouldn't they make an effigy of the plant that takes them closer to the Gods? Like we wear crosses and have Jesus fish.

It's just not done, NC field hunter. I have a lot of friends and family who are members of the Native American Church. That practice came up out of Mexico and probably those Comanches were the biggest promoters of it. You will see effigies of that water bird, the comorant, which is important to that religion. You will see peyote portrayed in a lot of Indian art, but the old church members will tell you that's not somethin you should try to make money off of.

 

[Charl]

Every tectite I saw in my search looked like obsidian either Burt black and grey or colored and glasslike. Can you post one that looks even close to yours?

Yes I can. Now keep in mind, you asked for similar. They come in many types, sizes, shapes and colors Gator. Joshua has a nice example that is similar. Thanks Joshua! I also found where the natives were known to pick them up as use them as tools.

​

ABOVE: Philippinites. On the left a side view, with the grooved anterior surface facing down. The grooves are chemically enhanced thermal cracks. In the middle is the smooth unaltered posterior. To the right is the grooved anterior. Billitonites and Malaysianites basically have the same morphology as Philippinites, as do bediasites.

There is a resemblance, but I don't think it's a tektite. I have some familiarity with them, having collected meteorites for 30 years, and I have a few since they are meteor/comet impact related creations. An impact in the Chesepeake Bay Area some 35 million years ago is believe to have rained down the tektites found in Georgia and Texas. Texas would be the nearest location to South Dakota where they are found.

 

[NC field hunter]

It's just not done, NC field hunter. I have a lot of friends and family who are members of the Native American Church. That practice came up out of Mexico and probably those Comanches were the biggest promoters of it. You will see effigies of that water bird, the comorant, which is important to that religion. You will see peyote portrayed in a lot of Indian art, but the old church members will tell you that's not somethin you should try to make money off of.

Thanks RGGIN. That makes sense to me. The Native people are true humans. They aren't like so many religions that I'm familiar with, they don't use it as a way to cash in. I respect that and I'm glad that you cleared it up. One more question, when you say "make money", do you imply the piece above is contact age or newer? Or, do you use the word "money" meaning any profitable means? Fur trade, trade of any sorts really. Thanks again!

 

[Get-the-point]

Joel if you have a microscope look at the grooves through it. If you see striation in those groove it could be man made. No matter what grooved tool it is under magnification you should be able to see those striation marks on those tools. They are little streaks or line like someone took a knife and put a million scratches in those grooves. You should still see residual striation under the polish with magnification. Hope this helps...........Chris(GTP)

 

[Charl]

I missed the "tektite" convo, I always saw green tectites.
Figuring animal, mineral, or vegetable, if you're saying you see signs it's hand made or formed, and the
hypothsis of bow stringer thingy ain't panning, could it possibly be a grinder? Pestal and mortar type tool?
That maize wasn't grinding itself, ya know!
just a thought......

Green tektites are known as Moldavites, and are found mostly in the Czech Republic.

 

[Charl]

quito, I emailed your photos to a guy who often is able to solve puzzles like this, and this was his reply:





It's definitely not a tektite. Where was it found? Tektites at that kind of
size arise from very particular types of impact and are found in significant
numbers, clustered in defined strewn fields. The only known strewn fields in
North America are in Eastern Texas (centred around the town of Bedias in
Grimes County, but covering almost 7,000 square miles) and a much smaller
one in East-Central Georgia (across Bleckley & Dodge Counties). Both
strewnfields are associated with the Chesapeake Bay impact and neither of
them have tektites which look anything like that. All true tektites are
glassy - or at least contain glassy material - including those in North
America.


The crenellated edges have a passing resemblance to the patterns seen in
Bikolites and other tektites from the Phillipines (and also rarely in Texas
Bediasites) but those features are produced by chemical etching of the less
resistant portions of the glass during millions of years in the ground and
have a very characteristic appearance that I don't see in that specimen.


I would say that the lack of glassiness, the general shape and the patterns
are consistent with it being a very heavily eroded echinoid fossil and I
wouldn't rule out that it has been subjected to some manual polishing.
Checking it out under a decent loupe would confirm that (or otherwise).

 

[quito]

Thanks a lot charl. Now we know the story.

After all the input, I suspect it is a fossil that has been worked and used by man.

 

[GatorBoy]

Cool find quito.