axe or hoe?

[soilgal]

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Is there any polish on the large end? If it was used as a Hoe the end should be very highly polished.

 

[IllinoisDug]

A dirty hoe

 

[GatorBoy]

feel free to tell me I'm wrong. but where I come from we call that a stone celt

 

[Twitch]

feel free to tell me I'm wrong. but where I come from we call that a stone celt

This stirred some debate last time but here we go.... That's a Hoe. SRV is right, as normal. It looks like it's a made from Mill Creek chert which is a very common material for the type and, assuming soilgal stands for Southern Illinois Gal, it's exactly right for the area. Cool find.

 

[soilgal]

Thanks Twitch, this was found in a creek by my daughter, she brought it to me to show me the "cool rock" she found! Im still waiting to go to that creek!

 

[Twitch]

Thanks Twitch, this was found in a creek by my daughter, she brought it to me to show me the "cool rock" she found! Im still waiting to go to that creek!

Well your daughter did pretty darn good then. Nice piece

 

[Get-the-point]

Is there any polish on the large end? If it was used as a Hoe the end should be very highly polished.

Not just that, most Hoes that I have handled have had a very blunt end from usage and usually are very thick. Some of the nicer flint hoes with the notches are still about 1/2" thick and better. Celts have a sharpened tip and and most come with wear polish and are usually thinner then the Hoe. So if your item is thicker then 3/4" inch then it is probably a hoe. That is a heck of a find for your daughter. Where there is one there is more. You need to get back and check out the area real well..............................GTP

 

[GatorBoy]

regardless of how it was used that's a great time congratulations. just appears that the end is sharp and shows battering from precussion blows. as opposed to showing polish from constant dragging through abrasive soil.

 

[flintmel]

Great find, is that her first?

 

[birdpointgriswold]

I would say hoe. That's a celt



Johnathan Griswold

 

[GatorBoy]

right on.. that's a polished stone celt. look up chipped stone celt. and there is also argument that many polished stone celts used as hoes

 

[birdpointgriswold]

right on.. that's a polished stone celt. look up chipped stone celt. and there is also argument that many polished stone celts used as hoes

Sweet I've never seen the chipped ones before cool piece either way!

Johnathan Griswold

 

[PrimitiveOne]

Looks like a hoe--nice find

 

[trevmma]

i say maybe pulled from a unused pile of hoes deep fromm within the ground. not all things are complete. im sure there are big ugly looking granite stones with no shape laying out their untouched that just never got started.