Hide softener

[CHUDs]

Another find from the island...I picked up a very similar item in Santa Cruz a while back and was told it was called a hide softener. It’s a cobble that is very flat and polished on one side. It’s one of those items that is questionable. However, it is polished smooth on one side and has a perfectly flat bottom and the edges are rounded. The context is also spot on. Yes or no as to whether it’s an artifact? It’s always going to have that air to it but it’s coming home with me...input always appreciated. Thanks.

 

[reuellis]

I’m skeptical on that.... of course not my neck of the woods

 

[CHUDs]

I hear ya...it’s pretty polished up on the flat side though so...I’ll hold on to it. It’ll never sit on the shelf though...

 

[joshuaream]

Sometimes pieces like that are best identified under magnification. Hide prep usually creates ‘directional polish’ where the the polish is on one surface and part of the leading edge. The polish can be very glossy.

The hand held side can have a different polish.

If the context was right, I’d keep it.

 

[CHUDs]

Thank you joshuaream, I will scope it when I return home!