I'm thinking these are not natural. Any idea who made them or when, SW MO

[Ozarksrockturner]

 

[Indian Steve]

While they are very cool, they are made by nature.

 

[Mark Todd]

I don't see anything that doesn't look natural and pretty commonplace. In fact, what I see looks just like a lot of the sandstone outcroppings and crags that I've visited in various states, including southern Missouri.
Sandstone geological formations often vary tremendously in make up and density leaving certain spots much more susceptible to erosion and creating unusual shapes and features, this is common.

 

[yakker]

It's true. But don't stop looking! It's always cool to discover odd rock formations!

 

[Ozarksrockturner]

I tend to disagree sir nature did not make that eagle or the turtle for a site that supposed to be enthusiastic and supporters of this Hobby there seems to be a lot of Skeptics and people who are quick to judge and say nope it's fake it's nature when quite frankly those who do that repeatedly throughout many of their post if you look at their past responses really don't know the difference I do appreciate what you believe to be the truth and your opinion opinion I respect your opinion however I disagree when you have these items in your hand and can physically touch them and look at them it is obvious is not erosion it is not wear over time it is not nature nature there are items in my previous posts upon review I tend to agree probably are however this particular time they are not thank you for your time and response

 

[joshuaream]

Clearly made by goblins or elves.

 

[quito]

I tend to disagree sir nature did not make that eagle or the turtle for a site that supposed to be enthusiastic and supporters of this Hobby there seems to be a lot of Skeptics and people who are quick to judge and say nope it's fake it's nature when quite frankly those who do that repeatedly throughout many of their post if you look at their past responses really don't know the difference I do appreciate what you believe to be the truth and your opinion opinion I respect your opinion however I disagree when you have these items in your hand and can physically touch them and look at them it is obvious is not erosion it is not wear over time it is not nature nature there are items in my previous posts upon review I tend to agree probably are however this particular time they are not thank you for your time and response

Umm, hard to get excited about plain ol rocks. But, we usually are enthusiastic when people show their finds and they actually are artifacts.

How much does that piece you call an eagle resemble an eagle on the opposing side? I suspect that pic was taken at the only angle that shows a rough outline of what you think it is. Them natives were much more talented when they went to manufacturing their works of art.

You should be agreeing with us more often, most here would not have to hold them to see they are natural.

 

[filmiracl]

I think these are nicely carved, but the other post you made, the carving appears to be far superior.

 

[yakker]

I think it's probably important- very important in fact- to understand that there are quite a number of sites
on-line which purport to display real 'artifacts' (things concluded by 'fact' to indeed be artifacts). I would be extremely wary of such sites, although they nearly dominate the internet these days. The pictures on a typical google search will offer a wide variety of rocks whose owners claim they are actually artifacts. The truth of the matter is that anyone can show you anything on line and can say whatever they feel like about it. They can even develop an entire website devoted to claims which are not, under close scrutiny, provable. The very best thing you can do is to go to a local university's geology department or archaeology department and allow them to offer you their opinion. And although I know that there are educated people in offices who do not understand up-to-date field work, there are many who do and will lend you their objective opinion keeping in mind all they have learned during their years of study- study of the very thing you wish to understand. There are a lot of people out there who would like to make a buck from someone who has not done their proper homework and would like to buy a rock on line. They depend on images you will typically find on line of other rocks. But here's the thing. They're just rocks. Only people who have studied long and hard- people who you can meet face to face, who have credentials you can check- and who do not stand to gain money on giving you their objective opinion will give you the truth.
And you know what else? If we here are wrong? If something is proven which enlightens us all and teaches us a good lesson? I believe that we are among the most able to thank you for that lesson.
Good luck!

 

[kcm]

I tend to disagree sir nature did not make that eagle or the turtle for a site that supposed to be enthusiastic and supporters of this Hobby there seems to be a lot of Skeptics and people who are quick to judge and say nope it's fake it's nature when quite frankly those who do that repeatedly throughout many of their post if you look at their past responses really don't know the difference I do appreciate what you believe to be the truth and your opinion opinion I respect your opinion however I disagree when you have these items in your hand and can physically touch them and look at them it is obvious is not erosion it is not wear over time it is not nature nature there are items in my previous posts upon review I tend to agree probably are however this particular time they are not thank you for your time and response

There are some absolute facts about nature and minerals. A few home experiments and some general research will reveal what I'm about to discuss.

Let's start by taking two different, albeit similar machines. One is a rock polisher, the other a rock crusher. One is used to transform dull, ordinary rocks into smooth works of natural art. The other is used to transform dull, ordinary rocks into dust. In both instances, you have rock being transformed, but on a very quick scale.

In nature, things normally goes much more slowly....NORMALLY!! Let's look at that rock you believe is an eagle. See the rust-colored staining? That part of this particular rock spent a lot of time underground, exposed to more mineralization and moisture than the upper part, which was exposed to air. Also in nature are naturally-forming acids, which can eat and etch rock. Sometimes these acids are brought to an area via water, but often they are products of the air, from volcanoes. Again, we're talking in the "many thousands" of years. In many areas, even natural water has an acidic action to it.

Now add to that other natural elements, such as rock-on-rock action during massive flood events. Add to that the constant weathering due to warming up in the sunlight, then cooling down at night. Now add in the changing seasons. Here's an experiment - try soaking a piece of smooth cinder block in water for a week, then take the block out and place in your freezer. Keep in mind that this is taking your rock from a normal 60F to 70F temperature and lowering its exposed temperature a mere 70 degrees or so. That's not much!! And yet, you will see that the block ends up cracking. Why? Because the moisture absorbed by the block will freeze and expand. It's natural and VERY common.

So feel free to spend some time with a rock polisher, well-soaked cinder block in the freezer, and even a rock crusher if you want. They're ALL interesting to study.

And finally, what I've mentioned here is just a FRACTION of what rocks experience in nature over hundreds-of-thousands or even millions/billions of years. All the sand you see around you? It was once solid rock!! All that sand at the bottom of the oceans? Yup, used to be rock. The space between my ears? Yup, that too...used to be rock. ...I had a hard head! Point is, just because you can make out images from looking at something, doesn't mean there was anything other than nature involved in making it. The fact that you find so many in a small area also has no bearing. From your photos, that is a very rocky area. All that means is, more rocks for the imagination to look at.

Nobody here is trying to be disrespectful to you - quite the contrary. Yet when you come here and don't hear what you "want" to hear, you become disrespectful to us. Please, I beg you, read this post again -- and again, and again. Think about all the MANY conditions and forces and substances that rocks are subjected to over the life of the Earth.

One last thing - many of the rocks that you are finding near that bent tree were likely under the ground's surface at the time that bent tree became that way. If that is so, then how could they be associated with the tree? Erosion is a very powerful factor in life - not only with rocks. In short, when you're out there rock hunting, the ONLY person you have to please is yourself.

Happy hunting!!

 

[The Grim Reaper]

100% natural and if that is how you intend to respond to people with lots of years of experience that are trying to help you then maybe you should move on.

 

[unclemac]

what do you suppose your rocks were used for? Hunter/gatherers didn't tend to carry a lot of excess weight around with them

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I tend to disagree sir nature did not make that eagle or the turtle for a site that supposed to be enthusiastic and supporters of this Hobby there seems to be a lot of Skeptics and people who are quick to judge and say nope it's fake it's nature when quite frankly those who do that repeatedly throughout many of their post if you look at their past responses really don't know the difference I do appreciate what you believe to be the truth and your opinion opinion I respect your opinion however I disagree when you have these items in your hand and can physically touch them and look at them it is obvious is not erosion it is not wear over time it is not nature nature there are items in my previous posts upon review I tend to agree probably are however this particular time they are not thank you for your time and response

Sorry but it is your imagination that is seeing the animal shapes in the rocks just like people seeing shapes in the clouds. There is nothing in your pictures that says touched by man. I spent over 20+ years walking the streams, creeks, rivers and fields of Central Missouri, I found thousands of rocks that looked just like yours in the pictures and they were all natural rocks, I could see shapes in hundreds of them, all my imagination.

 

[choo]

Lol come on dude those are just naturally formed rocks!