Emiley

Tenderfoot
Nov 19, 2017
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9
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Hey everyone I'm new on here, and I have a artifact that I'm not quite sure about, I was hoping for some opinions, advice, any kind of knowledge. It was found in the hill country in Texas. It's quite large, made of sandstone, it's a sculptured head. I'll attach a couple of pictures and I look forward to hearing from everyone. received_296713550812087.jpeg received_296713227478786.jpeg
 

Icewing

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Now I know where the expression "cut off the nose to spite the face" comes from..
 

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RustyGold

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Welcome to the forum Emiley.
You may want to contact a local museum in your area and inquire about the status of your find.
Best of luck!
 

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unclemac

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not done in any native American style I have seen before
 

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Emiley

Tenderfoot
Nov 19, 2017
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Texas
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I'm not sure what it origination is, it was a guess based upon where it was found. West Central Texas, Mason County.
 

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Ripcon

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Was it found in association with any other artifacts?
Do you know if it was dug up or found on the surface?
 

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P.ALLEN

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I highly doubt it came from a first nations culture in that area, it's either an artwork placed there by the artist, or someone's attempt to fool you. Large sculptures (I'm leaving out petroglyphs and trail markers) from native American cultures are typically located in a settled area with a large population base, think Mexico City, Tikal, Palenque,Totem poles of the Pacific northwest, and Adena & Mound cultures. Even Worldwide sites are the same way, if it's a sculpture, monument, or bust, it's where a major city or village was. You just don't find something of significance in a random spot in Hill Country without finding a village, you just don't. Is it cool...yes...but it's not real (artifact)

Edit: Most of the tribes in that area did not have the time and resources to dedicate to sculpture IMO, water, food, shelter, and family would have been top tier priorities.
 

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mcb66

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Mar 17, 2009
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This is a great find. Not ancient in manufacture though. Probably early 1900s at the oldest. Still an awesome piece. The Nose was knocked off by what appears to be an old stone masons tool. A lot of the early tombstone makers used a similar tool. I don't have a picture handy but I have a set of tools at home. I'll try to get a pic.
 

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Emiley

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Nov 19, 2017
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There weren't any other artifacts found when finding this one, it was a few feet from the surface.
 

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BIGSCOTT

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supposed evidence of the tolec civilazation have been found in Texas.
The Malikoff man found near the Trinity river the Toltec were from Mexico
near the Tobasco region there existance there has baffeled archioligist because
there features look clearly African they call these collasal heads.
 

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BIGSCOTT

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The colasol heads they find in Mexico are in much better shape than
yours, but yours is in much better shape than the ones found in Malikoff Texas
they say that some were found around the town of Cincinatti Texas but
nobody knows what happened to them
 

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P.ALLEN

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Olmec were famous for their Sculpted Heads, they were the predecessors of the Maya (at least that's the theory), there is a stone Dias/alter they found near the heads and it has a icon of a monkey leaving a cave, supposed creation myth type stuff, they found Aztec style ball stadiums in the American Southwest, basically a football/soccer sized area with vertically mounted stone rings. So the evidence points to some major culture building events locations in the southwestern states, Texas is one of them. The research/glyphs tell the story of loosing teams being sacrificed, also the captain of the winning team or the entire winning team being rewarded with sacrifice as well. Brutal stuff.
 

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tamrock

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There was a fella I knew who's no longer living brought into our shop in Nevada a carved stone bust like that. He said it was found by his mother in the Escalate Canyon in Colorado in the 1960s. I wish I'd a taken a picture of it. To me it looked like a rendition of a man who I believe had the features of a Frenchman. The fella that had it was a long time acquaintance I knew from selling mining supplies going back to the 1980s. Him and I both had same interests in looking for stone artifacts. Yours has the features of a native American imo.
 

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Emiley

Tenderfoot
Nov 19, 2017
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Texas
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I was reading an article on the malikoff man. After reading that, it has really peaked my interest and curiosity of finding out about this artifact.
 

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TomPA

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I sent a link to your post to a friend who lives in the Hill Country of TX to get his opinion. He indicated that other objects have been found around the Frio River, one being a large heart shaped stone that had a hole in the bottom (maybe to put on a pole). He also said that there were missionary Indians in this area from the early 1500's date and on. Some believe this type of skill could have been passed on by the Spanish during this era. I would suggest not "putting him to bed" quite yet until more information is found out. You mentioned that it was a few feet from the surface...meaning it was underground a couple of feet? If it were found underground, I would think that if a person was hoping to hoax someone, that they would have put it in an easier place to "discover".
 

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Emiley

Tenderfoot
Nov 19, 2017
6
9
Texas
Primary Interest:
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I will check out the link, I have been in contact with multiple people who I can have it looked at. I personally did not find it, I am inquiring for a family friend. He says it was found out on a ranch in Mason. There is a lot of history, and other artifacts have been found but not a sculptured head.
 

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