Indian game piece? Is it even an artifact?

[Metal Illness]

Hello Friends,
While I have mostly metal detected over the past four years, I have walked the fields here in SW Ohio for the past 25 years or so. So many of my better sites have gone to no-till Occasionally I still get out and try to locate new sites, and over the years I have found quite a variety of artifacts some pretty good, most broken and or plow damaged. Yesterday 1-18-2015 I was detecting a field site when I found the white/round stone. I'm 99% sure it is not natural, but there is no visible pitting/pecking marks to indicate man made, unless it has been worn smooth after being shaped. If anyone can help identify this piece I would sure appreciate it.

Thanks very much, Bill

PS; I don't have calipers or a scale to measure/weigh this piece. I used the Large Cent and Golf ball for some size reference.

 

[NCPeaches]

It's very cool, I like it and would bring it home if I found one but I don't know much about stone type stuff...someone will come along and verify for you.

 

[Metal Illness]

It's very cool, I like it and would bring it home if I found one but I don't know much about stone type stuff...someone will come along and verify for you.

I meant to say in my original post, I have found several Stone artifacts, celts, axes, pestles, gorgets, even a banded slate hoe but I have never found anything like this. 99% of the Stone artifacts here in SW Ohio are made from salt and pepper granite and banded slate. This piece is odd to say the least.

 

[reuellis]

are round river stones/pebbles common in your area? could it be geologic pollution? how round is it? i have found numerous river pebbles about that same size from the teays river. always very round but never close to "true"

 

[Metal Illness]

are round river stones/pebbles common in your area? could it be geologic pollution? how round is it? i have found numerous river pebbles about that same size from the teays river. always very round but never close to "true"

I thought of that and it may well be. I am puzzled because it was not found in a creek/river.

 

[rock]

Could be a Game ball or even a clay marble.

 

[rock]

Could even be a milling ball. The old ones were made out of the white clay but I would guess old marble.

 

[ILikeMoney]

I would guess it's a game stone

 

[cojo]

I've found stones that were similarly "well carved" in sw ohio. Most were tumbled near creek/river beds. Is this possible for you MI?

 

[old digger]

Looks like an old clay marble. Nice Find!

 

[Metal Illness]

I've found stones that were similarly "well carved" in sw ohio. Most were tumbled near creek/river beds. Is this possible for you MI?

I can't say definitively, maybe a 1000 or 5000 years ago there might have been a water source in that area. I need to do a little research on Indian game stones and try and date the time period. If they were more recent say, Mississippian/Woodland period then I would tend to believe it's not creek tumbled as they would not have inhabited the flood plain area. I took it to the Museum of natural History here in Dayton yesterday, but no one was available to look at it.

 

[Hitndahed]

Could be a Game ball or even a clay marble.

==========================================================
I was gonna say it looks like a worn clay marble too.

 

[catherine1]

I found this one at a known artifact site close to you. Its made of stone and a little larger. Could be cooking stones.

 

[Metal Illness]

I found this one at a known artifact site close to you. Its made of stone and a little larger. Could be cooking stones.

Thanks Catherine. I was reading some threads earlier today about "cooking stones" in all the years i have walked the fields and collected artifacts, I never heard of cooking stones. The majority opinion about this theory is, the examples like yours and mine show no fracturing from repeated heating and cooling cycles. Also the effort/labor in hammering, pecking and polishing involved in creating these would have been quite a task, simply to use as cooking stones. I'm not sure what mine is made of, I'm 90% sure it's not granite. I will check back with the Museum, hopefully I can get an accurate ID.
Thanks, Bill

 

[Tnmountains]

With pottery you almost had to use heated stones . Clay pots only survive so long in fires. I imagine many cooking stones blew apart especially if it had much quartz in it. You should be able to tell by tapping it if it is clay or stone. I have several from ancient sites and have not a clue.

 

[Metal Illness]

With pottery you almost had to use heated stones . Clay pots only survive so long in fires. I imagine many cooking stones blew apart especially if it had much quartz in it. You should be able to tell by tapping it if it is clay or stone. I have several from ancient sites and have not a clue.

A little light just came on thank you. So they would heat the stones in a fire then add them into their pottery vessels to heat/cook the contents in order to keep from destroying pottery by placing it right on the fire? Now I understand the theory of cooking stones.
You should be able to tell by tapping it if it is clay or stone. What would I expect the differences to be? It actually doesn't feel heavy/dense for stone. I've never found any clay items, so I don't know the texture, color, traits to look for.
Thanks for the help Tn, Bill

 

[jayhawk]

If found on a site, it could also be a Pebble Tie, used for stretching hides

 

[Tnmountains]

I am weird. I always tap it on my tooth. Pottery is dull or flat rock rings solid. Just barely do it,lol do not knock a tooth out plus pottery is porous unless it is glazed. I have a few ball some are nothing but some may be

 

[civil_war22]

I have found several of those. Some about that size and others a little smaller than golf ball. I always contributed them to being clay marbles but you know now that I think of it I've never found one bluff digging or anything. So who knows