Indian head?

[FieldSearcher]

I posted this in the "What is it forum" and it was suggested that it is indian related. What do you think? It's from South Jersey.

 

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[joe_dirt]

I'm far from an expert in this area but to me it looks like some sort of souvenir a tourist might buy

 

[Greg Lafla]

Awesome whatever it is

 

[Kray Gelder]

Looks like a replica of a Pre-Colombian figurine. The clay is of low quality with much debris mixed in. I agree with Joe Dirt.

 

[FieldSearcher]

It could very well be a tourist piece, but I don't know how it would end up in the middle of a field. With at that said, I've seen weirder things happen. The stuff in the clay looks like crushed rocks or something. Thanks for the input!

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Contact Joshua Ream or Neanderthal on here. Joshua is an expert on South American pieces and I too believe this may be a tourist piece. I have one very similar.

 

[Rookster]

Cool find. Congrats

 

[ToddsPoint]

The crushed rock is the tempering. Indians used several different tempers, but crushed shell was one of the most common. Tempering of some sort is necessary in pottery to keep it from cracking during firing. Gary

 

[newnan man]

I know zero about pottery but am interested in what the experts think about it.

 

[joshuaream]

It's an adorno, or a decorative piece applied to a larger piece of pottery. Extremely common in Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean, but less common in the US. They are classic souvenirs from a lot of touristy places, but I don't recognize that style. Many of the styles from the big sites in Mexico were almost mass produced in ancient times, and are very easy to identify.

If you find pottery shards in your area, do they look like that? The color and stone temper are unique looking.

 

[FieldSearcher]

Thank you for the input! I’ve learned a lot. I’ve been reading stuff all weekend but I can’t determine if it’s real. Unfortunately, I guess this particular piece is still a mystery. I’ve found some flakes at this field and the tip of a broken arrowhead, but no pottery or anything, but I can’t say I’ve really been looking for that. I don’t know if any pottery found here would be similar or not. The black specks are like s crushed black rock, but I don’t know what type of rock it could possibly be. It’s definitely not shell. I can’t understand why a tourist piece would be in the middle of a field, but like I said, I’ve seen weirder. Could be someone playing tricks or it ended up there by some other means. Thank you again for your input!