Interesting Man Made Quartz Jewelry Perhaps???

[Edgychris]

Found this today. It is 100 percent quartz. Has grooves spiralling on the outside from wider bottom to the top. It looks almost lathed. Perhaps this is a peice of quartz indian jewelry. Found where I find a lot of quartz points. Here are a bunch of pics.

 

[joe_dirt]

That's pretty cool I don't know what it is but I'm curious to find out from someone who does

 

[Red-Coat]

Hmmm. You can see it better in this adjusted close-up, but it has a helical structure:



That's not something you will ever see in a piece of quartz unless it's a fossil shell that has been quartz-replaced. Calcite-replaced would be more usual. I think you have the broken tip of a larger spiral shell, possibly fossilised, the very end of which would be largely solid with only a small hole extending into it. Does the hole actually go all the way through? That would be a more positive indication it has seen some human conversion to perhaps make a bead. Otherwise, it's possible that it has simply been water-rolled to that rounded shape. Human polishing is also possible, but I think far less likely for jewellery/adornment if the hole hasn't been extended all the way through.

 

[Relicgrubber]

Looks like a glass trade bead maybe? Pretty cool though.

 

[Edgychris]

Absolutley not. I know my quartz. Ot is absolutley quartz. It has grooves i can feel through touch, like it was put on a lathe of some sort. Its not a bead. Does not have any entry hole other than a little dimple. I know my quartz. Its quartz.

 

[Edgychris]

Absolutley no way its a shell or fossile. I am familiar with the ahwlls you reference. Its solid quartz, not glass. Has weight. Not even opaque glass. Its quartz. Now what?

 

[Edgychris]

Thats my point. Its 100 percent quartz. What yhe hell is it

 

[Edgychris]

First time does exist. Here it is. Its quartz. Im sure.

 

[Edgychris]

Maybe fossilized buts somehownits represents quartz. By density mass. structure as well as location

 

[Edgychris]

Fossil shell quartz replaces then. Its solid though idk.

 

[Edgychris]

The fossilized shell replaced by quartz, is something I have to reasearch. Its 100 percent quartz, replaced or not

 

[Georgivs]

Hmmm. You can see it better in this adjusted close-up, but it has a helical structure:

View attachment 1802188

That's not something you will ever see in a piece of quartz unless it's a fossil shell that has been quartz-replaced. Calcite-replaced would be more usual. I think you have the broken tip of a larger spiral shell, possibly fossilised, the very end of which would be largely solid with only a small hole extending into it. Does the hole actually go all the way through? That would be a more positive indication it has seen some human conversion to perhaps make a bead. Otherwise, it's possible that it has simply been water-rolled to that rounded shape. Human polishing is also possible, but I think far less likely for jewellery/adornment if the hole hasn't been extended all the way through.

Is that a helical structure? or is it a helical line inscribed on it? Can't tell from the pics. It looks like there's a spiral around the outside as well. I'm going with something decorative, maybe a WIP that was lost or abandoned.

FYI just because you found it in a an area where there are no fossils doesn't mean it couldn't have been imported.

 

[Edgychris]

Yes. I think its quartz that was worked by the europeans. Like they had indians present. Europeans showed the native americans how they could work the quartz in a more mechanic fashion.

Btw. Its grooved, wierd because lathes connect on both side, and the dimple is too shallow. Like one thousandth of overall length. Idk thx for input

 

[Edgychris]

Btw ita scribed

 

[Red-Coat]

Is that a helical structure? or is it a helical line inscribed on it? Can't tell from the pics. It looks like there's a spiral around the outside as well. I'm going with something decorative, maybe a WIP that was lost or abandoned.

FYI just because you found it in a an area where there are no fossils doesn't mean it couldn't have been imported.

Yes, if you look at the spiral pattern on the outside in conjunction with the spiral on the inside I think it's pretty clear that the whole thing has a helical structure as you would expect for many gastropod organisms. The OP is only just waking up to the fact that, in replacement fossils, the original carbonate material of the shell can be replaced by silica in the form of quartz (although calcite is a more common replacement mineral and they can look awfully similar). It's no longer a shell but an exact replica of the shell in mineral form, complete with its original internal structure.

To be a shell fossil with quartz replacement however, it would still have to be the broken tip of something larger/longer. That would still leave the question of whether the broken tip of a fossil shell spire has been further refined to that shape by human hand or natural water polishing. I don't think it's possible to say from photographs alone. Both possibilities exist. Often for items like this that are potentially semi-natural they can only be confirmed as having been worked or curated if found in a context that supports the belief... grave goods, medicine bundles, part of a cache or group etc. Or, when the alteration is obvious, such as from drilling extension.

It's the same problem we have when trying to determine whether things like the disc-shaped sections of fossil crinoid columns have been used as beads. They can be found in groups, be polished and have a natural hole but that in itself doesn't mean they were beads unless there is context.

 

[Relicgrubber]

Alrighty then...

 

[Edgychris]

Wow, thanl you very much sir. You are someone I will keep close. Thank you for the id...

 

[Tdog]

My bud Gary found one very similar to yours in a cotton field in Tallassee, AL near Tukabatchee on the Tallapoosa river. We always thought it was a shell bead.

 

[welsbury]

Does that one have a hole all the way through it? Interesting pieces.

 

[joshuaream]

Alrighty then...

That is exactly what I was thinking.