Just rocks or?

mainejman · Jan 4, 2014

So Ive been reading that sometimes regular rocks are found in burial sites.They obviously have some meaning.I know flakes are considered artifacts. so are these unworked rocks? Or does it have to be worked? So does an unworked unusual rock when found in context while digging become an artifact

?

outlawatheart · Jan 4, 2014

if its not worked then its just a rock...right? When I'm in a field I don't bring home just rocks unless they show use even though I know they were around a camp.

mainejman said:
So Ive been reading that sometimes regular rocks are found in burial sites.They obviously have some meaning.I know flakes are considered artifacts. so are these unworked rocks? Or does it have to be worked? So does an unworked unusual rock when found in context while digging become an artifact?

mainejman · Jan 4, 2014

I just saw some rocks taken out of a burial site that werent worked but got me wandering.

Red Earth · Jan 4, 2014

I pulled this from one of my dig sites. It is about 11 inches long by 3 1/2 wide. I spend a lot of time digging and when I came crossed it, it just didn't fit in with the rest of the usual junk. So I took it home. A year later I found another that was circular. Same type of stone. I left it out at the site last year on accident. I'm sure it will be waiting for me when I get back out there

Red Earth · Jan 4, 2014

Side shot.

mainejman · Jan 4, 2014

I know exactly what you mean.After digging a site for awhile you get a fix on whats coming out of there.Then something pops out completely different no signs of being worked just way out of place.Maybe not an artifact but definetly noteworthy...

mainejman · Jan 4, 2014

Heres mine!

Red Earth · Jan 4, 2014

Someone had told me once that some of them could of been use for moccasin molds.
I don't know. Just a thought

rock · Jan 4, 2014

Well if it is a burial site I myself wouldnt take them. But I have found rocks out of place many times before. I look for large cobbles of flint or quartzite. Large being softball to football size that shouldnt be there. They havent been worked but when I find these there is almost always flakes near them and I usually find some tools. My thoughts on the large cobbles are that maybe it is the site markers for their camps so if they leave and return later they know where to look for their artifacts they might of left. Just a theory.
Here is some examples. I was planing on showing these some day.

mainejman · Jan 4, 2014

Moccasin lasts i believe they were called.Supposedly not real.I just think this rock had another purpose.Way out of place with anything ive ever found here.

mainejman · Jan 4, 2014

I hear you rock .No burial sites for me either.

rock · Jan 4, 2014

my show is size 14 by the way

Charl · Jan 4, 2014

What kind of rock is it? Maybe it's a preform for a tool someone had in mind. Is it the type of tool stone your gouges are made from?

mainejman · Jan 4, 2014

I dont believe it to be a preform due to it being so smooth.I know its river rock.I just found it in a place where everything is suspect.More where you have to count stuff out instead of counting stuff in.If that maked any sense .I have not found another rock like it on this site.

Charl · Jan 4, 2014

I surface hunt. I have found things at campsites, fossils for instance, that I know were transported there. And if I have reason to save out of place stuff, I do.

rock · Jan 4, 2014

I use to remove the big cobble to the side of the field but now I have decided to leave them cause every yr I find something else in the same spot.

mainejman · Jan 4, 2014

I just know when i took it out of the ground i thought it to be more significant.But i thought about it and decided that just because i couldnt figure out its usage doesnt make it any less significant.That and it was about a foot away from a nice adze....