Near Indian village site in southeast US

[bufaloeletric]

This is a shot in the dark as I have virtually no knowledge of Native American artifacts. But I found this bone beside a creek that is about a half mile from a documented Native American village that was occupied up to the 1500s. Not sure if the groove in the bone is natural or not, was wondering if it mught have been a sort of tool. The bone itself is pretty heavy, almost like rock. Petrified maybe?

 

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[newnan man]

That is interesting, I don't know much about bone artifacts.

 

[traveller777]

That is an interesting find. Thanks for sharing. I can not be sure but looks like perhaps a work in progress. Scroll down to "grooving and splitting".

Bone Tools | The Office of the State Archaeologist

archaeology.uiowa.edu

 

[Older The Better]

I think it’s a metapodial bone from a white tail, don’t know about soils where you are but I’m skeptical something 500 years old would be in that kind of condition

 

[newnan man]

I think it’s a metapodial bone from a white tail, don’t know about soils where you are but I’m skeptical something 500 years old would be in that kind of condition
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Looks like you nailed it.

 

[bufaloeletric]

I think it’s a metapodial bone from a white tail, don’t know about soils where you are but I’m skeptical something 500 years old would be in that kind of condition
View attachment 2031420

I think it’s a metapodial bone from a white tail, don’t know about soils where you are but I’m skeptical something 500 years old would be in that kind of condition
View attachment 2031420

Well, I stated the place was supposedly abandoned at that time. I never conjectured that bone was put there 500 years ago. Definitely appears to be what you found though. There is predominantly shale in that area, lots of limestone as you climb elevation. Don’t know about the soil itself though. Thanks.

 

[Older The Better]

The fact you say it’s heavy is interesting the reason I mentioned soil is they can make a big difference in preservation around here soil is pretty hard on bone and old bone is pretty scarce, your area could be different, without knowing what the soils were like I was just kinda going with the general odds that it’s probably not very old like 10’s of years… thus not native, but if it was in a favorable spot it’s entirely possible, I’d look for cut marks that could be a solid clue.