Need help IDing the first artifact I ever found...25 yrs ago...pics included

[bigrush828]

Need help ID'ing the first artifact I ever found...25 yrs ago...pics included

I remember finding this artifact like it was yesterday. I was around 5 yrs old in preschool. I grew up in Central Louisiana. Anyone who knows anything about the area can tell you the only rocks you will find are in driveways. I remember it had just rained and this little "rock" was just sitting under one of the portable building, on top of the moist dirt. I believe this is where my fascination with rocks started. Only recently did it occurr ro me that this was an artifact. I believe it is made out of some type of granite, which is totally not native to Central Louisiana.

Any comments/opinions are more than welcomed. Does anyone know what it is? What type of rock it is made from?

My theory is that it was either a cooking stone of game stone.

 

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[Tnmountains]

Re: Need help ID'ing the first artifact I ever found...25 yrs ago...pics included

Like this maybe?

Very nice! I would say that's the exact type of rock! Do you knwo what type of rock that is? Thanks for showing!

Bigrush828

Yes like you I found it some time ago. I do not know the type but I found it on the Tennessee River. It was in an area I find relics but the stone is natural. It is smooth like it has been polished but think its natural. It is not a normal type of stone I find. It was sitting in a relic cabinet and I recognised yours when I read your post. I guess I liked the rock and had not seen it in years till you posted yours. I just figured they liked the beauty of the stone and may have used it in trade. I will never know but I know I like it and that is all that matters.
Mine seems heavy for its size.
Weird seeing another one,, huh??

 

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[Noodle]

Re: Need help ID'ing the first artifact I ever found...25 yrs ago...pics included

BigRush, I've seen several of those stones in the area shops in north Louisiana and Arkansas. Don't know the stone type or period, but they're not chipped into shape, they're knocked around in the rivers until they become that round shape. South, central, and north Louisiana were main trade routes for Native American Indians in the past 2000 or so years. Stones/tools were brought from far north and east locations to this area. Beautiful stones, and keep them. -Noodle

 

[bigrush828]

Re: Need help ID'ing the first artifact I ever found...25 yrs ago...pics included

I love it when someone says "Nobody ever finds rocks around here...except for this rock I found. So I think it's a relic. Because there are no rocks around here like it....except for it."

Well, there aren't. That's about all I can say. If you were from Central Louisiana, you would get it.

 

[bigrush828]

Re: Need help ID'ing the first artifact I ever found...25 yrs ago...pics included

...I grew up in Central Louisiana. Anyone who knows anything about the area can tell you the only rocks you will find are in driveways...I believe it is made out of some type of granite, which is totally not native to Central Louisiana.

I agree with you that it's probably some sort of granite. However, you are mistaken that granite is "totally not native to Central Louisiana".

I used to live in Lafayette and I found quite a bit of it in the creek beds. A lot of it was very rounded if not identical to what you've got there. The first couple of dozen I found I was certain were club heads, grinding stones, boiling stones...in other words, pretty much all of the exact same ideas being bounced around here. After a couple of hundred though I finally accepted that they were 'just rocks'. Pretty rocks (especially when wet) but still just rocks.

How far are you from Alexandria LA? I'd say that Alexandria is pretty much smack in the middle of Central Louisiana, wouldn't you?

There is a large and historic granite and marble quarry in Pineville, Louisiana, right across the river from Alexandria. Oddly enough, it's called "The Pineville Marble and Granite Works".

There are actually several marble and granite quarries in the area. You might take your rock by one and see if they'll give you a definite identification.

You could try Old South Granite, 8400 Highway 28 E in Pineville, LA (318) 484-9895

If they're too busy you could try WINN ROCK, 10264 Highway 84 in Winnfield, Louisiana (318) 628-3523 (Winnfield is also in Central Louisiana...about 25 miles north of Alexandria)

The point is that just like people who don't hunt arrowheads might have no idea where arrowheads might be found as far as picking the right kind of field or creek bed, the same is true of a lot of the other stuff people find. Granite is very common...but it doesn't always occur near the surface. So it might seem that it's rare or not even present at all.

Anyway, maybe your rock is an artifact. But if it is, it won't be because you don't think there are any rocks in your area therefore it must have been brought it by an Indian. Not being snarky, just saying that the criteria has to be more stringent than that.

But I agree that anything that 'might' be a relic ought to be saved and examined by an 'expert'/someone with a lot of experience. I'm sure there have been a lot of bona fide relics thrown away because they were not recognized. To satisfy your mind, you need to hang on to it and show it around. I'd suggest finding some 'rockhounds' or a gem/mineral collecting club in your area.

Good luck.

Very interesting. This is why I started this post - to get info like that. I grew up in Alexandria, LA, and lived there until I went to college 1.5 hrs north of there..lol. I had no idea granite was native to the area. I never really looked hard for rocks when I lived there, but I knew that, even when I was a kid, there was something special, or unique, about this rock. Thanks for the info. I may actually take it by there next time I am in the area.

By the way, there are creeks in South LA? I though all they had were stagnate, bayous and canals. When I think of a "creek", I think of moving water and tons of rocks. I guess living in Northwest Arkansas has me spoiled

Thanks for the input.

 

[steve71]

Re: Need help ID'ing the first artifact I ever found...25 yrs ago...pics included

Mounds ?

Pretty rock

an indian midden, we get to dig in the middens in texas. we just call them mounds. if that rock is not smoother on one end or no dings in one end. i'd say just a rock.got to look at it and see if it was used.

 

[Get-the-point]

Re: Need help ID'ing the first artifact I ever found...25 yrs ago...pics included

Like this maybe?

Very nice! I would say that's the exact type of rock! Do you knwo what type of rock that is? Thanks for showing!

Well what I see is a Granite round stone!! You said it was miles from water. That is the biggest clue as Indians from Paleo to Woodland always settled, camped, and trekked along waterways. It was there key to survival. An eggstone which that stone resembles is commonly found on settled sites as a tool for Boiling. REGE-PA was on the money wth that one. You either have a dropped one or it is not one. I would go back to the source of the find and look carefully around. If you find that there is a water source near-by I would say you possibly have a artifact as there could have been a campsite near your find.
I have been taken off-guard by finding a campsite where I never thought it would be, but after further investigation I discovered a very old dried up water source. Anyway hope this helps and hope you find that water source!!.....................GTP........

 

[bigrush828]

Re: Need help ID'ing the first artifact I ever found...25 yrs ago...pics included

By the way, there are creeks in South LA? I though all they had were stagnate, bayous and canals. When I think of a "creek", I think of moving water and tons of rocks.

I don't really know about southern Louisiana. I thought we were discussing central Louisiana -?

Didn't you say we lived in Lafayette? Why so angry?

 

[bigrush828]

Re: Need help ID'ing the first artifact I ever found...25 yrs ago...pics included

Like this maybe?

Very nice! I would say that's the exact type of rock! Do you knwo what type of rock that is? Thanks for showing!

Well what I see is a Granite round stone!! You said it was miles from water. That is the biggest clue as Indians from Paleo to Woodland always settled, camped, and trekked along waterways. It was there key to survival. An eggstone which that stone resembles is commonly found on settled sites as a tool for Boiling. REGE-PA was on the money wth that one. You either have a dropped one or it is not one. I would go back to the source of the find and look carefully around. If you find that there is a water source near-by I would say you possibly have a artifact as there could have been a campsite near your find.
I have been taken off-guard by finding a campsite where I never thought it would be, but after further investigation I discovered a very old dried up water source. Anyway hope this helps and hope you find that water source!!.....................GTP........

Thanks for the input GTP! I would ove to go back to the "site", but God only knows what it is now. It was a small private prescholl 25 yrs ago, I may have to do a drive by