Painted Pebble??? Please help

[dstarr]

Hello everyone!

Newbie here and I am not sure what I have to show and ask you about. My hubby bought a metal detector earlier this year, and I found this forum and have been monitoring it for a few months to learn about relics, research, etc. That's why I offered to join the forum and post the following on behalf of my friend. Because of the Indian history and the couple of artifacts she has found, I thought I'd post this in this forum. Please let me know if I should post somplace different.

I have a friend who purchased some acreage a few years ago and she and her husband are building a house on the property now. She has found herself addicted to the nearby creek and sorting through the rocks - any and all rocks. She has a koi pond and began by just collecting cool rocks for the pond. A couple of months ago, she found what she called a "spear" and has since found another one. Last weekend she and her husband took me and my husband down the creek on the 4-wheelers to rock hunt for our new koi pond. She found a rock (pebble) that looks as though it has been painted or stained with a man made design. We have both tried to google rock writing or rock art, but mostly have just found information about cave writing and larger examples. I did find a site (an old online book) that suggested painted pebbles might have been used for prayer and another that suggested painted pebbles were game pieces. Who knows, this rock may be nothing at all. I'm going to try to post the picture she sent me and if any of you think better and more pictures are needed, I will ask her to send me some more. The rock/pebble is approximately half dollar size. Thanks in advance for looking and for any comments you may offer.

 

[joshuaream]

I'm originally from Northern Indiana and lived in Louisville for several years, welcome to the board.

I've seen a lot of those pebbles while creek hunting. It's a mineral called limonite (yellow ochre), and is probably natural. The brown crust is just that, a crust of oxidized limonite that gets brittle and cracks off leaving the yellowish powdery ochre underneath. Depending on how it cracks, it can leave some pretty cool designs.

 

[dstarr]

Thank you!

I will call her and read your post to her. She checked with the Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center, but apparently they want to know where you found whatever you want them to look at before they look and tell. She was afraid if she'd found something special, they'd stop her house from being built or something. Whew! Looks like no worries. She just sent me a photo of her summer finds, including this pebble. I'll share those here, too.

 

[RGINN]

I think it's natural too, but the other stuff is the real deal. You could grind limonite down and use it for paint.

 

[Tnmountains]

Nice looking points! I wonder what the I.D is? That is way north of me : ). Tell your friend she can purchase many Koi with those !!
HH
TnMtns

 

[chong2]

it looks like a small trilobyte fossil, looks like ones from around here in new mexico, if i can find mine ill take pics, same color rock also

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Joshua is right. It's a piece of weathered Limonite.

 

[dstarr]

Thanks, fellows. Here's a couple of close ups she took when she found two of the arrow heads / points. They're just cell phone photos to send to me. When she found the first one, I told her to take care of it and put it away - not in or around the pond. She now takes pics and sends to me. None of us know anything about them, just that they're old, special and collectible. I sent her a link to this forum, so maybe she will monitor the forum and can learn from you guys.