pearls from fish

[larson1951]

i also ran across these pearls which come from inside the head of a freshwater drum (sheephead)
one fish has two of these (right and left side)
the images are one left and two right
the mandans used these as some sort of ornament or something
the dark one looks like it might have been in a fire or something

 

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[GatorBoy]

there are loads of them that come out of middens here in florida for a while I didn't know what they were turns out there like an ear bone. they're connected to the fish's lateral line and pick up vibrations in the water. most fish have them. scientists use them to age fish. cut in half you can see rings of growth like a tree.

 

[flintdigger]

Very interesting Steve, my grandfather liked to fish a lot yrs. ago and used to catch a lot of drum fish. He had a cigar box with a bunch of those in it.

 

[larson1951]

thank you for what you guys have told me
this fish is not real plentiful around here like a walleye, salmon, trout , or pike
it is the only one in the dakotas that has these pearls in their auditory system
i found these in a field by the site
i had no idea that these are prolific in other areas
this type we have here are usually 2-3 lbs and are known for two things.........they put up a hell of a fight.........and are not good to eat

 

[flintdigger]

Steve drum fish are fairly common around here they range 3-5 pounds. I can only remember eating drum one time, it wasn't very good and had many very small bones. My grandfather used to catch them just to get them out of the creeks and ponds around here to get rid of them. They will quickly eat up all your good fish bass,crappie and catfish if they are not controlled. Those drum pearls are interesting it's been a long time since I have seen those.

 

[Rege-PA]

They turn up quite often on Monongahela/Fort Ancient sites About 900AD to 1600 AD. I have never seen one worked into anything, as to their taste, I guess it depends on how hungry you are.

 

[GatorBoy]

A tic tac

 

[centfladigger]

we find them here in Florida in the saltwater catfish heads. Whenever there is a red tide and and all those fish wash up I always score a good amount of those and I didtrade them off to a friend who made a necklace with them

 

[coteau]

Cool...some people call them "lucky stones". Your examples show the L and J from the right and left sides.
Lucky stone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[RGINN]

Lots of them in western Oklahoma, too. We considered drum a trash fish. We don't find those 'pearls' in archaeological sites because the fish probably wasn't present in the plains village farmer area. It could also be that like the historic plains tribes, these people had an aversion to fish and didn't use them for anything. Kiowas and Comanches never fished. Maybe due to not many fishing holes. Lot of stories about water and river monsters though.

 

[larson1951]

yup they do taste like $hit.....but the pearls are worth saving my friend

 

[SOHIO]

wowzers