Pls help identify these rocks

[Hamsom]

Hello!

I was out on a hike yesterday to take pictures of plants and fungi, when on my way back to civilization I found peculiar shaped rocks in a barren field near the woods.

The first one I spotted looked like a dried plum (yet like a stone) but I didn't want to touch it just in case it really just was a dried fruit or something worse like poop or mineralized atomic waste (don't judge, I'm pretty dumb). Then I saw more and started picking (a lot) cause they look cool.

So, the appearance is kinda molten, unshapely and looks like dried fruit or raisins.

The colour is dark burgundy and deep red.

Texture is smooth.

Is it some kinda lava rock? Garnet? METEORITE? Mineralized atomic/chemical waste?

Lol.

 

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[BIGSCOTT]

Lava, or slag, the small single picture looks kinda like hematite

 

[TreasureCatto]

Try a magnet test. Maybe iron slag.

Welcome from Texas

 

[DeepseekerADS]

It might help if you'd listed your location......

 

[Hamsom]

Hey, thanks for the suggestions, guys! Right, I forgot to add the iron bit. I tested the rocks with the strongest magnet I own but I didn't really notice a "reaction" if you can call it that. Even the tiniest pieces weren't attracted by the magnet. Then again, I'm not sure how much they're supposed to "react" to the magnet if they really are hematites or other mineral blobs depending on the iron content present in these probes. I could try sanding some rock dust off em and use the magnet then, maybe that'll give me different results.

Apart from the dark red coloring, none of the rocks looked rusty in any way either that would indicate a high iron content (would hematites or the like turn orange when exposed to rain and weather?).

As for it being slag, I don't think so. How I understand it, slag is rough textured with air pockets / vesicles (concave). Meanwhile, mine are completely smooth with bulges and bruises (convex).

So far, the closest match to me seems to be kidney hematite but maybe you guys can walk me through how to confirm it :-p?

Anyhow, those are my observations. But I'm so unknowledgeable in all of this stuff pertaining rocks, gems and minerals that I can't even call myself an amateur, so I don't know how much my opinions are worth, really!!

Thanks again!!!

 

[Hamsom]

I found them in Franconia, Bavaria, Germany. The area doesn't have any mountains, just the occasional hills. The field in which I found the stones in was more or less at the foot of one such hill. The soil was tilled but was empty and looked pretty barren and depleted, so probably monoculture for many years. Not sure why those stones would be in that field since they're not in fertilizer and I don't see farmers dumping waste from smelting onto their corn or potato field... Hmm