possible knife or ??

[huntress104]

I found this on my farm today while looking for fossils in a creek bed. It looks like the edges have been beveled like a knife. It is fairly thin and sharp as well. It seems to be made of limestone. It has some fossils embedded in it. It looks like a hook bill knife of sorts. Don't know if it is anything or not but it looked pretty cool. What do you think?


you can see the how the edges are beveled

 

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[NC field hunter]

Man!! I've tossed so many pieces that had potential. I always thought removing the iron deposits would ruin the artifact. I'm glad to have this knowledge. Quito, do you know much about glass? I found a piece of purple glass recently. It looks like depression glass but I can't figure it out. It is a thick dome shaped piece of purple glass. Flat on the bottom and rounded on top. Looks like a magnifying glass.... But it's purple. Sorry to get off topic!!!

 

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[rockheadhunter421]

Man!! I've tossed so many pieces that had potential. I always thought removing the iron deposits would ruin the artifact. I'm glad to have this knowledge. Quito, do you know much about glass? I found a piece of purple glass recently. It looks like depression glass but I can't figure it out. It is a thick dome shaped piece of purple glass. Flat on the bottom and rounded on top. Looks like a magnifying glass.... But it's purple. Sorry to get off topic!!!

More than likely that piece of glass is from the 1800s. Glass from that time period have more magnesium (I think) and that element turns it into a purple color. That process is also known as irradiation. Glass that is more recent that is irradiated will turn a brown color. Iron deposits are a very good indicator of age in my opinion. Many Early to Paleo artifacts in NC will have iron deposits depending on where the artifact was deposited. Iron deposits and patina on a decent grade artifact is what I feel is valuable. I like to see an aged artifact that withstood the test of time. Removing that evidence, in my opinion, makes it not authentic anymore. I feel like rinsing them off with water, using your fingers or a toothbrush should be good enough.

 

[Harry Pristis]

Man!! I've tossed so many pieces that had potential. I always thought removing the iron deposits would ruin the artifact. I'm glad to have this knowledge. Quito, do you know much about glass? I found a piece of purple glass recently. It looks like depression glass but I can't figure it out. It is a thick dome shaped piece of purple glass. Flat on the bottom and rounded on top. Looks like a magnifying glass.... But it's purple. Sorry to get off topic!!!

If it's natural, the purple is called by collectors 'sun-colored amethyst' or 'SCA.' (Gamma ray food sterilizers give the glass a bluish cast.) SCA is produced by irradiation of the manganese in the glass with ultraviolet light. Manganese dioxide was used as a decolorizer in glass up until WWI.

After the start of WWI, glass-makers used selenium as a decolorizer. Selenium when irradiated produces a tan color in the glass.

 

[huntress104]

@Huntress When I find those types of things I am not sure about I will hold it between my fingers and push on it. If it breakes I know it wasnt strong enough to be anything worth keeping and it most likely just a rock. If its solid I will take a better look at it. Here where I live in GA the NA people did use it and I have seen it in collections at shows. They usually used them as hoes or digging tools.

I did that and is pretty solid. As thin as it is I am sure it would break if I used alot of pressure on it. It's not crumbly or anything like that. It just has that unique look to it that makes you think it was intended to be a knife. It may be like rockheadhunter421 said. It could have been a temporary tool made out of necessity.