Possible portable Art/Glyph?

[Direwolfin]

I have read that four grooved lines means snow or rain. Or this could be a plow mark. The grooves are not evenly spaced apart.
The size and shape of this stone is intriguing. It has a brown patina, and the grooves seem to disappear int the cut.
Found along the Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. This is my first post. I have many great things to share.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Treasure of Victoria Peak - Grab it through Amazon!

[newnan man]

Welcome!

 

[joshuaream]

Portable Art is a term that usually means Natural Rocks to me. Over the years I have noticed, and this has held true everywhere I have seen, humans produce/discard more trash than tools and more tools than art. Modern cities, modern camp sites, Disney parks, beaches, ancient cities, ancient sites, ancient quarries, heck even in my kids' art classes. Lots of trash, some tools and very occasionally art.

Your rock doesn't look like trash to me so if those scratches are man-made, it's more likely to be a tool than to be art. And tools are awesome.

One of our long term members here also spends time around the

Narragansett Bay, and he's found some really cool stuff over the years. You are in a good area.​

 

[Fred250]

Nice one I’d like to see some more.

 

[Huzzah!]

Marks certainly not done by ag equipment--too close together. Doesn't hurt to save it!

 

[Direwolfin]

Marks certainly not done by ag equipment--too close together. Doesn't hurt to save it!

I def will save it thanks guys!! I was thinking perhaps this was hafted amd those lines are from the tie down
I just started working in this area so its pretty exciting.

 

[DiggerKid2003]

The Native Americans were better than you think. If they made some sort of figure or statue you would know it.

 

[Robot]

This Could Be...Nailed...If It Turns Out To Be...An Ancient Native...Hammer Stone!



The stone hammers used were of two varieties, grooved and ungrooved, or altered and unaltered. Grooved hammerstones would have handles attached through hafting, while the ungrooved hammers were merely held in one or both hands. The majority of hammerstones found on Isle Royale tended to be of the hand-held ungrooved variety, with far fewer grooved hammerstones in evidence than on the mainland. Those on the mainland were ungrooved and grooved, with a much larger percentage being grooved than was the case on Isle Royale. The grooved hammerstones found on Isle Royale tended to have less effort put into their alteration than grooved hammerstones found on the mainland, which have deeper and fuller grooves. Hammerstones were generally symetrically rounded beach stones of hard igneous rock. Hammerstones have been found weighing from 1 pound to more than 30 pounds. The grooved hammerstones range from partially to fully grooved and from barely grooved to deeply grooved. Early modern-day miners removed literally tons of hammerstones from individual ancient mining sites in the Keweenaw Peninsula and on Isle Royale in the 1800s. Hammerstones are still found on the mainland today, as well as on Isle Royale where they are protected from collectors due to Isle Royale's status as a national park. We have found complete and damaged grooved hammerstones, two examples appearing in photos to the right, at several locations in the Keweenaw Peninsula.

 

[Charl]

I'm not sure what I'm looking at, but it's interesting. It isn't impossible to come across portable petroglyphs in our region. Of course, some are engraved on decorative artifacts, like pendants. Some are seen on tools. For instance, the turtle seen as #11 in this illustration is engraved atop an abrading stone. And #9 is a slate knife with some type of critter engraved on it. If you double click the photo, you'll see the artifacts better......



You can see some of these at the Massachusetts Archaeological Society's Robbins Museum in Middleborough, Ma. The turtle abrading stone is at the top in this photograph:



#6 in the above illustration is seen on the right side of this photo. It was found at the famous Wapanucket site in southeastern Ma. Hard to see the tally marks in this photo taken through glass:



Finally here is a portable petroglyph from my own collection. I would not take my speculation about this one too seriously. It's just me speculating. The fact is the particular design, a crosshatch, is one of the most common design elements in North American petroglyphs. For that matter, the world. So it could be Paleo, but it could be Woodland in age as well. I have no way of really knowing. I disagree with my colleague, Ed Lenik, who felt it was a net weight. As far as I'm concerned, it's an unmodified cobble of quartzite, a true portable petroglyph:

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/north-american-indian-artifacts/586010-portable-petroglyph.html

 

[Direwolfin]

I'm not sure what I'm looking at, but it's interesting. It isn't impossible to come across portable petroglyphs in our region. Of course, some are engraved on decorative artifacts, like pendants. Some are seen on tools. For instance, the turtle seen as #11 in this illustration is engraved atop an abrading stone. And #9 is a slate knife with some type of critter engraved on it. If you double click the photo, you'll see the artifacts better......

View attachment 1698139

You can see some of these at the Massachusetts Archaeological Society's Robbins Museum in Middleborough, Ma. The turtle abrading stone is at the top in this photograph:

View attachment 1698140

#6 in the above illustration is seen on the right side of this photo. It was found at the famous Wapanucket site in southeastern Ma. Hard to see the tally marks in this photo taken through glass:


View attachment 1698142

Finally here is a portable petroglyph from my own collection. I would not take my speculation about this one too seriously. It's just me speculating. The fact is the particular design, a crosshatch, is one of the most common design elements in North American petroglyphs. For that matter, the world. So it could be Paleo, but it could be Woodland in age as well. I have no way of really knowing. I disagree with my colleague, Ed Lenik, who felt it was a net weight. As far as I'm concerned, it's an unmodified cobble of quartzite, a true portable petroglyph:

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/north-american-indian-artifacts/586010-portable-petroglyph.html

Some things to add
I think it is made from sandstone. Also wanted to note the grooves are not deep at all, bit they dont wash off.. they are not going anywhere, i tried a bit.
The broken out section appears to have been broken out before the grooves were added. Which seemed strange to me. After I foound it, i started doing some searches and found those same images you show here. I also looked up some petroglyph keys. 4 lines tends to mean snow or rain. Everyones comments sure have gotten me excited about the piece. It is the right shape and size like the ones at the museum. I also found the image you had posted of the crosshatch rock, which led me down that direction.

 

[Direwolfin]

Perhaps someone at the Robbins or somewhere else should have a look at it? These things seem pretty rare, and if it something that should be shared or used for learning, I wouldn't want t o keep it hidden