Rocks or Artifacts?

[aturner3739]

Posting for a friend who found these rocks stuck in the roots of an uprooted tree by the creek at her house. She is curious as to whether these are just rocks, or if they could in fact be artifacts... since some of them have perculiar shapes. I posted this in the "What Is It" forum and most replies said they thought it was just rocks, but BackwoodsBob said that he believed one to be the owl stone and another to to the top of a site. He referred me to the treasure signs and symbols thread... I will be posting it there as well. I found this forum while looking for the other, and thought I'd post it here, too. I'm not great at navigating the site yet. Thanks for your input

 

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[austin]

I vote rocks. Sorry...

 

[dts52]

I have to agree with austin...look like rocks to me

 

[Quinoa]

Rocks. But, I don't think I feel like a long drawn out explanation on the difference between random natural rocks, and natural looking actual markers inside a layout. I can find some of the same rocks in a random hole, or in a flower/rock garden as are occasionally used in a layout. But the layouts are well marked by other larger things in the first place.

 

[Quinoa]

Also it can be easy to fall into the trap of just seeing too much in everything or even on actual sites. But for every one of those that fall into this trap, there are 1000's upon 1000's of people that are totally blind and unaware of any actual markers/signs anywhere. There are extremes in everything, and always will be.

 

[Rawhide]

Certain rocks can be identified by the way they fracture. Some trails are marked with a chip out of a boulder. Those are too small to be trail markers. You also have rocks out of place, possibly carried and put there for some unknown reason. I would inspect the area the rocks were found for any signs of habitation. Take pictures if you suspect so. Tree roots also hold gold so I would be panning dirt if the area produced heavy metals. You could post moses ten commandments stone on here and someone would call it fake. But thank you for sharing.

 

[Quinoa]

Casca , You are correct about the square chip out of a square rock (chip out of a boulder).

 

[aturner3739]

Casca,

What would I look for as far as signs of habitation? Also, the one rock with the chipped corner is actually much bigger than the others, but I'm still not sure what size it would have to be in order to be considered a "Trail Marker." We live in South Carolina, and I know that there was a Gold Rush nearby in McCormick in the past. Thanks for the advice! We will take some more pictures of the surrounding area and upload them for y'alls input as well. We are hoping to learn from this group and start taking this more seriously as a hobby, but we are wet behind the ears as of now!

 

[aturner3739]

Pictures of the surrounding area

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Natural rocks..

 

[weregolf]

Rocks

 

[miboje]

How big is the rock in pic #2 in your first post? I would clean that rock off and get a good close up pic of the top and post it here.

 

[aturner3739]

Its the same rock in the last set of photos... The one beside the brick. I haven't had a chance to clean it up yet. If i do, I will re-post

 

[miboje]

As far as signs of habitation...you may see none that are evident. Run a metal detector around the area, or any area that looks unnatural or suspect. If you start finding metal artifacts, you have a chance of dating the site as well as verifying that there was activity in the area.
Are there any springs nearby?

Casca,

What would I look for as far as signs of habitation? Also, the one rock with the chipped corner is actually much bigger than the others, but I'm still not sure what size it would have to be in order to be considered a "Trail Marker." We live in South Carolina, and I know that there was a Gold Rush nearby in McCormick in the past. Thanks for the advice! We will take some more pictures of the surrounding area and upload them for y'alls input as well. We are hoping to learn from this group and start taking this more seriously as a hobby, but we are wet behind the ears as of now!