Stone axe head?

[digi-shots]

Here’s another mid Atlantic Virginia flea market find… no idea where the seller got it or how old it is.

The bottom side is fairly flat and upper side rounded with a middle ridge going lengthwise. I tried to photo the ridge but it’s hard to see in the photos.

The groove doesn’t look wide enough to have been hafted.

Does this look like a newly made “artifact” or does it have honest age…. what period might it be from?

Thanks for looking!

 

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[digi-shots]

I’ve highlighted the “ridge” along the length

 

[Older The Better]

I’m no expert, haven’t found any groundstone myself, I’ll say I’m not sure I like the shape, it’s not your most typical form, but I’m not really getting a new vibe from it either, sorry can’t be more help, I’m curious what others think

 

[newnan man]

That's an odd one for sure. Material looks wrong, groove to narrow, no polish at all. Yet it doesn't look quite like something natural either.

 

[digi-shots]

Thanks for all the comments.. I appreciate it!

I took another close look at it under strong Light.
I’m thinking it might be a mano grinding stone.. the flat base does show some light staining and along the edges.. not much but you can see a difference.

The ridge line along the top shows some shine and might be from natural oils in the workers’ hands (?).

Both ends have a bit of peppering perhaps from grinding.

 

[dognose]

The groove does look odd to me also. It's very difficult to say 100% from a photo.

It could be a relic that the user selected a stone which already had been weathered to a degree into a shape which needed less manual labor to arrive at a useful tool. But in shaping the bit, you would see peck marks and polish to get the finished desired shape - to be useful as an axe.

I have found a number of axes over the years which exhibit different groove styles - but none like this item.

A field by my house has yielded over 12 axes. More than a few have the appearance of the maker simply selected a stone out of the creek which would result in a useful tool, requiring as little work as possible. Maybe that person was not a high energy person, I don't know. The creek flows through my property and along the field with the site.

I would not read much into a ridge on one edge.

If used as a mano, I would expect to see much grinding and a very flat surface.

Bottom line for me is undetermined without handling the specimen.

 

[digi-shots]

Some more photos.. hopefully showing the “flat” bottom and leading edges…

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

IMO it is natural...

 

[newnan man]

IMO it is natural...

I agree.

 

[unclemac]

every one of us here would have brought that one home, natural or not.

 

[Older The Better]

every one of us here would have brought that one home, natural or not.

I definitely would

 

[Tnmountains]

The bit would show work and polish under a jewelers loop.

 

[digi-shots]

I don’t see any polish on the bit.. some definite staining.

I do see more of what looks like polish on the flat bottom side.. as if it was used as a Mano stone.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I don’t see any polish on the bit.. some definite staining.

I do see more of what looks like polish on the flat bottom side.. as if it was used as a Mano stone.

Was it found near running water?

 

[yakker]

Huh. This is a weirdo. And since you don't know where it was found....

Honestly, the first thing I thought was net sinker (a Very Big one!) or boat anchor (small). There are a lot of rivers-- important rivers to the NA's and the coast was the highway, so... I see some polish, and the bit in his later post looks reasonable. A weirdo for sure! Perhaps a tool of convenience, as suggested by another commenter. Maybe a FrankenTool that began as one thing, then ended up another because of fault or fissure in stone, or whatever...

Keep it. Keep looking at it. Who knows? It may reveal itself in time!