Hello Cannonman,
I did not make any claim to being an "expert" in Indian artifacts, and consider myself very much an amateur despite having hunted and collected them most of my life and possessing a small library for reference. My suggestion that it
could be a fetish depends on if what appear to be "ridges" on it actually ARE ridges and the provenance of the find; I have seen fetish stones, shells and beads as well as interesting "knots" of wood that are in museums and labeled as fetishes. It could very well be a ROCK of no significance other than being interesting looking, in which case if I had found it, I would still keep it but not with the collection of arrowheads, spear points, pottery, pottery shards etc. I certainly took no offense at any posted reply here, and have seen many of your posts in Indian artifacts that I am totally in agreement with. I was only saying that it is
possible, based on what
appear to be raised ridges and the
location of the find (in a major Creek Indian village) are worthy of further research.
Your statement, quote
"
Oro- you suggesting that this is a charm of some sort is interesting. I suppose it could be, so could any other rock out there though."
end quote
Is stretching things a bit isn't it? Or am I misreading your post - you don't mean to say that any old rock has as good a chance of being an artifact (specifically a charm or fetish) right?
If this stone had a hole drilled in it for stringing it, I would go ahead and say it
definitely is a charm/fetish, and the resemblance to an arrow point is deliberate - however not
all charms were worn nor intended to be worn - for instance the "sacred bundles" held by many tribes hold fetishes and symbolic items but were never intended to be worn, at least not separately. I am pretty sure I am not telling you anything you didn't already know, just mentioning it for the readers who are not aware.
Somewhere around here I have a fetish stone (or charm) of the "pregnant mother" type, of a type of stone I have never seen a charm made, (a blue PA slate) recovered along with stone beads, points etc if I can find it I will try to post it here as it is the only charm I possess. (I didn't even find it, my father in law dug it up) Unfortunately since moving here the vast majority of our possessions are packed in storage, so I can't promise to find it soon.
![:-\](https://www.treasurenet.com/smilies/undecided.gif "Undecided :-\")
Cannonman your post hints at a questioning of my own "expertise" in this area, despite the fact that I have made no claims to being an expert in the field; perhaps because of my suggesting a possible different answer to this particular artifact from what your conclusion is? I will say that I have been hunting and collecting Indian artifacts for over forty years, with varying success and two complete disasters (once had my collection of Indian artifacts [as well as a fairly good coin collection] stolen and never recovered, started over collecting and had a fire which destroyed everything except the points which became black, coated with melted aluminum siding and several were cracked so these are buried) but slowly have managed to re-build the collection through hunting and a couple of gifts from relatives, like the only fetish in my collection and a set of mano and metate that my mother found in her field while removing stones plowed up. I have had a deep interest in Amerindian history and culture as long as I can remember and have studied on my own in the subject. I have had a couple of articles published on Amerindians, which does not make me an "expert" either. My wife and I have participated in "official" archaeological digs, albeit as volunteers with no official capacity other than shovel-operators (not really "shovels" of course but small hand tools) which was highly educational. I learned some of the 'tricks of the trade' in hunting Indian artifacts from the postmaster of the town where my father was employed, who was, if not "expert" then a very advanced amateur whose collection filled his basement and nearly all dug from a single ancient Amerindian site a mile or so out of the town. I have done a fair amount of research into trade among pre-Columbian cultures as well, though in a different project. So while my level of knowledge of Indian artifacts is not expert by any means, I am not a total rank amateur in the subject either.
Sorry for the long explanation, but just wanted to explain my "background" in case of doubts. I cannot say that this interesting stone is
definitely a fetish or charm of any sort, but that it is interesting enough to research a little further. Thank you for your patience, good luck and good hunting to you all!
Oroblanco
But as with other things, context must be taken into consideration....what else is around it. It doesnt appear to have any holes, grooves are worn places. Just cant tell for sure.
