What do you think? Interesting find in southeast Texas, or not?

[TXChzHd]

Hi all, thanks for reading. I am new to the forum but like everything I have seen so far! I've been walking various creek beds north of Houston looking for petrified wood and the proverbial "arrow heads" lol. Admittedly I have been doing it without any real knowledge of what I have been looking for in terms of artifacts, and with no success. Some time ago I picked up this interesting piece of petrified wood (I assume) that seemed to "be something". The more I thought about and looked at it, the more I thought it was not randomly formed. I've done a little research online and identified some interesting attributes to the piece, but want to know what y'all think...

The piece is relatively polished/shiny on both sides while none of the other petrified wood pieces I pick up ever are. It appears to have large flakes removed on the front side, with relatively worn "ridges" between the missing pieces. On the lower left (relative to the front view) there are a series of small uniform chips removed along the edge that you can see when viewing the back. There seems to be a face on the left (and I think the whole thing resembles a fish, lol! ). The concave shape really seems to feel nice in the right hand for using the "serrated" part. I don't know, I'll shut up now and show you the pics, lol!

Here are the front, back, top, and bottom. The shot of the bottom shows the edge worked into a sharper point (on the left third of the object in that photo).


Here are two closer-up pics of the chipped/serrated section (lower right on the piece). In the second photo the shadow almost shows the shape of the edge better than the object does in this shot. When I examine it closely, there are 5 or 6 well-spaced (but touching) chips along that bottom edge and the adjacent right hand side.


And here are a few other photos where I tried to show more detail and catch the light differently to show surfaces better, including the "face":


Thanks in advance for your thoughts! Either way, it's clear from some recent internet searches that I need to be looking for more than just "arrow heads" - as in knives, scrapers, and lots other stuff I may be passing over I feel an new obsession (er, hobby) coming on!!!

 

[GatorBoy]

Looks like you got yourself a natural piece of petrified wood

 

[Indian Steve]

Nice piece of petrified wood. Keep hunting. Your time will come.

 

[TXChzHd]

Lol, thanks Indian Steve and GatorBoy for reviewing and replying. Will definitely keep looking.

I guess the thing that had me going on this piece was the pattern of cuts/chips (see closer pic below for reference) that were in a uniform pattern in the section with the knife-like edge. There are none anywhere else on the piece, except for the 4+ that are placed on one side of the piece to make the sharper edge. Are those natural? If they were man-made how would they look different? Thanks for any info you can share as I learn

 

[rock]

Seeing it was in a creek it could be difficult to see the work from the water polish on it. It looks like some work is on it but not a lot. Tough call for me. While it tumbles believe it or not at times it can chip in such a way I looks worked. Nice study piece. Welcome to the site.

 

[TXChzHd]

Thank you for your thoughts rock.

All - Looking specifically at the "work" on the top left horizontal edge in this picture (other details above), who else has some thoughts on nature vs. man-made, and why? Trying to learn what I can from this piece to add to my general knowledge, many thanks!

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Looks like you got yourself a natural piece of petrified wood

I agree with Gator.

Your "flaking" looks to be from creek tumbling and not actually flaking.

 

[Buzzard1]

WHERE IN SOUTHEAST ARE YOU? Buzzard1

 

[Charl]

Usually the mineral replacing the wood in petrified wood is one of the many varieties of cryptocrystalline quartz, and those minerals break in what's called a choncoidal fracture. Basically ripples in a scallop pattern, as described here:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conchoidal_fracture

Link says the page "has issues", but it gives you the basic idea. Whether fractured by man or nature, that's the pattern you'll get. The good news is you noticed at all, because you do want to look for similar man made flaking anyway. In that respect, good eyes.

 

[TXChzHd]

Thanks Grim Reaper and Charl [emoji2]

 

[TXChzHd]

WHERE IN SOUTHEAST ARE YOU? Buzzard1

Buzzard1, I'm north of Houston - between Houston and Conroe, TX.

 

[RockinIdaho]

Wow, for a second I thought you were callin "em Buzzards.

 

[Tnmountains]

I used to run a little in that area. A lot of petrified wood around the Brazos creek. (I still refuse to call it a river)

 

[TXChzHd]

Lol RockinIdaho [emoji2]

Tnmountains, yep I'm definitely finding a lot of petrified wood. Up until now that's all I was really looking for, but next time out I'll have my eye out also for artifacts. Can't wait to get out there [emoji12]