what do you think of this?

[larson1951]

i've been driving over this rock all summer, it was stuck in the road
the other day i picked it up and it 'almost looks like it could have been a hoe or a shovel but maybe i am way way off and just plain wrong??

the "working end" sure seems like it was percussion flaked and seems to have usage wear

what d'ya think? do you think it's a leverite?

 

[rock]

Anytime I see a rock with the cortex removed on it I pick it up and give it a look. Im not a expert on the rocks in your area but it looks worth saving.

 

[larson1951]

Anytime I see a rock with the cortex removed on it I pick it up and give it a look. Im not a expert on the rocks in your area but it looks worth saving.

hey hey rock thanks



i am thinking shoulda i have never even posted the dang thing in the first place

 

[old digger]

That there looks like a chopper.

 

[flintdigger]

Look's like it could be a chopper, I don't know.

 

[southfork]

Looks like a chopper / Scraper to me also .

 

[rock]

Could even be a hand ax. I have some I don't post cause they are so darn ugly

 

[Charl]

I would not have left it either, Steve. Looks like sandstone, or at least a rock type you don't associate with flaking or tools. Similar tools from my end of the country that are often made of sandstone and other poorer quality rocks include the ones seen here. Your's is remindful in some ways, but I don't know what that might be in terms of Mandan culture.

 

[Charl]

Steve, here's a stem hoe from one of my sites made of sandstone. Not equating, just showing that these types of poorer quality rocks were worked into tools...

 

[larson1951]

well i am thinking that maybe it is a tool
the rock is not a flakable type and it reminds me of a type that when found in the SW part of the black hills of SD would usually have a few garnets embedded in it
i think i shoulda just left alone but learn so dang much here that i thought what the heck? no harm in asking?













in itself

 

[quito]

Looks worked to me too. Nice pick up Lars.

 

[rock]

The stone type reminds me of what be call black quartzite here. They did use it for points and tools in this area.

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Looks to be a Hoe Steve and a very nice one. Great find!!

 

[Buckleberry]

I'd call it a hoe, has the shape and all...

 

[curious kat]

....yeah, what the guys said.

 

[NC field hunter]

Nice find! I have found net sinkers with similar size and shape as your piece. They often have a crudely worked edge and side notches. I must go with the others here though. I'd love to see what you have collected, and deemed unworthy of posting. It's nice to see your eye's range. I had started thinking museums had hired you as a scout. Just kidding with you buddy. However, Truth be know, I bet this piece was just as valuable to the Native American's life as the museum quality pieces.

 

[justonemore]

That is a tough call. I've come across quite a few pieces like that here in N.W. Indiana. Are they artifacts? maybe, but not clearly obvious. The pieces I've brought home sit in the rock garden for lack of being sure.

 

[joshuaream]

It looks like a tool to me. In Oklahoma, the Ozarks, and other parts south of you, you see this style of hoe and bowtie axes (some were axes, but some were hoes as well I believe) were common from the late archaic to about 1000 ad. It could just be older than the normal awesome stuff you find.

 

[Charl]

Steve wrote:

"well i am thinking that maybe it is a tool
the rock is not a flakable type and it reminds me of a type that when found in the SW part of the black hills of SD would usually have a few garnets embedded in it
i think i shoulda just left alone but learn so dang much here that i thought what the heck? no harm in asking?"


Well, in that case, garnets sometimes present, then it may be one of the metamorphic rock types sometimes used for tools, such as schist or gneiss. No, no harm in asking at all; it is a tool!

 

[rock]

First thing I thought of was Schist. Maybe your Schist type is different from ours, doesn't look like Schist to me. Ours here is more grainy and brittle.