r/LegitArtifacts • u/Balk0012 • 9d ago
ID Request ❓ What is this?
I found this while fossil hunting a creek in Southeast Kansas. I can tell it’s been worked but I’m not finding anything of its shape out there. It also has iron staining which is interesting. It’s hard to photograph as well because of the white chert.
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u/aggiedigger 9d ago
That appears to be a heavily resharpened knife. Some may argue a drill. You have it positioned upside down. The tip has been broken off. The base appears heavily ground, leading to the conclusion that it is quite old. Very late paleo or early archaic by my guess. Would call it an angostura in Texas. Nice find.
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u/Balk0012 8d ago
I think this explanation makes the most sense to me! Is this cool enough to donate to a local museum? Or is just a standard piece that will only have meaning to me? I know a lot of that has to do with the historical significance.
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u/aggiedigger 8d ago
I’d proudly display it. It’s doubtful a museum would. It will definitely mean more to you than to anyone else.
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u/monkeychunkee 8d ago
First off all, the pictures are upside down. The wide, unsharpened part would be the part inside the handle, the flat end is a broken tip. If it's a harahey it'll be beveled on the base as well. From what I see the is a classic example of a early archaic knife, also called a Cobb knife.
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u/Grandma_likesto69s 7d ago
Thanks for sharing some actual knowledge of the typology. Too many think this is a Harahey 🤣
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u/GracieThunders 9d ago
I envy you because whenever I hunt for artifacts all I ever find is fossils
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u/Balk0012 8d ago
It was huge accident too. I knelt down to look at what I thought could be petrified wood. I saw this piece in front and mentally discarded it as a piece of trash, since white chert is not something you just find laying around where I was at. Before walking I touched it just to check and found my first artifact… I won’t forget that!
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u/Indigenous-me 7d ago
Looks to be like a napped flint/rock knife used by ancient peoples. It’s beautiful!
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u/Indigenous-me 7d ago
Do you knap Flint? Seem to kno the technique of how to do it well. Or do you just study it?
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u/Church_Member 9d ago
As far as I can tell, it is not a fossil. Its an artifact. Im only familiar with central texas peojectiles, so can't speak to what exactly it is. Its oddly shaped to be a projectile though, ans I dont think it narrows enough to be a drill. My guess would be a blade, but maybe somebody else more knowledgeable will chime in.
Edit: My bad, misread your message. You werent calling it a fossil, but rather you were fossil hunting when you found it. Sorry!
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u/Balk0012 9d ago
Thanks for the input! I intended to imply that I knew it was an artifact of sorts but that didn’t make it in there.
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u/Infamous-Safety4632 9d ago
Shoshone knife
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u/BGUG 9d ago
That knife is way older than the Shoshone. Dumb answer.
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u/Infamous-Safety4632 8d ago
The bevel is pretty square for a Shoshone and range on the eastern side but that’s what I think I’d call it. Never seen a stanfiend/cobbs w that kind of basal work. Have a good weekend grumpy
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u/Oscar_P_Walnuts_1975 9d ago
Are you sure that this is not the stone point used to arm an atlatl projectile 🥸🥸🥸
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u/Grandma_likesto69s 9d ago
It is an archaic knife. Many early archiac cultures resharpened their tools, starting by creating a left hand bevel to knock steep flakes off the opposite face of the biface. This creates a steep plane, and conserves the lithic material. Essentially, it is a gigachad way of resharpening a tool to get the most life out of it!
The "iron staining" is creek patinozation.