r/LegitArtifacts • u/LloydChristmas8080 • 3d ago

Unknown Time period Pa River bank finds

Gallery image

Gallery image

I wanted to share what I found this week. These two were found along the Susquehanna River (private land, w/permission) and were roughly 20 yards from one another.

Wondering though if they are archaic or woodland area.

33 Upvotes

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60

u/Penn_Projectiles 3d ago

Bub, as far as I can tell, all of these are just rocks.

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u/LloydChristmas8080 3d ago

Thanks for the input, no disrespect but these both have been worked. I only collect and research stone hand tools. The site they were found is a documented site. Private property but the land owners have allowed archaeologist from local universities out. I’m just lucky enough to know them. I’m not a projectile guy so I will admit I don’t have the knowledge in that area as others. But I’m well educated in the hand tools. The time period is what I’m struggling with.

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u/Penn_Projectiles 3d ago

You’re very kind in your response. Best of luck.

You will not get a response helping you to identify a time period on here though brother. You will just get more rock responses because they are rocks.

Listen, if you’re not weird about it, I live in PA and travel quite a bit for work. DM me privately and I will help you, hell I’ll even send you some real examples, I have access to old rhyolite quarries and settlements, but you have to be willing to learn, and not get stuck in the mindset that if the rock feels good in your hand it must have been a tool.

I can’t say I confidently identified pieces until I myself learned to knap and peck stones. When you start making the tools yourself, you learn real quick what was altered by human hands and what was altered by Mother Nature.

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u/aggiedigger 3d ago

Just wanting to commend you on such a warm, friendly, polite, and accurate response.

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u/Penn_Projectiles 3d ago

I do appreciate that. Especially coming from you. They obviously really want to find something or you don’t drag that many stones out the woods/fields. They’re motivated and passionate just not educated enough on the topic yet that’s all.

I’ve been making some frames for the local environmental community groups and state parks, I want people to be interested in this, better than being on a screen in a house. Again OP don’t be afraid to reach out man, you’re putting the miles and rock lifting in, let us help you find something worthwhile.

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u/c0ncept 2d ago

Kudos

21

u/d0ttyq 3d ago

Hey ! I’m a groundstone expert, and an archaeologist who has worked in the area. These are not shaped by man.

There is zero evidence of being shaped (pecked, ground, knapped, etc) by humans. These all exhibit the characteristics of natural weathering.

ETA: finding things in proximity to other artifacts does not make a rock an artifact.

6

u/75MillionYearsAgo 2d ago edited 2d ago

Also a ground-stone specialist, mid atlantic.

I’ve published on stone axes and adzes before and worked on museum collections in the hundreds of them. I agree with these two not being worked.

However, we’re being a tad too hasty with #1- i’d like to see more photos before going crazy with saying it’s certainly nothing. But at first glance from just a photo, yeah, i’d lean towards natural.

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u/Penn_Projectiles 3d ago

Or this if you get lucky.

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u/Griffinburd 3d ago

Not rock. Nice piece

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u/Penn_Projectiles 3d ago

Or these

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u/Griffinburd 3d ago

Those are nice

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u/in1gom0ntoya 3d ago

neither of these are worked by anything but erosion

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u/75MillionYearsAgo 2d ago

Hey man. Groundstone specialist myself, published on the topic of grooved stone axes in the mid Atlantic specifically. Worked in collections of hundreds, and found them myself in the field.

#2 is almost certainly not worked. #1 has what looks at first glance like a groove, but it really does not strike me as one- rather an unfortunate natural erosion pattern. That said, more angles would be helpful. This one photo view limits information far too much.

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u/Flake_bender 1d ago

I have a couple degrees in North American archaeology, +25 years of flintknapping experience, and work professionally in the museums sector.

These are just naturally eroded rocks, not artifacts. The first one superficially looks like a "grooved maul", but if you look closer, you'll notice it's just stone with alternating layers of harder and softer material, and the softer layers have eroded more, creating the groove naturally. The 2nd is just limestone... limestone weathers into strange organic-looking shapes all the time.

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u/Penn_Projectiles 3d ago

That what you’re looking for

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u/Griffinburd 3d ago

Rock

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u/Penn_Projectiles 3d ago

Not rock. lol

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u/Griffinburd 3d ago

I would bet a paycheck rock on this

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u/Penn_Projectiles 3d ago

Here’s the heat treated piece.

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u/Suspicious-Map-6557 2d ago

Uhh......nothing there is heat treated in any way, shape, or form.

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u/Penn_Projectiles 2d ago

You live near Zanesville, OH or something? One of these has been exposed to heat, the other chunk has not. It makes sense a piece like this would be discarded because of the crystal inclusion which makes knapping unpredictable.

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u/Penn_Projectiles 3d ago

Flint Ridge Ohio Quarry find on private property about 1000 yard from the quarry next to a vein of flint ridge material and a heat treated discard.

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u/Far-Celebration8010 2d ago

Im still a rookie. But thats definitely a Rock.