Daughter found this in a stream bed today.
First, is it actually a fossil, as we hope?
The scoring on the rock looks incredibly symmetrical.
The rock is quite hard, and I’m not sure what else could cause that kind of scoring, other than a fossilized impression of something.
Across the top of the entire rock: just under 5cm. (E.g., top photo)
Each ‘hash’ or ‘score’ is 5mm by 2mm.
Second, any ideas of what it is?
We’ve fossil hunted in the area and there’s a lot of Mississippian chert around there. Location circled in blue, if that helps.
thank you ahead of time; you all are so helpful!