I am new and I have no idea what this is. Can someone please give me an educated guest at least?

[Starstruck106]

This cylindrical object came from my neighbor whose mother was an avid artifact and rock collector.  She had no idea what it was or when her mother found it but it was a long time ago up in the area of Carey, Idaho, on her mother's private property.  The object is cylindrical with a small sway toward the middle of it.  It is 4' tall and approximately 2 3/8" at the widest point.  It is stone or clay colored uniformly aside from the ends where it has a brownish gold tinge and shows circles in the center of each end.  It is very heavy given its size and seems dense it weighs 1 lb 6.1 oz.   Any help would be appreciated on this one. 

[Rockwood]

I specialize in educated guesses as much as most, some might argue more. This looks like it may be a fossilized burrow. Also called a trace, or ichno fossil. Other possibilities are root trace or just plain concretion. Someone who knows the area may be able to help refine this.

[diginupbones]

Welcome to the forum starstruck. It looks like what you have there is not a fossil but A very nice Native American artifact. My first guess is that it’s primary use would’ve been as a pestle but the dimple in top also makes me think nutting stone. Not an expert here, I would post this on arrowheads.com in their  “what did I find” section. They have some very knowledgeable people on there and would be able to tell you exactly what it is. 

[Rockwood]

54 minutes ago, diginupbones said:

Welcome to the forum starstruck. It looks like what you have there is not a fossil but A very nice Native American artifact. My first guess is that it’s primary use would’ve been as a pestle but the dimple in top also makes me think nutting stone. Not an expert here, I would post this on arrowheads.com in their  “what did I find” section. They have some very knowledgeable people on there and would be able to tell you exactly what it is. 

Interesting thought. What makes you think it ?

[diginupbones]

19 minutes ago, Rockwood said:

Interesting thought. What makes you think it ?

I’ve only been a serious artifact collector for several years so I am by no means an expert but this one just screams artifact to me. It looks like it is composed of some very hard material and has had many many years of use. I spend a lot of time on artifact forums and this site trying to expand my knowledge on different subjects and I am definitely not afraid to admit that I could be wrong. 

[Rockwood]

I would have no problem calling it a tool, but I wonder if they were using the items that I suggested as such. It would seem like a lot of trouble to craft such a thing from hard rock.

[Starstruck106]

10 hours ago, Rockwood said:

I specialize in educated guesses as much as most, some might argue more. This looks like it may be a fossilized burrow. Also called a trace, or ichno fossil. Other possibilities are root trace or just plain concretion. Someone who knows the area may be able to help refine this.

Thank you that is helpful.  I thought at first it may be a tool but my family owns an Indian Museum (historical preservation project) in Nevada and it did not exactly fit in with that, especially the circle appearing on both sides in the middle and the heaviness of the object.  I also considered possibly detonator that had somehow become encrusted from an old mining operation.  Had not looked into your suggestions but I will now.  

 

[Starstruck106]

5 hours ago, diginupbones said:

I’ve only been a serious artifact collector for several years so I am by no means an expert but this one just screams artifact to me. It looks like it is composed of some very hard material and has had many many years of use. I spend a lot of time on artifact forums and this site trying to expand my knowledge on different subjects and I am definitely not afraid to admit that I could be wrong. 

I had thought that at first as well (see response to other poster) but with the center circles and the heaviness it did not seem to quite fit the bill.  However, her grandmother picked up a plethora of spearheads and arrowheads in the area during her youth and was nice enough to give me quite a few some of which I will post later to see if anyone knows what use they possibly could have had. My grandfather did a lot of unique things with rocks and fossils if interested it is Thunder Mountain Monument in Imlay Nevada.

[Starstruck106]

4 hours ago, Rockwood said:

I would have no problem calling it a tool, but I wonder if they were using the items that I suggested as such. It would seem like a lot of trouble to craft such a thing from hard rock.

I had thought possibly they used a type of clay and put something in the center and baked it until it became hard and over time it turned into this which definitely feels like stone.

[Starstruck106]

10 hours ago, Rockwood said:

I specialize in educated guesses as much as most, some might argue more. This looks like it may be a fossilized burrow. Also called a trace, or ichno fossil. Other possibilities are root trace or just plain concretion. Someone who knows the area may be able to help refine this.

It was also suggested that it could be a portion of a severed bone with the center representing the core but this area has been known for artifacts, mining, as well as fossils since it is not far from the Fossil beds among other things. 

 

[GeschWhat]

Interesting thread...welcome to the forum! 

[Sjfriend]

Ok, can't believe no one else said this so I will, found in Idaho? Must be a fossil potato 

 

Now that I got that off my chest  

 

I don't see fossil. And if no other rocks in same area having a similar appearance I'd have to think artifact. Though what I have NO clue. Maybe a base used like an anvil for took making?

 

Welcome to the forum. 

Edited April 10, 2021 by Sjfriend
Spelling fix

[Rockwood]

1 hour ago, Starstruck106 said:

It was also suggested that it could be a portion of a severed bone with the center representing the core

I think you can scratch that one from the list.

[Starstruck106]

Did as soon as it was suggested lol

[Rockwood]

I can imagine native wanders collecting these in places where they are common to barter for goods and services along the way. Early travelers checks, if you will.

[GeschWhat]

45 minutes ago, Sjfriend said:

Ok, can't believe no one else said this so I will, found in Idaho? Must be a fossil potato 

Hmm...would that be before or after digestion? 

[HuckMucus]

First of all, that is very cool.  Second, I'm going to say concretion.  The only reason I'm going to say concretion is because others, who know more than me, told me that something I had that was similar, was a concretion.  Imagine what you have, only maybe just a little less than twice as large.  Imagine it being perfectly round.  Then, where you have those indents on the end that seem to rise a little (or at least have different coloration in the center), imagine those actually protruding about an inch on each end.  That is what I found out of King Hill, Idaho, off the Snake River.  When I asked about the apparent internal thing encompassed by the external mass, I was told that an older sausage-like concretion was "consumed" by a later concretion.  That somehow these things are formed by the action of rolling back in forth in mud, only to harden later.  Mine was extremely hard.  Extremely.

 

Anyway, I don't know if the people who told me this knew what they were talking about, but it was a discussion board like this and that is what I walked away with.  Pretty much everyone knows more that me about these things.  

[Starstruck106]

2 hours ago, Rockwood said:

I think you can scratch that one from the list.

 

1 hour ago, HuckMucus said:

First of all, that is very cool.  Second, I'm going to say concretion.  The only reason I'm going to say concretion is because others, who know more than me, told me that something I had that was similar, was a concretion.  Imagine what you have, only maybe just a little less than twice as large.  Imagine it being perfectly round.  Then, where you have those indents on the end that seem to rise a little (or at least have different coloration in the center), imagine those actually protruding about an inch on each end.  That is what I found out of King Hill, Idaho, off the Snake River.  When I asked about the apparent internal thing encompassed by the external mass, I was told that an older sausage-like concretion was "consumed" by a later concretion.  That somehow these things are formed by the action of rolling back in forth in mud, only to harden later.  Mine was extremely hard.  Extremely.

 

Anyway, I don't know if the people who told me this knew what they were talking about, but it was a discussion board like this and that is what I walked away with.  Pretty much everyone knows more that me about these things.  

I think you nailed it with the concretion.  Thank you.

 

[diginupbones]

6 minutes ago, Starstruck106 said:

 

I think you nailed it with the concretion.  Thank you.

 

 
This is definitely not a concretion.  

[Rockwood]

47 minutes ago, diginupbones said:

 
This is definitely not a concretion.  

Counter indications ?

[diginupbones]

10 minutes ago, Rockwood said:

Counter indications ?

Honestly, I don’t think anything more I add is going to change anyone’s opinion. I believe I gave the correct answer in the second post on this thread. The OP did as I instructed and got the opinion from the artifact experts on another forum but obviously doesn’t agree with them either because she posted that concretion was correct even after they told her what it was.

Everyone else’s opinions are respected here but I tend to go with the opinions of experts in their fields. 
 

[Rockwood]

31 minutes ago, diginupbones said:

Honestly, I don’t think anything more I add is going to change anyone’s opinion.

Opinions are nice, but evidence is what it takes to change mine.

[donnyjoe]

My guess, while not greatly educated, is artifact based solely on appearance. I have an example found in Webb County, TX which is remarkably similar except for the tapered end. This one is 8" long and 2-3/8" in diameter.  Both ends have small scratches, discoloration, and a shiny patina where contact would be made with a hard surface.  Those features are difficult or impossible to see in an image but something to look for.

 

[JohnJ]

@Starstruck106 Any chance you can get better focused images of the surface texture on the end and side?  Do you recognize the rock type?

[DPS Ammonite]

John is giving good advice. Better up close pictures will show the pattern of wear.

 

You expect more wear where a artifact rubs against or hits another hard surface. There will be less wear where the artifact is held.