mortymoose Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Greetings to you all.... Whilst walking along the sand bar of the Orange River Mouth here in Namibia, I saw this odd shaped stone. Picking it up, I realised that this did not appear to be any regular stone. I usually trawl along this stretch of beach every 2nd friday with the mutt in the hope of spotting a unique agate or two. The stones that one normally lie along here are clay or slate based and are flat, we do not tend to get large boulder type stones along the beach here, which is sandy and straight.... This stone looked unusual and I noticed it had a groove in it..... the stone was oblong in shape and had a metalic feel to it..... Seeing as we have no experts in the area, I am turning to you guys to give advice to see if this is a stone tool or just an unusual stone! Please feel free to comment... Cheers and thanks in advance Morty ps, last pic just shows the area at the river mouth where the stone was found, this area is wild west....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crinoid Queen Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 It does almost took intentionally shaped doesn't it? Hope we can fig it out for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockin' Ric Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 My guess it looks like an crude "Atlatl", spear throwing tool??? Not sure if they were made out of stone because it wasn't flexible enough, then again the natives used whatever resources were available to them?? WELCOME TO ALL THE NEW MEMBERS! If history repeats itself, I'm SO getting a dinosaur. ~unknown www.rockinric81.wixsite.com/fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Better pictures in bright daylight/outdoors may help to determine if this is a shaped tool. Does a magnet stick to it? You said it seemed metallic so worth a check. To me, this looks like a water worn piece of columnar basalt, ... but better pics may help. Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 I do not think it looks like any stone tools I am familiar with. But it is a cool looking rock and I could think of several uses for it. I wonder if we have an African stone tool expert on here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mortymoose Posted June 18, 2013 Author Share Posted June 18, 2013 Thanks for the interesting response, Magnets do not stick to it, I tried that after hearing the sound.... It's night time here in Namibia, I will take better photographs tomorrow.... Thanks again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Pristis Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 I see no evidence of human alteration. http://pristis.wix.com/the-demijohn-page What seest thou else In the dark backward and abysm of time? ---Shakespeare, The Tempest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
painshill Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Hi mortymoose and welcome to the forum. I collect African (and other) lithic tools. The general answer to your "how do I know?" question is by comparison to known tool forms/shapes, suitability of material, evidence of modification and/or use wear and sometimes the context of the find. The converse of that is whether the item concerned has a plausible natural geological explanation. I don't see any signs of modification or use-wear and it's not unusual for many rocks to suffer natural "pencil fractures" like that. It's unlikely the rock type itself could be identified from photographs. It's not a known tool form and has only the vaguest resemblance to the thrower for an atlatl. The notch area is wrong and I've never seen one made from stone. They're usually carved from wood, bone, antler or ivory. Roger I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew);Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who [Rudyard Kipling] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mortymoose Posted June 19, 2013 Author Share Posted June 19, 2013 Hi All! Thanks for the informative feedback, I was just curious about the stone and have taken slightly better snaps.... I also was browsing through the forum and realised that I might have more to contribute. Outside of my town in the desert is a rocky outcrop with an expansive view over the river.... A few years back I was showing the view to two visiting Archaeologists, when they got excited about the hill we were standing on. I cannot recall exactly what they were explaining but recalled them pointing out fossils.... So when I have a spare moment, I shall go out to the hill and take a few snaps, to see if any of you guys can spot what the excitement was all about... The hill is basically undisturbed due to the area we live in being a diamond restrictive area... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wfrr Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 still that last set of pics makes one wonder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 A clever piece of suggestive geologic mimicry, me thinks. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mortymoose Posted June 19, 2013 Author Share Posted June 19, 2013 The one end of the stone looks like a chisel,whilst the other end is flatter and slightly rounded. The stone was found on the low water mark amongst the line of small stones that ebb with the tides. This was on the riverside of the sandbar extending across the mouth of the Orange River. This indicates that the stone came down the river and not from the ocean. The smoothness of the stone is also an indicator of water tumbling from the stones journey down the river. We have a very rich fossil area, unspoilt in the diamond area called Arrisdrift. This is one of the Richest sources of fossils in Southern Africa, but relatively untouched due to the fact that for the last 100 years the area called the Sperrgebiedt has been off limits.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donckey Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 Hi, It is very difficult to say if this is an artifact (tool or sculpture) or a stone looking smooth by transportation in water. Like painshill said, it is important to know the context of this find. For instance: Do you find more stones of the same material and or the same size. Are archaeological finds from nearby known? Did pre-historic people use this kind of stone for making tools or sculptures in Southern Africa? If the sediments where you found this only contains small material one can wonder how a bigger piece came to that place. Sometimes we find stones in locations where they can not be deposited by natural agencies. and transportation by humans could be likely. If I would find such a stone in an area were no big stones are expected I would keep it and label it as a "possible sculpture" Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 I would call it naturally made. "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go. " I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes "can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinkpantherbeekeeper Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Donckey makes a good point. Other rocks in the area can make a huge difference.I found a few "arrow heads" around my house as a kid. Also collected various "cool" rocks as well. We had a local inspector come out for a well and spetic permit and he ironically had a degree as an anthropoligist. One of my "cool" rocks I had could easily be seen as being worked by man but had no real form. He put it in "context" for me. It was not a native rock or one being tranported by glaciers; rather it would have been brought up from a few states away by man. Anyway, maybe if you can identity the type of rock it is that might help locate where it came from or explain what it might be. Just my two cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrehistoricFlorida Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 (edited) This is what I call a "geofact", it's basically a rock with a unique/suggestive shape. But, it has not been altered by man. Edited July 19, 2013 by PrehistoricFlorida www.PrehistoricFlorida.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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