PRK Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 A fossil friend found this in an open country, dry stream bed, while hunting in eastern Oregon. what the ---? 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRK Posted November 19, 2016 Author Share Posted November 19, 2016 Ah, there it is oops. Forgot to mention, it is 3" long Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruitbat Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Hmmmm...THAT'S interesting! Let me take a wild stab and say that it's not a fossil! I don't suppose there were any other bits and pieces of the same things in the vicinity, were there? What is it made of? -Joe 2 1 Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRK Posted November 19, 2016 Author Share Posted November 19, 2016 Good questions. I'll ask and let y'all know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRK Posted November 19, 2016 Author Share Posted November 19, 2016 Just talked to him on the phone. He says its on a hard piece of silty, limestonish type of rock. It is NOT sculptured clay. deffinitely natural rock the opposite side shows no sign of pattern. oh yes, there was no other material in the vicinity 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Sure is interesting. Are you thinking artifact? I myself have absolutely no idea except that it looks like it may have similar patterns to some things I've seen from west coast indians. 2 1 1 Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDudeCO Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 wow, can we get a close up of some of the details? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Looks like some sort of very water worn meso-american carving, to me. Very Aztec-ish looking designs. Definitely man-altered, if not man-made. Regards, 6 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...
Fruitbat Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 I can honestly say that I've never seen anything quite like it. I have a hard time imagining how meso-American material could find its way up to Oregon and it sure doesn't look like any artifact that I've ever seen from the northwest coastal Native Americans (not that I've seen a whole lot of them). Just based on the complexity of the pattern, I would be more inclined to lean toward some sort of 'European' artifact. VERY weird! -Joe 2 Illigitimati non carborundum Fruitbat's PDF Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raggedy Man Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Should be taken to a museum for analysis. 6 ...I'm back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordTrilobite Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Definitely very interesting. Could you show a picture of the other side? 1 Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ischua Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 51 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said: Looks like some sort of very water worn meso-american carving, to me. Very Aztec-ish looking designs. Definitely man-altered, if not man-made. Regards, It looks like a chameleon to me 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonelle Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 I was just going to say the same @ischua 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldigger Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 I have never known west coast Indians to even put real fancy decor on their items. They tended to be very utilitarian in their wears. Perhaps it is not as old as we are imagining. A whole lot of artsy hippie civilization in Oregon, half my siblings are living there as we speak. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 Can You show pictures of the sides and close ups of the patterns? Tony Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRK Posted November 20, 2016 Author Share Posted November 20, 2016 My buddy lives over 1000 miles away. I only have the emailed photo he sent. But let me see what I candoo 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 No need to create a duplicate topic, Paul. There have been many eyes viewing it, here. The "silty" nature of the rock your friend describes and the way parts of it have broken, remind me of liesegang exfoliation. 4 The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westcoast Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 I have seen features similar to this in siltstone, although not quite as ornate, that are quite natural. I believe it is a form of exfoliation or weathering. If I can find an image I will post for comparison. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifbrindacier Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 I never saw any european stone artifacts ornated like this one. There do are european artifacts with a lot of ornamentation that look like this one's, but they are made in metal. So i also would lead towards some kind of liesegang. It's really a nice stone, you should bring it to a museum as said @Raggedy Man. 2 "On ne voit bien que par le coeur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry) "We only well see with the heart, the essential is invisible for the eyes." In memory of Doren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abyssunder Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 Looks like man-made artifact, to me. The ornamented "rings" have spiralling pattern, they are not concentric. The specimen could be a Native American culture artifact, or a modern one made by a skilled artist. The serpent was represented in a variety of forms in the native Mexican culture, some of them in a surrealistic manner, trying to represent the Fire Serpent. Also, I could see the Chameleon eyes... 5 1 " We are not separate and independent entities, but like links in a chain, and we could not by any means be what we are without those who went before us and showed us the way. " Thomas Mann My Library Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 I was just going to mention the spirals but abyssunder beat me to it! Surely man made and I want it to be chameleon. Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 On 11/19/2016 at 7:25 PM, Jonelle said: I was just going to say the same @ischua Funny. I was thinking that too. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRK Posted November 20, 2016 Author Share Posted November 20, 2016 Yesterday I sent a request fo more detailed pictures. Surprisingly, today I received some. The entire specimen is approx 3" long these pics have better resolution, and the circle shaped detail is approx 3mm 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonelle Posted November 20, 2016 Share Posted November 20, 2016 @PRK whatever it is, it is awesome. I think it totally looks man made but I think a lot of things do... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Yeah, I agree with South or Meso American artifact, likely a worn decorative tile off a wall or something. The resemblance to a chameleon I think is just happenstance, due to how it has broken and erroded. So, I saying it is likely a psuedo-chameleon. =-) The style doesn't seem to firmly fit to any one South American culture I can think of. Maya? Aztec? Inca?, Olmec? Doesn't seem firmly any of those, so it might be a "modern" tile that was cast off construction debris, made by an artist who just took the general ideas of those cultures to make this item. https://www.google.com/search?q=precolumbian+decorative+tile&btnG=Search&hl=en&gbv=1&tbm=isch 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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