Virtual_Fossil Posted November 25, 2016 Share Posted November 25, 2016 This boulder is on the property we recently purchased. We're in NE Oklahoma. I've been curious about the origin of the rows of pits/holes in it but just now have time to really pursue an answer. I realize that there a good chance that it's not a fossil but I just don't know where to go for an answer. I would greatly appreciate any input or suggestions. The scale is indicated to some degree by my four-year-old's hand in the frame. Each hole/pit is about 1-1.5 cm wide. The rows are separated by about 6-10 cm. The entire stone is maybe a meter or so wide. I haven't seen any other stones on the property with this pattern. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted November 25, 2016 Share Posted November 25, 2016 Prior to using pictographs native Americans were known to decorate rocks with that type of holes. Tony 2 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...
Virtual_Fossil Posted November 25, 2016 Author Share Posted November 25, 2016 Thanks Tony! That's very intriguing! Do you have any resources on the subject or know of a way to help verify whether or not that's what it is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilized6s Posted November 25, 2016 Share Posted November 25, 2016 That is very neat! Thanks for sharing! ~Charlie~ "There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why.....i dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" ~RFK ->Get your Mosasaur print ->How to spot a fake Trilobite ->How to identify a CONCRETION from a DINOSAUR EGG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted November 25, 2016 Share Posted November 25, 2016 I learned of this type of rock art at Grimms point Nevada. Here is a link to get You started. https://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/carson_city_field/blm_programs/recreation/grimes_point.html You would have to get a archaeologist to look at it, possibly contact a local university or museum. It is a nice find if it turns out to be that type of rock art. (Wish I could think of what they call it.) Tony PS Welcome to ! 2 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...
fossiling Posted November 25, 2016 Share Posted November 25, 2016 yes, please get it checked out, it might be rare or something! Keep looking! They're everywhere! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virtual_Fossil Posted November 25, 2016 Author Share Posted November 25, 2016 Thanks for the info and the welcome Tony. I'm growing more and more obsessed with solving this mystery. I suspect I'll be on the forum frequently now that I've joined. We've found a number of fossils (actual ones, not man-made like we suspect the subject of this thread to be) on the property. I'll definitely be using the expertise here. I've passed the photo on to an archaeologist at one of the state universities. I'll definitely share what I find out about it. Also when I get back home from the holiday I'll examine it more closely and take some more photos. I'll post anything of interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 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...
Virtual_Fossil Posted November 26, 2016 Author Share Posted November 26, 2016 So was the term you were trying to think of "cupule rock art"? I've found examples of those that resemble what I have. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifbrindacier Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 Welcome from France and nice find ! "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...
Virtual_Fossil Posted November 27, 2016 Author Share Posted November 27, 2016 On 11/26/2016 at 1:11 PM, fifbrindacier said: Welcome from France and nice find ! Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virtual_Fossil Posted November 27, 2016 Author Share Posted November 27, 2016 We found another one! The picture below is something I found on the one I originally asked about. the coin is a US nickel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaier Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 That second one might be a fossil. Can you take a close up of the texture of that one? There are a lot of digital artifacts that give false texture details in that photo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virtual_Fossil Posted November 28, 2016 Author Share Posted November 28, 2016 2 hours ago, tmaier said: That second one might be a fossil. Can you take a close up of the texture of that one? There are a lot of digital artifacts that give false texture details in that photo. Sure. Would it help if I cleaned the grooves out? A lot of that is just loose sand/dirt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 11 minutes ago, Virtual_Fossil said: Sure. Would it help if I cleaned the grooves out? A lot of that is just loose sand/dirt. Yes. 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...
Virtual_Fossil Posted November 30, 2016 Author Share Posted November 30, 2016 Additional photos of the first stone we found: https://goo.gl/photos/ofnARZLowMvYNyt89 Photos of the second one: https://goo.gl/photos/yo3i5Wkom1yzrhCf6 Photos of the third that we found which has far fewer and somewhat different marks: https://goo.gl/photos/KNPwnAtxYzhcKEHM9 Again, any feedback is appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 Wow! At first I was inclined to go with the artifact idea. But that second one sure looks like a plant fossil to me now. Very strange! There's a whole lot of Carboniferous and Permian rock up in the NE of OK. A plant like this would fit right in! I'm asking a bunch of paleonbotanist friends to weigh in. Let's see what they say. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virtual_Fossil Posted November 30, 2016 Author Share Posted November 30, 2016 Thanks Carl! When you say "a plan like that...", what kind of plant are you thinking it is? I'm having a hard time visualizing how a plant could leave this pattern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 In the pictures there appears to be something in the holes, is this dirt or rock? can it be removed without damaging the rock? Carl may be right because the native americans would not have filled the hole after making them. Leaf scars on a bulbous trunk. Did You hear back from any archeologist? 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...
Carl Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 10 minutes ago, Virtual_Fossil said: Thanks Carl! When you say "a plan like that...", what kind of plant are you thinking it is? I'm having a hard time visualizing how a plant could leave this pattern. Don't actually know. It's vaguely reminiscent of the lycopods, but it's certainly not a good match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virtual_Fossil Posted November 30, 2016 Author Share Posted November 30, 2016 Whatever is in some of the holes is fairly solid. I haven't tried to get any of it out other than simply poking at it a little. It does seem to be rock of some sort. The person I shared those first couple pics with passed them on the Oklahoma state archaeologist. I received an email from her with some general questions and requesting more photos. I've shared what you see above with her but haven't heard back since. I'm anxiously waiting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virtual_Fossil Posted November 30, 2016 Author Share Posted November 30, 2016 A bit of info I haven't yet shared is that the property has a lot of redish-brown shale. When I was digging for an unrelated project I uncovered a few partial plant fossils. Below is an example and likely the "best" one I found. Given that my original artifacts/stones appear to be a very different kind of rock I didn't really think there was a connection but thought I'd share anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 First paleobotanist response: About specimen number 2: I am not 100% sure this is plant. But it's not impossible. It would be a bit of a stretch, but the only thing I can thing of is the base of a cormose, arborescent lycophyte (of the Chaloneria or Pleuromeia type, but much larger); then, the dots would be rootlet scars. But I've never seen rootlet scars with that arrangement. I only know of one type of cormose lycophytes that reach that size (see attached). They've been sometimes referred to as Brasilodendron, but they've never received a formal taxonomic treatment as part of a whole plant (I'm actually working on that right now). However, the Brasilodendron-type trunk bases look very different from the fossil you have here (see attached paper by Cuneo and Andreis). If the dots are rootlet scars, then they are more similar to those of Pleuromeia; However, Pleuromeia is much, much smaller and its rootlets are still denser than in this fossil. About specimen number 3: Yup, this is almost certainly lepidodendralean. I wonder how confidently it can be dated. Either way, someone should describe these fossils (I'm down : CuneoAndreis1983.pdf 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 3 minutes ago, Virtual_Fossil said: A bit of info I haven't yet shared is that the property has a lot of redish-brown shale. When I was digging for an unrelated project I uncovered a few partial plant fossils. Below is an example and likely the "best" one I found. Given that this appears to be a very different kind of rock I didn't really think there was a connection but thought I'd share anyway. Yep! This looks like a horsetail or some kind, maybe Asterophyllites or Annularia. Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Virtual_Fossil Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 It just keeps getting curiouser. These were taken today. The first is part of "Rock 1" from above. The second is yet another fossil found very nearby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now