Any idea what to make of this?

[CeeJay]

Hi, I picked this up some years ago on a camping trip in NY state. I have always wondered about it and stumbled upon your forum.

The underlying stone appears to be almost quartz like. 

Any light that anyone could shed on it would be greatly appreciated.

Great site by the way am really enjoying looking at all the finds

CeeJay

[Ramon]

Welcome to the forum!!! Weird find. Never seen anything like it.

[Doctor Mud]

This looks like a piece of weathered sedimentary rock.

 

The patterning suggests to me voids or spaces that once contained shells and perhaps these have been dissolved or weathered out.

 

The white translucent bit could be a piece of shell material still in there or a calcite vein in the rock. Shells in the rock could have been dissolved and reformed into calcite veins.

 

A good test for calcite is a drop of vinegar - usually white vinegar and it should fizz.

[Dave pom Allen]

i see brach hinges. so would say worn brachipods 

[Rockwood]

At the very top right is an internal mold (steinkern) of a small brachiopod. The hinge structure is facing toward the bottom left.

[TqB]

A group of brachiopods, calcite shells in what looks like sandstone, the shells being weathered below the surface. 

The row of dots in this one is a section through the brachidium (lophophore support).

 

[abyssunder]

Steinkerns of brachiopods. Very nice ensemble.