One Rare Artifact

[Wildhorse]

OK Guys here is one of the rare artifacts. I know what it is but wanted to see if you guys could get it figured out. I know it is a bangle the notches are Indian done. But the shape is natural. I was wondering how many of these are found across the country. They are very rare here on the Columbia. I used to have two of them but was talked out of one of them. That is OK I got $250. for it so I didnt mind. I know we have some really good people on here so it may be easy. Type of material and where it came from is what I would like to see guys. Thanks and have fun







Sturgeon Cheek Bone bangle

[Wildhorse]

Where is Gunner1. You should know this one??? I guess with no posts it means you guys are stumped?

[Butch Wilson]

Could it be a scale from a tortise or turtle shell ?

[Butch Wilson]

Have you had it papered?

[Wildhorse]

Thanks for the guess; Good one but not it. Not had it papered yet. Beginning to wonder. Let me throw some help out. It is the same shape no matter if found on the east coast or west coast. Same shape but may be different sizes. Always the same shape. Also it is the only one in this creature. Well the creature has two in it. May not live in the south. I don't know if they lived in the warmer areas.          Ok Ok  I won't drag this out. It is a Sturgeon Cheek bone bangle. Made from the only bone in that fish. Very rare because of the fact that they just did not last on the years.

[Paleolution]

Do you know what it was used for?  It looks like a net making tool, with evenly spaced notches to separate the strands in order to have a nice tight knit.  Just a guess, but I've never seen anything like it?

[Butch Wilson]

There are rumors of Sturgeon in the Carolinas a couple hundred years ago. I guess I won't be a findin' one of those !

[Butch Wilson]

By the way I have a penny that looks just like the one in your photo........Only kidding ! Thanks for letting us see this one.

[Wildhorse]

You know I am not sure of the use of these. They have always just been called bangles.I always wondered how they would hang them without the hole but I have seen others and they all look the same. They made the notches all the same. Just one of those things we will likely never know. I am going to post this at some other arrowhead sites and see what I can learn. If anything I will get back here. Thanks guys and I thought you might enjoy seeing it.

[Butch Wilson]

Hey Wildhorse, I have a Sturgeon story from South Carolina...not related to artifacts but a chance  to share a yarn ! There is a place just below the Wateree Lake Dam called the "Betsy Hole". So named for the words of a fortunate or unfortunate fisherman that hooked a large Sturgeon. The giant fish took off downstream at a rather fast clip yanking the fisherman in the river. He was last heard screaming a message to his wife from somewhere downriver " Tell Betsy......Tell Betsy " OK I'm done
Butch

[Wildhorse]

Fun Butch thanks. There are a lot of stories up here about these giant fish. They used to catch them well over 15 feet long but now you can only keep the ones between 6 feet and 6 feet 6 inches. They have be in between that. Most of the fisherman I know have a pair of wire cutters tied on their pole and when they hook one that they can't stop on the down river run they cut off the line. When you hook one of those the first thing they do is run down river. Sometimes they will jump but mostly run. Indians used to fish them on the Snake a lot. A story about how they would use a truck to hook their line on and pull the fish in with a truck. I think the biggest one recorded down there was around 1500 lbs. I heard a story about a guy who lost his bumper of his truck trying to land one of those. Divers working on the dams have seen them at the base of the dams that were huge. I am sure there are some out there that would pull your truck into the river.

[wmwallace]

Hey Ron. great artifact, were the notches for a count of some sort? I know here in the Buckeye state we have gorgets mostly made out of banded slate that are notched on the edges. Many theories are they are notched for a number of certain wild creature they killed. I have heard it was for buffalo mostly just wondering what the theory is in your area. Thanks for the pic, Bill

[Wildhorse]

Hi Bill; I think the notches are just notches. I had another of these and it was the same. I have seen some in other collections and they also were the same. Trying to find out more about these but nothing yet.

[Wildhorse]

Just had a post on another site. They said they think these were Lice combs. Not the best thing to think about but it makes sense. Only thing I see is that they are small and would be hard to run through your hair. ???? Need more ideas.

[Pullenrock]

its gotta be a pendent of some type...Dont think its a exotic..so cool...