To plow, or not to be?

[Shank]

I happened across this piece in one of my spring branches about 4.5 to 5 ft deep sticking out of the bottom of the bank. I cannot find any information about it. Would like some feedback.

[Shank]

It's about a foot long by .5 feet wide and worked on the point edges.

[painshill]

PLEASE insert your pictures after you have uploaded them. Otherwise they only appear as attachment links at the bottom of your posts. I have corrected this for you. There's a tutorial here:

http://forums.arrowheads.com/forum/new-member-area-gc25/tutorials-how-do-i…-gc130/167428-how-to-add-pictures-to-a-post

[SDhunter]

Looks natural to me

[Shank]

Umm,can u elaborate please.natural?

[2ndoldman]

Natural as in there is no sign of any modification by human hands.
Depending on your location the grooving on it was most likely caused by either running water or glacial action.

[Shank]

Thanks for your thoughts, but Im going to have to disagree, whrer this came from lots of digging tools processers, and quarrying tools and blades, scrapers also were present.Keep in mind I live in a flint quarry very close to the famous Brigham site.

[Driftwood]

It looks like it could be a large spall... waste material from quarrying activities. It doesn't look -as it is- like a finished tool. Keep looking in the area to see if anything more turns up!

[Shank]

I have located lots of processing tools in the close area, the majority of those were extremely large in comparrison to regular tools.l've even gotten grass cicles from there almost every tool there are like no brainers but the hand grip is quite a bit larger than my hand, I mean I'm around 6' 3" tall and those make you feel like a childs hand size. A few and only a few nice limestone tools have showed up, but the rest is warsaw and oledover grey chirt.

[Kyflintguy]

I'm trying real hard to see what you see, but as hard as I look, I just see a rock. Just a big cumbersome odd shaped rock. Sometimes we let our brains and imagination take us further than the evidence really allows. What kind of evidence do you have that you are in a quarry site? Not doubting you, just curious? What are you referring to when you say "processing tools"? Can we see those?

[Shank]

First of all, Thanks for the comments, secondly what do we as a whole say is or isn't an "artifact" The stone I have shown here is not a finished TOOL but I would bet greatly that it has been manipulated in some way by "Ancient Man".If it be spall or other refuse it certainly is like no other I have ever seen here or anywhere else.Here on my site it is no problem to see stones that have boon lithicly reduced, and none match this one, maybe I'm not familiar with the reduction process that was used on it.I am gladly to admit to being wrong alot, but isn't that how we expand our knowledge.

[Kyflintguy]

Artifacts have been altered by man or used by man. If it doesn't show signs of being altered by man and it's not an abnormality geographically speaking how could you say it's an artifact for certain? I'm familiar with the reduction techniques used at quarries and I'm not seeing refuse, debitage, knapping tool, digging tool etc, etc, etc.
Yes asking questions and accepting others advice, experience and expertise is how we expand our knowledge. Forgetting what we think we know, what are imaginations tell us and letting the evidence speak for itself. Sometimes it's there sometimes it isn't.

[Shank]

I totally agree with you thats good advise, neighbor.