A very unusual blade

[Igotideas]

Most people won't appreciate this little charmer but, I think it is adorable. It is a blue banded slate hand blade. I have felt ground slate before and it can be wicked sharp when fresh. Any guesses on a culture for this?

[sneakygroundbuzzard]

that looks like an unaltered by man rock to me

[CMD]

A cobble of banded slate. Pretty, but not an artifact.

[Igotideas]

Lol, well I guess my pictures are not doing it justice. It's really difficult to get non chert pieces across to people on forums sometimes. The area I am studying has been hunted pretty steadily since the 1830's and really short on obvious points but rich in lots of other stuff because people just don't see them. Would you like to see the tiny little peck marks that were almost polished out? That, that I see as the blade was precisely ground out hence the sharp angle on the thin side. The sides are rounded gracefully and evenly on both planes... Just because I haven't been on here before, doesn't mean I'm new. I have been studying the lythics in my area for 6 years.

[Igotideas]

Here are a couple of pieces of recent chert.

[Hoss]

That piece of slate is a rock! It could have been a projectile if someone picked it up and chucked it. But instead it is a specimen because you brought it home. Not an artifact in my honest opinion!

[sneakygroundbuzzard]

hoss, i am in total agreement on it being a rock
but you know as well as i do that some folks think that every thing they pick up is an artifact and neither you nor i or anyone one here in the know
will ever be able to change their minds on it

now in the other pic they posted,the bottom one definetley looks to be altered by man
cant tell about the one above it though
would need better pics of that one

[gregszybala]

Sheesh

[sailorjoe]

I agree with Hoss, CMD and Sneaky as to the banded slate cobble.

[CMD]

Thread has been moved to the appropriate category, "Rocks Mistakenly Believed to be Artifacts."

[CMD]

Lol, well I guess my pictures are not doing it justice. It's really difficult to get non chert pieces across to people on forums sometimes. The area I am studying has been hunted pretty steadily since the 1830's and really short on obvious points but rich in lots of other stuff because people just don't see them. Would you like to see the tiny little peck marks that were almost polished out? That, that I see as the blade was precisely ground out hence the sharp angle on the thin side. The sides are rounded gracefully and evenly on both planes... Just because I haven't been on here before, doesn't mean I'm new. I have been studying the lythics in my area for 6 years.

Nothing wrong with being mistaken. The gracefully rounded sides you're pointing out are the result of natural weathering over time. Nothing wrong with your photos. They establish that the form we see was arrived at naturally, and not through pecking and shaping by man. I can see a native picking the rock up as a potential piece of banded slate for the creation of something. But, as it stands now, it's a weathered cobble of banded slate, and not an artifact. Of course you are free to believe as you wish, but I'm afraid no amount of insistence on your part will convince us otherwise. If found on a camp, I can visualize it being transported to camp for future use. But that's about as far as we could go. If it was intended to be used, that has not yet happened. It's an unaltered cobble of banded slate.
I'm sure you are familiar with your local/regional lithics. But, you're simply mistaken in thinking this rock arrived at it's present shape by being worked and ground by man. Not the end of the world to be mistaken. The odds that we are all mistaken, and you are correct, are slim to none here. Most of us have enough experience to recognize a rock unaltered by human hands when we see one. Hence the opinions rendered. And hence the reason the thread was moved from the Native American artifacts category. It is not an artifact. It's a rock.

[Igotideas]

Lol, you guys are bullies and self proclaimed experts that take pleasure in flaunting your ignorance of anything that isn't a chert point. Just because you bully this forum, still doesn't make you anything but trophy hunters. I'm not sure if you noticed but I didn't ask for opinions on what it was. I use local academic experts for that. Who, BTW, read this forum for laughs.

[Igotideas]

Also, the other picture with 2 artifacts? One is a Stanfield knife and the other is a reporposed short, flared bit Celt. And since I'm having to educate you, I should tell you that there are many of you hunting spots that have been seeded. Just thought you might want to know so you can temper your smugness.

[gregszybala]

Your absolutely right Igotideas. It's a good thing you came along to set us smug trophy hunting ignorant bullies who hunt seeded fields straight. I for one always enjoy providing you and your phantom academic experts a good laugh. Please feel free to introduce yourselves experts, if we are mistaken about Igotideas piece or other "artifacts" on this forum, please enlighten us. Believe it or not, I'm willing to learn and be corrected as I would think nearly all do here.
Again:
Sheesh

[CoachG]

I'm amazed. That is all.