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Good evening everyone. I’m a new member from western PA. I have been hunting arrowheads for a couple years now and really started finally connecting this past summer. I am a helicopter pilot and my user name ah64 is from the Apache helicopter I flew in the military. I still fly helos. Below is my first course of business that I’d like to achieve on this site and that’s finding out if what I found in central Ohio, along two large rivers, in a cornfield along with paleo and archaic points, is an effigy or not. As I’m new to the forum and really getting into the addiction any opinions I’d most definitely appreciate it! Thank you!
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If I may....it appears to me to be an appendage from a pot/bowl/water bottle of sorts, applied in the “appliqué” technique, which was made separately and stuck to the still wet pottery, as opposed to the technique of throwing it as a built in part of the pot. They are particularly prone to falling off and separating from the vessel.
I have seen several legs and heads and a few other appendages or forms of adornment that have become “unattached” in one way or another.
i may be wrong on this, but the one side that is rather “plane” looks like the point of attachment/unattachment. Could have been a handle, leg, or any number of useful or decorative attachments....
*I am am no expert. Just a guy who has seen hundreds or maybe thousands of pieces of pottery.
Awesome find, by the way....and welcome to the site.Wandering wherever I can, mostly in Eastern Arkansas, always looking down. -
Welcome from east Tn!
So you caught the bug?! Well your in the right place!
my opinion of your find is that its made by natural processes. Not an effigy, usually when Native Americans made effigies they end up looking like something you or I would make with clear intent as to the image they were trying to portray. Its good to ask if your not sure though, keep up the hunt!
Ps Thanks for your service!Josh (Ky/Tn collector)Comment
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Welcome to the forum and thank you for your service.
I have no knowledge that would help but Jethro's comment re your last photo sounds very plausible.Bruce
In life there are losers and finders. Which one are you?Comment
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Hey Apache - Welcome Aboard. Man you picked one of the hardest and most lethal jobs in the military. If memory serves me correct, the Helo pilots were given about 3 - 10 minutes survival time during Viet Nam. My hats off to ya mate and thanks ever so much for your service. Like most members here, I'm more into points and blades but I've always got my eyes open. Have to agree that it looks like some sort of pottery as Jason and Bruce said. I'm pretty sure Josh is correct in his assessment also that it isn't an effigy - it really doesn't look like anything we could recognize - like an animal etc. Have you found any other stuff that you could share with us. I'm sure we'd all be interested. Thanks for joining us. I was thinking Cobra but typing Apache. Ain't no comparison to the Apache. That is a killing machine from the get go. I'll take my hat off twice for ya mate - that's simply an awesome bird.Last edited by Scorpion68; 02-19-2018, 11:46 PM.Pickett/Fentress County, Tn - Any day on this side of the grass is a good day. -Chuck-Comment
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Welcome to the forum and thanks for posting. If the piece were laid out flat and photos taken straight on from all directions it would be easier for me to form an opinion Some of the features are obscured by your fingers in some of the pics.. If it is made of clay and not stone then I'm inclined to agree with Jethro. If made of stone and it doesn't look like some kind of identifiable critter then I might tend to agree with Josh/KFG.Comment
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I'm just not seeing pottery like the rest on this one, it happens though! That's what's good about a forum. Your going to get varied opinions sometimes, wich usually means the resulting conversation allows everyone to learn, I could be wrong here and in have been many times before but i'll elaborate on why I'm thinking not an artifact but more likely a rock. The shape is unusual granted, but water does funny things to rock. I've picked up many creek pebbles with wierd shapes , cups, divots, turns etc, etc. Imo if this was found in the vicinity of a gravel bar with other similar textured, water polished stones the more likelier its just an odd rock. The makeup appears to be more of a sandstone or creek pebble density rather than a fired pottery. Usually pottery is tempered with grit or shell for extra strength. One easy test would be weight, pottery is much lighter than an equivalent sized rock because of all the tiny air pocket voids... But I'm certainly no expert on pottery either but ill stick with what my guts telling me, just a rock.Last edited by Kyflintguy; 02-20-2018, 12:24 AM.Josh (Ky/Tn collector)Comment
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Welcome ah64!
A house divided and you have us scratching our heads on this one. Agree with Josh, I think it's a water worn sedimentary rock.If you found it on a hillside maybe somebody hundreds or thousands of years ago picked it up too. You can always put it in the maybe, I'm not sure, it could be pile.Searching the fields of NW Indiana and SW MichiganComment
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I would say a definite no to it being an effigy. It had an interesting profile. If you could take some photos in natural sunlight without holding it, that would help the folks here who know the most about pottery.
And a big welcome from SE VA!Child of the tidesComment
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You guys are awesome- thanks for the welcome and opinion on the rock. In reference to the Apache, thank you much! I began my service working on the cobra helicopter as a mechanic and then warrant officer track down at ft rucker flew oh-58a/c models for a little while, then A model Apaches and then got the long bow transition prior to getting out of service- now flying bell 407gx, and thank you gents for your service. The area I found this rock was about 150-200 yards from the water in a cornfield and on a noll, with the amount of shells in about a 40 yard by 40 yard area, worked over flint it dealt like a village or camp find. Here are some more taking expert advice on laying it flat and in sunlight- I will soon post more finds in that confined area as well and slo my finds total for last year- thanks!Comment
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Here’s some more from that area.Comment
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More from that confined area.Comment
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Northwest PA finds. I know some of these relics are broken up and in a case but I appreciate the craftsmanship and as I come across more they will have to make room for new intact points. Honored to be out finding these points!Comment
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I apologize, Definitely sensory overload with the group pictures. If you want to see any singular piece with a different angle photos just let me know-it just seems to take a little while for pictures to upload off my phone for some reason. In the pictures with multiple rocks lying on the table, I believe the shiniest pieces are paleo points/grave spurs/ and an old point- I thought the shiny larger triangular piece is really neat to see and hold. Again, I know there are some broken stuff or pieces that have been knapped and pressure flaked in these pictures and maybe most wouldn’t post them or display but hey I can play the new guy card amonst you professionals as I don’t know any better!
I spent numerous numerous hours of looking during my first year of finding relics (disclaimer: 3 years prior of picking up non relics and having no idea what I’m doing! Still don’t Lol)and wouldn’t have spent that time doing anything else. The pursuit especially around home is really hard, but they are there and worth it- nothing beats finding just a small piece of flint sticking up out of the ground and knowing it’s just gotta be something special! Spring can’t come quick enough!
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