Ear rings???

[Klanie85]

I found these in webster county ky. They were about 5 feet apart. One is broke but both pieces were there. Any ideas?

[Hal Gorges]

Welcome from west central Florida

what do you think they are made of and what’s the size of the coin..Were there other items found in the vicinity, Etc..?

[Klanie85]

I think bone or cartilage. A dime is a half inch, and these are about 3/4 as wide as the dime. It's an old campsite that I've hunted for a couple years, and always turns up good pieces. I found a fully grooved axe, and some other really nice points there. But these top all my finds, in my opinion.

[gregszybala]

Welcome to the forum and interesting introduction. I have no clue, hopefully somebody does.

[clovisoid]

I've see some modern decorative earrings (gauges) from the Pacific (Hawaii, New Zealand, etc.) But I haven't seen any ancient pieces from North America like that.

Some fishhooks are shaped like that, but usually thinner.

No clue what you've found there.

[Klanie85]

That was another thought I had was maybe fish hooks but these seem too fragile to me. However, they may not have been as fragile hundreds of years ago. Idk... I guess I'm gonna have to send them in to an archeologist or a university where they can look into what they are, and when they are from. Undoubtedly they are old.

[Garguy]

I have seen a similar set of earrings from American Samoa. Made from the spiral of a conch shell.

[clovisoid]

Yup, identical examples.

[Klanie85]

Thank you so much! I know this is probably a blonde question but how can I tell if they are conch shell vs bone or cartilage?

[Artifascination]

Here are some spiral shell earrings from North Carolina that look very similar.

[Klanie85]

Those are really neat!! How big are they?