Sunday, July 15, 2012

Swan shaped rock from MO

Reader Shane I. writes:
I found this swan looking rock I believe to be from the paleo indians. I found it down the chariton river in n.e mo. I also found an arrow head nearby. Could use any kind of input.
I've been trying to research this swan looking rock and have heard a lot about it. There just seems to b no pics of anything as detailed and intricate. I believe this is an old paleo Indian artifact and have no reason to believe it to b a fake

4 comments :

Norman said...

This object reminds me of images I've seen of small Hopewell effigies, often carved out of pipestone. You might contact a university or natural history museum in Missouri and show them the images or object.

Norman said...

Take a good photo of the pipe against a neutral background (light grey) along with a small scale (metric or inches) placed at the bottom of the image. I assume the color of the object is reddish, but the red background only accentuates it.

Norman said...

I've made some inquiries about the piece. It is not Hopewellian, as an archaeologist friend in Ohio wrote, and another thought it looks modern.

Where and how was it found?

Chris Pittman said...

I would want to see a picture of the other side. If it does not look the same on the other side (and I suspect that it does not) I would consider this a geofact rather than something shaped by a person.