Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Artifact or Geofact?

Reader Melinda Neblett writes:
Hello, I found your website and wondered if someone could tell me if this rock/artifact I found is a petroglyph…it's about 3 1/2"diameter. 
[Update 1: I would add that the "design" is pecked into the rock surface and the color delineation is from the difference in surface levels (ie the "outside" of the rock is the orange-y color and what shows up as more gray is the pecked out area.]
[Update 2: One photo is included here which shows the back of the rock. I found this on a hilltop in central Texas, in the Hill Country. There are many areas of flint etc around and we have found multiple points also. Below this hilltop and down aways is a creek with springs so we know Indians were present for a long time. I also just read of articles on bird stones, and as soon as I saw one of your photographs, I thought of one that I'd picked up a couple of weeks ago as a curiosity thinking that it reminded me of a bird so much, and kept it. I was astounded to read your information. I'll take a picture of it also as soon as I can and show it to see if it might be a bird stone.] 
[Update 3 - One last picture (in higher mag if you click). I have to say this is looking more and more like an artifact - PWAX]

6 comments :

pwax said...

I have been wishing I could see the other sides of the rock. Or see if the gray portion was indented. We could be looking at a cross-section of bubbles or a man made spiral groove.

pwax said...

I'm still not sure.

pwax said...

Sound more and more like an artifact. Anyone else?

Chris Pittman said...

I think it is an artifact but to me it looks rather new. If this was a prehistoric artifact I would suggest that there would be patina in the (what appear to be) carved grooves that would more closely match the color of the rest of the rock. There are small portable petroglyphs here in New England but they look very different.

pwax said...

I read that it takes several thousand years to develop that patina.

Norman said...

Whatever it is, it is layered, and each of the exposed layers has oxidized. I'd say it is a geofact.