Am I crazy, or is this a stone axe???

[Land Locked]

My wife found it in Simpsonville Ky. I was thinking the same thing Joel, it is like a stone tomahawk, the front radius is sharpened like a knife blade for 4". The rear is just a rounded
blunt tip. Seems more like a weapon than a utility tool.

Thanks Jen!

 

[redacted]

An axe should be made from a stone that would produce a sharp edge. That looks more like it was ground rather than chipped. I have a book of Texas stone artifacts and it looks to me more like a small pestle. Great find.

Then again, check the third one down Monty Pennington's Penbrandt Prehistoric Artifacts - Hardstone Page 1

Ask your wife if she thinks a coat of paint might increase the value.

 

[SCUBAJENNIFER]

My wife found it in Simpsonville Ky. I was thinking the same thing Joel, it is like a stone tomahawk, the front radius is sharpened like a knife blade for 4". The rear is just a rounded
blunt tip. Seems more like a weapon than a utility tool.

Thanks Jen!

No problem sweetie!! :10: You know I'm kidding!!

 

[Peter_C]

I do not really have anything to add, except check with the local laws on artifact collecting before approaching anyone. In many states they can take the object from you or even charge you with a crime. I know it sounds stupid, but the laws are there, regarding collecting. I would prefer to see it in someones collection than forever lost to the earth.

 

[Land Locked]

Thank you for the link awap. I have since found many links on stone axes found in the Ky, Oh, In areas that have similar size and shape. They even rate them by full, 1/2 and 3/4 grouve. I think I'll keep it and add it to my collection of indian and inuit artifacts. And no, there will be no painting of this stone!

 

[Tom Smedley]

I agree with AWAP that it appears to be more of a pestle for grinding grain than an axe head. I would think that in KY the axe heads would have been made of flint so that it would keep a sharp edge. If it were an axe it would have been more of a bludgeon type weapon.

 

[D_B]

While it could be an ax (a ground ax can have a useful edge and does not have to made from only "chipable" stone) it does not look like anything for grinding like a pestle (you would not put a handle on a grinding stone to use it hammer like)

It very much looks like the war clubs I've seen and the recreations that my friend Graywolf makes.
It would have been hafted to a handle using wet rawhide, it's very strong and shrinks when it drys, holding it very securely

Kudos to you Hank for putting back the skeleton, so that he can rest in peace

"forever lost to the earth." ??? ... That is what happens when people put things in personal collections, and not to a museum .. no one else can enjoy them
.. that said, I have no issue with you keeping it and I can understand why .. just wanted to point out why some people feel that the artifact laws are necessary

 

[Hank49]

An axe should be made from a stone that would produce a sharp edge. That looks more like it was ground rather than chipped. I have a book of Texas stone artifacts and it looks to me more like a small pestle. Great find.

.

I would doubt that the stone was ground into that shape, other than the groove to tie it to a handle. It's most likely a river stone, worn smooth and rounded by the water. The cutting tools, as you stated, were chipped from a flint like rock...like the arrow heads.

 

[Hank49]

Kudos to you Hank for putting back the skeleton, so that he can rest in peace

I called the police to tell them what I was doing. The police chief is an old classmate of mine that also did some digging there. The hill behind our old house where the mound is located is now a town park with a trail right next to it. I figured it might send out alarm bells if someone saw me burying bones. They sent them to the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History for verification and then had a detective go with me to the site for reburial. The museum said a lot of people are doing replacing bones and relics to the burial sites.

 

[redacted]

I would doubt that the stone was ground into that shape, other than the groove to tie it to a handle. It's most likely a river stone, worn smooth and rounded by the water. The cutting tools, as you stated, were chipped from a flint like rock...like the arrow heads.

Check out the link in my above post. And the prices associated with such artifacts.