Interesting rock..

[Supaadave]

Somebody please give me some insight. Natural or man-made? I found it on a river running through my friends property next to a rapids. This river was heavily used in prehistoric times and during the logging boom (1880-1930). Looks to me like it's been blackened by fire also. Thanks

[mootsman]

Interesting stone....but I vote geofact unless the holes are really cylindrical - can't tell from the photo. I've found some in our local river that have holes all the way through. Now what gets interesting to me is when I find a river rock up on a terrace mixed with typical camp stuff. Still a geofact but likely used for something.

PS I always try and rule out meteorite when I find something like that.

[Supaadave]

The hole on the right is about an inch deep. Left one..3/8ths. It's heavy but how do you determine if it's a meteorite?

[mootsman]

I know little about meteorites. If it will attract a magnet then that's a good sign (but not conclusive) although I know there are "stoney" meteorites. After looking at the photos on the PC instead of my iPhone, I don't think it looks like a possible meteorite. By cylinderical I mean are the holes uniform in width through their depth? Meaning do the look drilled? Or does the wall of them vary in width?

[Supaadave]

No..the deeper hole is wider inside the rock. I had someone say that it might have been used to start campfires? If it is'nt that, then I guess it's just a case of it being in the river in such a position that little pebbles were able to swirl around and carve the holes out. Still looks burnt to me though.

[erb]

I would guess it's natural. But it's just a guess. I have seen a lot of rocks like that at the coast where the surf and sand have eroded holes just like that.

[mhagemann77]

A few questions for ya? On the edge near the two holes, are they chipped? If it is, see if you can see little flecks of different colors (minerals). It looks very fine grained in the photo which rules out granite. Basalt is dense dark and has a fine grained texture.

To answer your original question, the rock is probably just a river rock that got some holes gouged out through abrasion in the stream/river. It is pretty cool looking!

[cachefind09]

Supaadave, I found one very similar to yours a couple of years ago and it has me stumped also. Everytime I look at it, it reminds me of an owls head. Dont know if it was made to be an effigy or not, and I am not even sure if the holes are natural or man made. I have studied the holes very closely and still haven't come to any conclusion.

[Supaadave]

No..all the edges are smooth. I am noticing now that there is iron oxide in some spots. It appears fine-grained but not mutli-colored. I guess I could take a chip out of it but I don't really want to. I plan on going back to the same spot as soon as the ice is off the river with my metal detector. Maybe I will find similar stones but this one looked out of place at the time. Thanks guys.

[comanche]

Originally Posted by Supaadave

No..the deeper hole is wider inside the rock. I had someone say that it might have been used to start campfires? If it is'nt that, then I guess it's just a case of it being in the river in such a position that little pebbles were able to swirl around and carve the holes out. Still looks burnt to me though.

I have always liked this rock here and hope that it might be a fire starter/But probably just an unusual rock