Old Tool

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360
Location
Pennsylvania
So earlier this week the weather was nice so I decided to go for a hike along the creek that flows through our property. I get down to the creek & see a guy standing there with a bucket.

"What you huntin'?" I ask.

"Rocks"

"Well move on upstream buddy. These are my rocks." I say nicely.

My interest is piqued however so I walk over to see what kind of rocks he's looking for. He tells me he's looking for Indian rocks. Apparently, the Lenape tribe was active along our Mingo Creek and he likes to look in creek beds for rocks that Native Americans used for tools. He gives seminars at local schools about them and shows off what he finds.

Well, probably to kiss up to me so he could hunt in my creek (not really, he was a nice guy), he gave me one that he just found. Here it is:

2007 03 12 001.jpg

2007 03 12 002.jpg

You see where they carved out a piece of the rock for the thumb and smoothed out a spot for the fingers to rest. It's hard to see that in the pictures but the tool fits real nice in my hand. He told me Indians probably used it as a pestle. You know, like mortar & pestle.

I thought it was cool that this stuff could be found right in my backyard. Guess this counts as a neander tool.
 
That's cool, Rob. I'd say it definitely qualifies as a neander tool. I've been sitting here trying to come up with a logical answer for Ken's question about tools ending up in creek beds, but I'm drawing a blank. Any ideas? I seem to recall reading of other archeological finds in creek and river beds, but don't recall the explanation for their locations. Perhaps it's due to human settlements along the edge of the water, and the path of the river/creek eventually changing over time to swallow up the remnants? :huh:
 
The only thing I can say is what the guy told me. He said that sometimes these tribes would just leave tools behind as they moved along. We do know that they were active along this creek so maybe they just got tossed in. The creek is at the bottom of a fairly steep hill so maybe they just worked their way down. :dunno:
 
You should contact the owner of Liberty Tool Company. They are a old tool store here in Maine that is very famous. The man also runs a Museum dedicated to old tools across the road from this store. I have been in there and he has a slew of tools from the Indian Era to more modern times. It really is a gem of an old Toll Museum and its not far from me either. I consider myself blessed.

At any rate, here in Maine the laws might be different than they are where you live. But legally, the man would be stealing from the State if the creek (or stream as we call them) resided in Maine. A Landowner does not own any body of water, only up to the Mean Water Mark. The body of water belongs to the state by all rights. Of course you can stop people from being on your land and getting access to it, but the stream itself is the States property.
 
Travis, the guy taking the rocks doesn't bother me. I told him he can come by whenever he wants as long as he gives a friendly wave.

Now, the idiots riding their ATVs through my creek last year, I told them I'd drag them off & beat them stupid if I catch them there again.

State's property or not.
 
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