Stone Tools: Ancient Artifacts and How to Identify Them

In this video, I walk you through a portion of my stone tool collection.
I touch on a handful of ways and methods I utilize indetermining and identifying these artifacts.
The internet is full of knowledge and good information but sometimes it's hard to find it hubbed together in one spot.
identifying stone tools, artifacts and any other native American or ancient people tools is difficult and a lot of it is guesswork.
unfortunately, it's been my experience that there is no centralized destination for us to end up at where our ancient chief swings his stone gavel in approval or denial of our theorized tools!
anyway, I hope you all enjoy. I'm a little under the weather in this video but hopefully you won't have any trouble understanding me. Love you all thank you!

[@kareno8634]

Hi, Your collection looks 'Exactly' as the Rocks \ Stones i find at Home. _if you 'listen', they may say._ Thanks

[@passiononfire]

Thank you my dear very well said

[@paleobrostones2023]

Great Narration Bro. You made some good points. As you indicated, most is speculation. I believe most stones were multi purpose. You hit on the main chores performed very well. Thanks for sharing the artifacts from your area.👍🏻

[@passiononfire]

Yeah dude thanks for bearing with me I'm getting over some crazy pneumonia stuff appreciate it man!

[@FacesintheStone]

Great work and information. People do want to know about this stuff! Thanks for making it interesting ❤

[@passiononfire]

Thanks Fits

[@tonywhitaker2202]

You are soo right about trying to find a place to help identify. I started collecting 2 years ago and have learned so much just on my own! My family think I’m crazy, but you can tell a rock that has been worked with, you may not know what the exact purpose it was used for, but you know it was used! Some of them that you have, look like they have been near fire as well with the dark areas. I have some that still have drawings inked on them and some have very small intricate pictures on them. I just recently learned that a lot of their tools are carved into animals or faces and could have multiple carvings in them depending on which way you turn it and the light. I found a huge carved one that is 17x13 that weighs 11 lbs one way it’s a horse head, another it’s the profile of a face, ontop there are mammoths. My most recent find is a wooden club! It’s made out of a root, has a big ball at the top and carvings all on it! Funny thing is I have never found an arrowhead yet! 🤣

[@passiononfire]

Dude finding arrowheads is so much harder than people make it out to be on here! With the exception of a few really hot spots, it's incredibly difficult but stick with it you'll get there! Thank you so much for dropping knowledge Don't be a stranger!

[@lisahenson2096]

I found a star inked on a rock and was told , they did not have ink back then. Lol I still kept the rock

[@tonywhitaker2202]

@@lisahenson2096 wow! That’s funny! Where did all the petroglyphs come from!? They were very clever people back then!! I find all kinds of rocks with ink or dye still on them and some you can see the pictures clearly and some are too worn. Recently I have found a lot of wood pieces but they have been in the river for a long time, so I let them dry out and I put a sealant on them made from watered down wood glue. I have found by doing so it has actually made some of the carvings and symbols more noticeable and even colors! Now I have started putting it on my rocks as well, which won’t hurt them or take away from them since you can wash it off if you wanted to.

[@OntarioAtOrion]

That thing i said looked like red ochre maybe was used to crush the stuff to make the powder that was then mixed with other things like animal fat i believe etc.. your piece may have been the crushing tool or even the mixing tool used to mix the pigment into the fat. Its just a guess though, i like to be able to hold it and see with my own eyes and hands before i can really get a better idea 💡 😊

[@williamlake6151]

Hey the black so called oil is coming from the minerals in the stone. Usually iron.

[@AncintArt2ndColony]

Awesome video !

[@passiononfire]

Thanks a lot dude!

[@AncintArt2ndColony]

@@passiononfire nice to meet you . I'm Jay . People speak highly of you !

[@bloodnthuner]

Guess I'll keep those oddly shaped rocks I've found over the years. Knew I was saving them for some reason. Thanks.

[@passiononfire]

Always keep your stones! You should post some vids of what you got so we can all check them out!

[@jackblackpowderprepper4940]

✊️

[@stikaeric4301]

It is very hard to find an expert on stone tools that are not flaked points. We are talking ab out very old tools in many cases. So think what kind of huge chopper would it take to hack up a mastadon. And yes as Passion says a lot of just living tools. --grinders etc. Modern archaelogy does not educate archaeologists about these. many archaelogists think there wer no humans in the USA prior to 13,000 years ago but there are over 20 "metric dates" in the Eastern US or Atlantic Coast that are "pre-Clovis" late Pleistocene. Effigies have been found of wooly mammoths and some Ivory tools have also been found. But yet almost impossible to find an expert to look at really old tools.

[@passiononfire]

Thanks for dropping in man! People try to dismiss your argument as fringe science or pseudoscience if you go against Clovis first but some of the evidence out there is so undeniable that I don't understand how people still align with a clovis first perspective.. thank you friend!

[@tonywhitaker2202]

I totally agree with you on that! Archeologists only want the pristine items that they have all the markings of a worked stone, but I find a lot of mine in the river so they are worn down. We got to a farm that has been in their family for 3 generations now and they have boxes full of arrowheads from the fields. Behind the field is the river and you can actually see a couple of spots from a petrified tree where they have notched it out and have taken pieces from. There is sooo much stuff still down there, it’s unbelievable! I have even found glass points! I just recently found a wooden war club and a huge carved piece of wood that would have been a scoop for grain or something, it’s the shape of a mammoth head!

[@davidwilliamson4937]

Hahahaha..rocks…from the creek…SCROLL ON

[@passiononfire]

Haha....a dude ... With dicks in his mouth... Scroll on

[@horseman-tq1uq]

those "stone tools" 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 that you are showing, look more like fossilized bone technology artifacts. use good magnifying eye loupe 5x or 10x power and start looking for pits, pores/osteons, signs of bone density. those dark spots they look like signs of age. you may have a treasure on your hands and not know.

[@williamlake6151]

Oh did you know that native Americans sewed hides together. Have you ever put a hole in leather to sew it. Well my friend those deep pitted sandstone nutters are the best I have come across for making holes in leather. You need a nice stretch in the leather to make perforation easy and precise. Lay the hide over your nutbag stone and perforate. Again forget the horse manure and try this multiple ways. You will then develop some basic understanding of stone tools. Same principle could be done over a hollow bone. Get back to simplicity and ergonomics. My hands shoulders etc are wore out and the simple is what works. Ergonomics and efficiency combine because those people would have had the same issues. Rest assured when you start using your tools you will laugh at most of the nonsense out here. That is how you validate your stone tools

[@passiononfire]

Well said and good point by the way! "Lay the hide over your nut bag stone and perforate" was my favorite line lol.. Sorry I had to go there but thank you for dropping your two cents I really appreciate it!

[@williamlake6151]

Yeah well let’s get started with I am an avid tool collector of misc tools and enjoy collecting net weights. Begin to question your knowledge or at least test your theories with practical application of said tool. Your converasation will change. When your brain connects rock to working with the rock. Understanding of the stone develops. I held a lot of like minded beliefs with tools etc until I started experimenting with making the tool. Then start using the tools. Think of it this way , put the glasses that blind us on the opposite. Flip roles. Let’s say a Native American 1000 years ago found an adjustable wrench. Yep his explanation would be relative to what his mind knows at that time. Think about that we come up with half the nonsense we promote from the information we are getting from these platforms. The archeological community has the same program going with their programmed nonsense. Start using those tools and this video will be near useless to your way of thinking. Whatever you believe is fine with me just work the tool and the brain gets trained real quick that we want things this way or that. Working the tool changes all that. Now start busting rock and reducing it 😂and half that brain train bull goes right down the creek with the other creek stones you have there. Actually you won’t need half that understanding because during your reduction process you discover you have half the rocks you just showed and nobody modified chipped worked or done anything but break a rock. As for everyone else out there go use your tool reduce some rock discover we know minimum. Now the best for last I am a tool fool. Every rock can be a tool for something. Until you validate that with use the knowledge of stone is ridiculous at best. Stone was an essential part of daily life and those folks knew a lot about rock because they used them. Now go find some walnuts and laugh about nutting stones. Some things work well and other things you understand immediately that the talking heads never smashed a nut. Those nutter drama stones are exceptionally suited to bipolar percussion grinding things in a reverse application is mind blowing also. Pounding a wood stake with those dimples save sore fingers. Using a nut bag stone on an antler punch sure burns the programming of the brain. Just stand the punch up sit the supposed nut job stone on top then give that stone a bop with a stick. Wow you didn’t bust a finger , you didn’t cross the end of your punch and the hammer work was essentially reduced to a quick strike with a stick. Wow multiple uses all in one. So there you have it take one of those nutters to a finding stone pick a dose of corn meal and just put it there on the rock in a cone place the the hole in nutter stone over and brain change happens when your circular like reduce that meal with minimum amount of energy and then compare that to the process we all generalize as the way someone told you it worked. I call the stone tool fools like us the other knowledge that is ignored by the masses. Most really don’t want to hear it. Most have never tried any of it and most never will. Forget opinions and validate your understanding with basic approach and you will discover that nature often shapes it we pick it then use it. Rather simple stuff. But naturally we want to explain everything based on bullshit from others who already know everything and can’t even change a tire. I challenge you to reverse your brain to their situation and don’t be a fool apply the tool. Don’t waste your energy with what others tell you.

[@passiononfire]

Wow dude. Very well said and beautiful articulated. Thank you so much for the insight!

[@markgreenley219]

I'm sorry, but I have been collecting and lecturing about artifacts for 40 yrs. I've served on the board of directors for the Virginia archeological society. I see maybe one tool . Again I'm sorry, not trying to stir up anything.

[@passiononfire]

Touche sir. I'm not sure if I did this in this video or not but I usually try to go out of my way to let everyone know I'm not a professional. I'm not sure professional is the right word. Maybe the right word is "formally educated" . I'm not formally educated on the subject. I appreciate your input and, to be honest, your comment is much of the reason I post videos like this. To seek out the opinions and input from people of all walks of life. Of different professions, people with different accolades or accreditations or degrees in sciences related to the subject.. The more I handle these rocks and go rock hounding the less I feel I know about them... I'd love to hear more from you. I hope you subscribe. I'm goofy and I do some off the wall stuff but if you check out any of my other videos please drop some knowledge. Thanks again buddy.

[@frankmarra2288]

I can see why you say that. But I have shown similar pieces to different experts and have gotten both "its an artifact "from one and "its just a rock" from another. Perhaps one can never be 100 % certain. As I learn more I've realized I saved some rocks I should have tossed and tossed some I should have kept.

[@passiononfire]

Think you nailed it buddy​@@frankmarra2288

[@williamlake6151]

Fair assessment, the fella is on a journey he at least has one tool presumed by a forty year vet. Decent of you to even respond.

[@lisalynch629]

The right angle is for smoothing arrow and wooden handles

[@brentkuehne435]

I'm glad I came across your channel. I have been a tool hunter for years. I don't know how long you have been at it, but much of what you are noticing are signs of human manipulation. You have to be careful with the smooth edges. If you're hunting up north, glaciation can create the slick, flat surfaces. Sharp edges on flat surfaces are usually a natural process. Ground edges are usually not. Most of the dark, slick surfaces you are describing are correct. It's a combination of hand oil, nut, grain, or seed oil and plain old dirt that has permeated the stone. Most of what you have is from the Archaic and Woodland period. This is when most cultures in the east became agrarian. I worked with archeologists off and on, and the one thing they hate the most is uncertainty or speculation ! Tools will almost always give you that! It's why they will almost never comment on them. Yes, these are the tools of the permanent villages! Keep them coming!

[@passiononfire]

Comment of the year right here! Couldn't agree more with everything you just said!

[@passiononfire]

I've only been added a few years.. But yeah dude I agree that much of the speculative stuff easier to dismiss by the mainstream folks than it is to try and understand... I have no problem jumping into the pool of speculation and firing my best guess... So long as people know that that is what I'm doing.. guessing.. But hey someone has to right lol Thanks for dropping by!

[@stikaeric4301]

at 14:53 looks like a broken net weight

[@passiononfire]

Damn dude I never thought about that! Good eye!

[@techdevil22]

Yeah it fits perfectly in my hand!!!! Do you have email or messenger I could send you a picture of what I’ve found?

[@passiononfire]

Yeah buddy sent it to [e-mail] ide love to see it