You are here:

Archaeology/odd rock formation

Advertisement

Expert: - 3/6/2010


Question

???
I am a fossil collector and i have come across an odd rock/fossil. Can you tell me what this is? (attached) I have many more pics if you need them. It was found in the panhandle of west virginia

Answer
I have forgotten the name of these things, but they are natural.  Basically, they are formly big balls of clay that rolled in a stream, picked up a "rind" of silt or sand,
and then were compressed flat by overlying sediments. I have a whole box full of smaller versions of these things in my lab that some students brought back from the beach
near campus a few years ago.
Bring them to a geologist and they will tell you more about them.  I am an archaeologist, not a geologist.
Cheers,
John Shea

John J. Shea

Expertise

Questions about Old World prehistoric archaeology (mainly Europe, Near East, and Africa during the Paleolithic period/Pleistocene Epoch). IMPORTANT: I do not give advice about colleges. I do not appraise the value of artifacts or fossils.

Experience

University professor of anthropology/archaeology since 1991. Dozens of publications in peer-review anthropology journals. Director of archaeological-paleontological expeditions and excavations in Israel, Jordan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Kenya. See my main profile under Allexperts` "Anthropology" section. Professional website: http://www.sunysb.edu/anthro/staff/jshea.shtml Personal website: http://www.sunysb.edu/anthro/Shea/Shea%20pers%20webpage.htm

Education/Credentials
>20 years as faculty at major research university

©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.