Expert: Ralph Salier - 1/15/2011

Question
hello,in early 90s while tilling a plot for a garden i had upturned an approx 5 by 7 in diamond shaped stone,its seems to be river rock greengrey color,it has 2 holes drilled about 1 an a half inches apart,it seems to be either a tomahawk, battleaxe or celt,it seems to look like it was lashed to probly a stick it has a rut running the stone from hole to hole.now on the side of this stone is carved either a bearpaw an claws or sun an under that is a upsidedown head with a feather image.this was found in Meaford Ont.CA.i have not seen anything like it before an would appreciate any info as to  what it is an the natives that would have lived there in area ,i had also found other things there as nut or berrie hammers an white blueish bead.is there an archeoligist i could talk with,the home we lived in at the finding of these things was kinda built on a rectangular shaped land hilled up an there was a drop on all sides , an people said it didnt seem right oh an the river was about threehundred feet from the side of our house ,i know at one time there was an intrest in criegleaf area of natives living in the ares an archeologist i think a woman was the head,i dont remember her name.thankyou for your time much appreciated,Wendy Smith ps i did try to send a pic of mine in jpg but it would not take so hopefully i described it well.

Answer
Hi Wendy,  

Descriptions are minimally helpful.  I will need to see the object.  Please try sending the pics to my email address: rsalier@hotmail.com and put Artifact in the subject line.  When taking pics of the object, both sides, edges and close ups of any incised marks like the carvings on the one side. Also place a ruler or some other object like a coin in the pic so  that I have a sense of scale.

Where is Meaford, Ontario Canada?  What are the bodies of water and rivers nearest the location. It is possible that the house was build on an indian mound but with out more details, impossible to tell.  If you tell me the closest large city, I may be able to direct you to a local archaeologist.