Rachel Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 We found a very smooth, oval shaped rock on a farm in South Dakota. An elderly single lady had lived on the property for many years prior to the current owners, and she didn't do much to develop the land. My husband thinks it was possibly an Indian tool, because it has no rough edges and appears tumbled even though there's no water nearby. It's heavy and about the size of a fist. Does anyone know what it might be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest solius symbiosus Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 It could also be glacial, but need to see a photo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 mano, but where's the metate, maybe... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted September 25, 2009 Author Share Posted September 25, 2009 Probably right about the glacier because I was thinking if it were a grinding tool it wouldn't be so totally smooth. But would the rock be isolated if it were glacial? Unfortunately, I lost the rock. I think it must be outside somewhere and hopefully I'll find it so I can get a picture. It is brown, smooth, and shaped exactly like an egg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest solius symbiosus Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 ^^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Till Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted September 25, 2009 Author Share Posted September 25, 2009 ok, thanks for the link and we found our rock. My son tried to crack it with a sledgehammer so we could get the baby dinosaur out (haha) but with no success. Is there a way to open the rock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted September 27, 2009 Author Share Posted September 27, 2009 I've had trouble trying to upload the picture, slow connection I guess. Hopefully it will work this time. Thanks for looking at our rock! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members shotgun1897 Posted January 16, 2010 New Members Share Posted January 16, 2010 I've had trouble trying to upload the picture, slow connection I guess. Hopefully it will work this time. Thanks for looking at our rock! I have one very much like your except mine is gray. Found in a corn field in Northern Illinois about 40 years ago. I have no idea what it is, but it look to symmetrical to not be man made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acryzona Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 Any chance it is a concretion? Then maybe trying freeze and thaw cycles can open it. Other opinions? Collecting Microfossils - a hobby concerning much about many of the little paraphrased from Dr. Robert Kesling's book Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashcraft Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 It looks similar to water tumbled flint/chert nodules I see here in Missouri. I have seen them around Indian campsites, I suspect they picked them up for the same reason that you or the previous owner did, they look cool. Brent Ashcraft ashcraft, brent allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Menser Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 Have to go with river tumbled rock. Seen a lot of them that looked very symetrical. Be true to the reality you create. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members doug38 Posted April 26, 2010 New Members Share Posted April 26, 2010 I found an identical egg shaped rock on our acreage, in southeastern SD this past week. It is slightly darker in color than yours. We found it in a small pile of rocks close to the buildings. The rocks were more than likely removed from surounding fields over the years, thus they are probably glacial in origin. Let me know if any more info. has surfaced. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micropterus101 Posted April 26, 2010 Share Posted April 26, 2010 Reminds me of my first two concretions I found up in the Physt Formation they were shaped just like eggs from a small oviraptor of sorts. LOL in the miocene! Ah those were the day of discovery. Of course they were just concretions and turned out to be duds. thinking back on it now I shouldnt have broken them. fossil crabs website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted April 26, 2010 Author Share Posted April 26, 2010 shotgun, my husband said the same thing. If nothing else, it had to be carried to the field many years ago, one way or another, because there is no water or civilization nearby. We did manage to cut the rock in half. There was a small, clear orange gem in it, like a piece of broken glass, but otherwise no variation or stones, just a solid sparkly gray rock like you would find anywhere. My husband kept half for a paper weight and we destroyed the other half in hopes of finding more gems--nothing. The orange piece split into smitherines when we cut it. I think it's interesting someone else found one of these in South Dakota. Such a smooth rock to be turning up so far from water and civilization (at least in the case of ours). What is a concretion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted April 27, 2010 Share Posted April 27, 2010 Quote: "A concretion is a volume of sedimentary rock in which a mineral cement fills the porosity (i.e. the spaces between the sediment grains). Concretions are often ovoid or spherical in shape, although irregular shapes also occur. The word 'concretion' is derived from the Latin con meaning 'together' and crescere meaning 'to grow'. Concretions form within layers of sedimentary strata that have already been deposited. They usually form early in the burial history of the sediment, before the rest of the sediment is hardened into rock. This concretionary cement often makes the concretion harder and more resistant to weathering than the host stratum.There is an important distinction to draw between concretions and nodules. Concretions are formed from mineral precipitation around some kind of nucleus while a nodule is a replacement body. Descriptions dating from the 18th century attest to the fact that concretions have long been regarded as geological curiosities. Because of the variety of unusual shapes, sizes and compositions, concretions have been interpreted to be dinosaur eggs, animal and plant fossils (called pseudofossils), extraterrestrial debris or human artifacts." Thanks wikipedia! Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 IPFOTM -- MAY - 2024 _________________________________________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted May 3, 2010 Author Share Posted May 3, 2010 Thanks fossildude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micropterus101 Posted May 3, 2010 Share Posted May 3, 2010 (edited) heres a link to a cool site about concretions http://journeywithstevenmichael.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-on-earth-is-concretion.html . Edited May 3, 2010 by micropterus101 fossil crabs website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossisle Posted May 3, 2010 Share Posted May 3, 2010 Thanks Micropterus great info on concretions!! Cephalopods rule!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members pebblesbl Posted July 2, 2010 New Members Share Posted July 2, 2010 It very well could be what others have described as River Rock. Not sure where in SD you found it, but if it was anywhere near the Badlands, you might find it interesting to know it was once a Sea, filled with prehistoric marine animals (yes I said a Sea, in the middle of South Dakota). You can find some very interesting fossils of marine life there, but it is illegal to remove them from the park, always a very interesting and beautiful place to visit and explore. Along with the rest of the Black Hills, so full of history. That is why I moved here :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 It very well could be what others have described as River Rock. Not sure where in SD you found it, but if it was anywhere near the Badlands, you might find it interesting to know it was once a Sea, filled with prehistoric marine animals (yes I said a Sea, in the middle of South Dakota). You can find some very interesting fossils of marine life there, but it is illegal to remove them from the park, always a very interesting and beautiful place to visit and explore. Along with the rest of the Black Hills, so full of history. That is why I moved here :-) Yes, illegal to remove from the park, but there are plenty of places outside the park, all the way to the Missouri river where you can find sea fossils in SD. Good Luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members oxNicole Posted July 6, 2010 New Members Share Posted July 6, 2010 I found a rock in New Hampshire in the White Mountains region. It looked like an egg and my dad tried cracking it open, but it didn't work. The next day I tried to crack it open with a hammer and I got it open. I will add some pictures of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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