Recently, a Mississippi hunter had an alligator processed for game meat. The stomach contents revealed two ancient stone artifacts from two different ages during the Archaic Period (8,000 to 1,000 B.C.). Geologist for the State of Mississippi, James Starnes, identified the rare finds from photographs. The items, a broken projectile point from a presumed atlatl spear was dated to approximately 5,000 to 6,000 B.C., and a hematite plummet was assigned to about 1,800 B.C.:
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Top: Artifacts as discovered in processing wash bin
Bottom: Artifacts cleaned and dryed
Alligators, who live in river bottoms and sloughs, ingest gravel and rocks to aid in diet digestion. The animal possibly consumed the artifacts from a prehistoric riverside midden while hunting on the bayous and in the oxbow lakes that are common among Mississippi rivers and their tributaries.
Atlatl points are reasonably common in the region, rarer are the plummet bobs. The precise function of these suspected ’weights’ is speculative. Often found near water, they are associated with fishing and fowl hunting. Plummets are frequently finely crafted and polished. Regularly they are found among grave goods; many have borings or grooves for suspension and are considered by some authorities to have been treated as talismans and medicine-stones.
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Three Borings, Three Diameters
The borings on this plummet are unusual in that they do not go fully through the stone. The feature is sometimes found on incomplete specimens. In that there are three partial holes of differing diameters is most peculiar. Were they intended to fully pierce, or were the openings meant to connect internally and loop out of the same side?
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Sources: The Red Antler, PETER A. BOSTROM, Mississippi alligator contained 6,000-year-old artifact in stomach, How did ancient stone artifacts get inside a Mississippi alligator? Here’s one theory, Native American Artifacts from 6,000 B.C. Discovered in Alligator's Stomach.
Dr. Troglodyte
Bottom: Artifacts cleaned and dryed
Alligators, who live in river bottoms and sloughs, ingest gravel and rocks to aid in diet digestion. The animal possibly consumed the artifacts from a prehistoric riverside midden while hunting on the bayous and in the oxbow lakes that are common among Mississippi rivers and their tributaries.
Atlatl points are reasonably common in the region, rarer are the plummet bobs. The precise function of these suspected ’weights’ is speculative. Often found near water, they are associated with fishing and fowl hunting. Plummets are frequently finely crafted and polished. Regularly they are found among grave goods; many have borings or grooves for suspension and are considered by some authorities to have been treated as talismans and medicine-stones.
The borings on this plummet are unusual in that they do not go fully through the stone. The feature is sometimes found on incomplete specimens. In that there are three partial holes of differing diameters is most peculiar. Were they intended to fully pierce, or were the openings meant to connect internally and loop out of the same side?
Sources: The Red Antler, PETER A. BOSTROM, Mississippi alligator contained 6,000-year-old artifact in stomach, How did ancient stone artifacts get inside a Mississippi alligator? Here’s one theory, Native American Artifacts from 6,000 B.C. Discovered in Alligator's Stomach.
Dr. Troglodyte