fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

Had an enjoyable family Christmas yesterday and one of our traditions is to have a fun exchange of "white elephant" gifts along with all of the other jovial and mischievious mayhem. I think the routine is the same world wide. The idea is to wrap up and bring something that has been "used" already and simply pass it along for somebody else to enjoy. In essence...a second hand item.

That being said, sometimes the gifts are practical, and other times just silly and plain good fun.

I ended up with something really "cool" in my judgment...and old net anchor (a simply modified rock) that was used by Native American Indians back in the day to keep their fishing nets snug to the bottom. It sort of resembles a large "flattened" Idaho potato!

The "rock" has a couple of smooth notches in it so as to allow a rope or twine of some sort to be fastened around it and ultimately secured along the bottom of the vertical net. Wooden floats keep it all suspended.

According to the "vendor" of this artifact, they are found while scuba diving in certain regions of the St. Clair River between Canada and the US borders. The authenticity is also formally documented, so I assume that it is for real. Even if it is not...the concept seems plausible and that is good enough for me!

I enjoy a modest amount of amateur geology, and collect a few rocks now and then, so this gift was right up my alley! So...in conclusion, a brief amount of history on the day after Christmas!

A hand drawn sketch depicting the use and application of the Native America Indian net anchor.


Golf tees indicating the positions on the "rock" that were softly notched for a special purpose. It weighs in at 2 lb 9 ounces and is 8" long by 3" wide. I am calling it a potato stone for lack of any better technical terminology.

Jeremy Loc: America

Gill net

Bcmech1 Loc: Clinton Wisconsin

Pretty cool stuff

agatemaggot Loc: iowa

I myself have been hunting artifacts for many years, If I had found that I would have made a HORRIBLE mess in my pants !

Grizzly 17 Loc: South central Pa

Looks like it could double as a war club Yacker. 👍

Gordon Loc: Charleston South Carolina

Reading your post was interesting. Learned something again on this site, but look at the ad at the bottom of my page. You mentioned potato in your post.

ranger632 Loc: Near Yosemite Park Ca.

I have found a few round flat ones with holes bore in them that were uesd as weights.

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

I find that rather interesting! Coincidence...I suspect "not"!

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

Very cool...I hope that you kept them!

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

Indeed it does! It fits very nicely in the palm of my hand...almost like a custom fit! May have been carved by one of my distant relatives! Joking of course! Our family DNA was still hanging out in Europe....

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

Have you ever found any "geodes" in your region...and cracked them open? My guess is that perhaps you have! I hear they seem to be found in that part of the Country on a routine basis.

Fishinmaniac Loc: SW Washington

I would agree with Griz. Most likely a club head.
We live on an ancient first people’s village site. We find evidence of their presence on a regular basis either down by the river, or from the ground. We don’t intentionally excavate, but through erosion, yard work and mole activity bits and pieces become exposed occasionally.
I’ve attached some pictures. The large smooth rock is 1/2 of a net weight. You can see the notch in it used to secure it to the net. The other two are chopper/scrapers found in the same location next to a small flat rock on a bank next to our house while doing some landscaping. Both had been exposed by erosion.
We find flint, Jasper and obsidian chips quite regularly throughout the property.

Attached file:
(Download)

Gordon Loc: Charleston South Carolina

That's cool. Thanks for sharing

DoryMan Loc: Southern Maine

Very cool. I, too, enjoy this stuff.

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

That is very exciting fishinmaniac! In the future you'll undoubtedly be uncovering even more nifty items!