# Anybody know what this carved stone may be? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 29, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-what-this-carved-stone-may-be/611108 "2012-01-29T20:13:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-what-this-carved-stone-may-be/611108/1 "2012-01-29T20:13:11Z")
It’s a stone carved into a snakes head. This was found mixed in with a load of stones for a driveway. Location: East Coast USA. [http://i.imgur.com/91CI6.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/91CI6.jpg) [http://i.imgur.com/B0kjv.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/B0kjv.jpg) [http://i.imgur.com/1gacT.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/1gacT.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-what-this-carved-stone-may-be/611108/2 "2012-01-29T20:28:53Z")
Take it to a local museum. Frequently small items were dropped or abandoned and end up in the detritus that gets dug up and used for gravel. Frequently gravel is ‘mined’ in riverbeds, and small rocks can be picked up and carried by meltwater. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-what-this-carved-stone-may-be/611108/3 "2012-01-29T21:18:45Z")
Medusa was looking too closely at her hair. Or more seriously, I think some of the East Coast tribes revered snakes; it might be a ritual object of some sort. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-what-this-carved-stone-may-be/611108/4 "2012-01-29T21:23:56Z")
I don’t know what it is but I like it a lot. How big is the stone? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-what-this-carved-stone-may-be/611108/5 "2012-01-29T21:46:39Z")
That is really cool. I found references to another Native American snake head rock but it is from North Dakota. > **[All Arrowhead Types and Ancient Indian Artifacts](https://arrowheads.com/?option=com_kunena&func=view&id=358&catid=7&Itemid=89)** > > Arrowheads.com - Largest Indian Artifact Website on the Internet. You can find Native American arrowheads for sale. Buy and sell Indian relics online. I will give you $100+ shipping for it right now (seriously). ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-what-this-carved-stone-may-be/611108/6 "2012-01-29T22:00:57Z")
To me that looks much more like a salamander head than a snake head. It is pretty damn cool all the same. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-what-this-carved-stone-may-be/611108/7 "2012-01-29T22:08:15Z")
Very cool. And it is definitely stone, and not ceramic? ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-what-this-carved-stone-may-be/611108/8 "2012-01-29T22:32:09Z")
Place a nickel or quarter next to it and retake the pic. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-what-this-carved-stone-may-be/611108/9 "2012-01-29T22:44:00Z")
Wow, that is so cool! (to repeat what everyone else is saying!) ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-what-this-carved-stone-may-be/611108/10 "2012-01-29T23:07:05Z")
Chance of that thing being cursed: 100% ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2012, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-what-this-carved-stone-may-be/611108/11 "2012-01-29T23:57:16Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > To me that looks much more like a salamander head than a snake head. > > It is pretty damn cool all the same. My first thought was “frog”, but salamander is probably better given the neck. Still, amphibian. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-what-this-carved-stone-may-be/611108/12 "2012-01-30T00:05:58Z")
Could it be the top piece of a scepter or staff? Did Indian chiefs carry those? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-what-this-carved-stone-may-be/611108/13 "2012-01-30T00:13:08Z")
After its Cleaned up it would make a nice paperweight for your office. A 1/4 cup bleach in a pail of water and some brushing should clean it up. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-what-this-carved-stone-may-be/611108/14 "2012-01-30T00:18:38Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Place a nickel or quarter next to it and retake the pic. This. And to me, it looks like the head of a turtle I used to have. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-what-this-carved-stone-may-be/611108/15 "2012-01-30T00:21:38Z")
Looks more like a salamander than a snake. But that may be the best the artist could do with the medium. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-what-this-carved-stone-may-be/611108/16 "2012-01-30T00:29:40Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > After its Cleaned up it would make a nice paperweight for your office. A 1/4 cup bleach in a pail of water and some brushing should clean it up. Oh dear god, please no. You don’t take any unusual artifacts and ‘clean’ or improve on them to make them into paperweights. That is rule #1 when dealing with something of this sort. It may or may not be valuable but you made me and lots of other people recoil at the thought. If it does have any historical value, that is the fastest way to fix that pesky problem. My cash offer still stands by the way. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-what-this-carved-stone-may-be/611108/17 "2012-01-30T00:58:24Z")
I didn’t think a toothbrush and some water would hurt a rock. I’m sure it got rained & snowed on in the woods. I see your point that as a historical artifact the patina matters and shouldn’t be disturbed. I’m sorry for giving bad advice. ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-what-this-carved-stone-may-be/611108/18 "2012-01-30T01:12:39Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > Very cool. And it is definitely stone, and not ceramic? its also magnetic: [Imgur: The magic of the Internet](http://i.imgur.com/Hwky2.jpg) Lodestone perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Oly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oly/32/8255_2.png) [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-what-this-carved-stone-may-be/611108/19 "2012-01-30T01:29:07Z")
In the first photo it looks like the area of carving around the eye is weathered distinctly less than the immediately adjacent stone, maybe indicating a not so ancient origin (?). The other photos not so much, so maybe it’s just the way the photo is. Nonetheless, more votes for cool, don’t clean, and show it to a museum or university type. Might also want to see if you can find out where the load of stones came from. Fun way to spend a day, picking through a pile of rocks where there might be ancient artifacts. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-what-this-carved-stone-may-be/611108/20 "2012-01-30T01:34:45Z")
It is really cool. Imagine how close it came to being lost forever as part of a driveway. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-know-what-this-carved-stone-may-be/611108.md?page=2)