Old, Old Anvil

[nifeman]

Hey fellers, it's been a long time since I posted.
I've got an old stone that my Mother-in-law left to my wife. She always told her that Tudys grandfather had told my M-I-L that it was an old anvil. However the ravages of time have taken its toll and there's not much left to it. The only thing I can discern is that it was shaped by man a very long time ago from some kind of fossil rock as there are 2 scallop type fossil 1 on top and 1 on the bottom.
What I need from y'all, is to look at the photos and tell me what you think...thanks, Bud

[DiamondG Knives]

Bud
Im no expert, but that looks to be a sedemintary type rock, so Im guessing its not going to be really hard. My guess would be that it was used more as a rest type tool more than an anvil that was used in the sense that we think of.

Just my $0.02 but it sure is a conversation piece! Mabey someone here with more info might chime in.

God Bless
Mike

[nifeman]

Good to hear from ya Mike. I sure don't know what it is, but your right, it sure is old and it's definetly a conversation piece. Tudy showed it to me when I got home from work. I saw it sitting on the back porch and thought it looked like an anvil base, but hey, what do I know, I just pound steel LOL...Bud

[DaveRuhlig]

I don't know what the heck it is either but it sure looks old and it definately took someone a whole lot of time to make it for whatever the prupose! Very interesting - thanks for posting it.
-Dave

[NJStricker]

It's sedementary rock, it's old, and it's not necessarily shaped by man. More than likely it was shaped over time--lots of it--by water. The rock was likely at the bottom of the ocean millenia ago. As layers of mud and silt run off the land and into the water, the layers build up. The weight of the layers one over the other builds up weight, compressing the layers below it. That compression forms the layers into rock. Geological and climatic changes over the millenia influence what the layers are made of. A volcano may have erupted, so some of the layers may be ash and volcanic dust, unusual flooding may have occurred at other times causing clay or other particles to wash in. Through it all, stuff has been living in the mucky layers--clams, snails, corals, etc. So, bits of those will be in there as well. I can't tell for sure, but it appears that there is one layer that might have a lot of little bits of shell and coral, toward the top of the rock in the picture.

Over time, the earth's plates moved, one slid over another, and that piece of sea floor got shoved upward to form a mountain somewhere. The same forces that formed the mucky layers into rock through compression also eroded it away. Water running over it, or maybe even wind, wore away layer after layer. But, some layers, having a different mineral composition, were harder than others and more resistant to the erosion. Those are the layers that are a little bit wider and protrude from the others. The softer layers were eroded away faster.

I've seen other rocks like it, though not so large. I even have a couple back home at the farm. When I was a kid I found several pieces of jeweled flint. Flint is also a sedementary rock, formed in a fashion similar to the one you show. The jeweling comes from quartz that is deposited as the result of volcanic activity. These particular pieces of flint were red, white, and blue in color--unusual for Ohio, and likely imported by the Hopewell Indians from Missouri or Tennessee.

[nifeman]

Armory, that makes sense to me. Guess I was just hoping...Bud

[Crex]

Amory is pretty much right on.
You could have some fun and tell folks it's the kind of anvil early natives used to forge their stone points. You would be amazed how many government educated people would believe you. Make a great door stop as well.

I've seen a few out in the south western desert that looked very similar that were actually wind/sand formed. One is quite famous down in (I think) south Arizona, called "Anvil Rock", but it's quite a bit bigger.
Help me out Chuck, it's over on your side of Big Muddy.

[nifeman]

Hey Carl, sheesh I forgot bout that one and you'd think a boy who was born in Phoenix woulda remembered that. Guess I been away too long ...Bud