The stone from Jaber

[Carnoferox]

On 1/1/2018 at 4:55 PM, Swede said:

3) Should the material actually prove to be of sedimentary origin, the initial perforation could be due to a number of causations including the primary context of sedimentary materials being deposited around a vegetal stalk (eg reed, etc.). Rather the inverse of the boring techniques as noted by Piney..

Another plausible explanation would be a bivalve borehole. I'm not familiar with the geology of Syria, but I'll put it out there as a possibility.

[Swede]

7 hours ago, Carnoferox said:

Another plausible explanation would be a bivalve borehole. I'm not familiar with the geology of Syria, but I'll put it out there as a possibility.

Good point. The find location of the geofact would appear to be ~57 km (36 mi) from the current coast and, of course, the region is quite active in regards to tectonics.

.

[Jarocal]

10 hours ago, lemon said:

1, 2, 3 - do you think that such   reworking could have some sense for an ancient person?

Or is it more like a print on a stone softened by a high temperature?

Yes, I have no issue with a stone age person working with stone. It is the moniker people use for that era for a reason. Many ornamental beads are made of stone. Stone anchors from ancient sailing vessels have holes drilled in them. Neanderthals even worked stone. I just don't understand the incredulity on your part that it is possible to work and polish stone to a high sheen without resorting to modern power tools or some lost ancient technology?

[jaylemurph]

21 minutes ago, Jarocal said:

Yes, I have no issue with a stone age person working with stone. It is the moniker people use for that era for a reason. Many ornamental beads are made of stone. Stone anchors from ancient sailing vessels have holes drilled in them. Neanderthals even worked stone. I just don't understand the incredulity on your part that it is possible to work and polish stone to a high sheen without resorting to modern power tools or some lost ancient technology?

...apparently it's terminal chronic astonishment.

--Jaylemurph

[Oniomancer]

21 hours ago, lemon said:

seeder, Oniomancer
Can you show such a stone with a hole that looks like a melted one?

And why there are no comments about the flat area on the lower photos?

Not offhand, though I did come across this:

Flint Rock? "melted" brown parts?

Note in the specimen shown the "melted" parts appear to be the remains of a weathering rind, commonly referred to as a cortex. The rest of the stone consists of more freshly broken surfaces.

While I'm not 100% sure which parts your referring to as melted, if it's the areas around the hole, It's possible they're also the remains of a rind or some other form of layering which has escaped being abraded away by virtue of being indented. 

Or it may simply be the remains of a fossil the softer parts of which have dissolved away leaving a void.

[lemon]

1 hour ago, Oniomancer said:

While I'm not 100% sure which parts your referring to as melted,  ...

 

[seeder]

2 hours ago, lemon said:

 

 

so wheres the alleged melted bits?   The entire stone....and the hole, has been smoothed by erosion, whether that was by dust and sand in the wind or underwater....who knows?

Hardly worth getting excited about now is it?

 

 

[stereologist]

The smoothness of the hole made me wonder if the tool had been used as an arrow straightener. There would be marks I imagine from the repeated back and forth of the wood.

There seems to be a mistaken thought that smooth means melted. There are many mineral forms that are smooth and get that way through processes which do involve melting. This is reminiscent of the vitreous stories.