Two Amazing Ancient Artifacts Found Inside Giant Mississippi Alligator
A 750-pound Mississippi alligator was killed in Eagle Lake Mississippi earlier this year. Inside it, butchers found “the shock of the year” - two ancient Native American artifacts,
a 1,700-BC plummet stone, and a 6,000-BC atlatl dart point.
The 13 foot five-inch long and 750 pound alligator was killed in Eagle Lake in September by hunter John Hamilton. On his Facebook page after he killed the reptile Hamilton said the creature was “the hunt of a lifetime.”
When the staff at Red Antler Processing, which harvested the animal, opened the creature’s belly, the stomach was found to contain two Native American artifacts. James Starnes is the director of surface geology and surface mapping at the Department of Environmental Quality and he was the first to examine photos of the artifacts. Starnes identified “a plummet” that dated back to 1,700 BC
and an atlatl dart point (spear tip) that was crafted around 6000 BC, which was in the Early Archaic period (8,000-5,000 BC). Starnes said that although the dart point artifact resembles an arrowhead, it ’s actually the tip of a much bigger “early weapon.”
Regarding the second ancient artifact recovered from the alligator’s stomach, Starnes described it as a “plummet used by fisherman about 1700 BC.” Starnes said it is currently unknown what the purpose of the object was, however, the two holes could have served as excellent bone-hook sharpeners.
MS History Now explains that
there are over “19,000 known prehistoric archaeological sites” in the state of Mississippi dating back to the prehistoric period, which began some 12,000 years ago. So, it is anyone’s guess as to where the alligator picked up the ancient Native American artifacts.
https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/mississippi-alligator-0015817
The two artifacts found in the Mississippi alligator’s stomach:
the 6,000-BC atlatl dart point (top), and the black plummet stone from 1,700 BC (bottom).
(Shane Smith / Clarion Ledger )
