I’m fascinated by fossils. We live in an area that oozes with the history of pre-historic man, cave paintings of mammoths and other such treasures, but I find fossils much more interesting. It maybe because I love nature and fossils are usually sea creatures from a million years or so ago. The land around our house is heaving with them, and I can’t go for a walk without half an eye on the ground.
A few days ago on a trail up through the woods I spotted a shape. It always seems to be shapes that attract. This one was round. I dug it out and held in my hand a perfect sphere with a small nodule. It was particularly heavy and quite fascinating.
My hubby and I pondered over it and he wondered if it was a musket ball. Half a mile from us is an old forge, one of only two in France that produced musket balls and cannon balls during the Napoleonic times. In the end I measured it and weighed it (one inch across and 38 grams) and put a photo up on the fossil forum. Lots of help and explanations were forthcoming as to what it probably is, and I was told it’s most probably something called an ironstone concretion and not a fossil. It was then fascinating to read up on how these concretions were formed ā but far too long to relate here. There are certain spherical concretions called thunder eggs. What a brilliant name! Whether it actually is one or not I can’t be sure, but that’s what I’m calling it. My Thunder Egg! I’m quite sure it has magical powers and is stored with some sort of long-forgotten knowledge from a hundred million years ago when it was formed. If you put it to your ear and close your eyes you can hear water boiling and crashing on rock, earth-shattering explosions as volcanoes spew forth molten lava, and the wail of the winds of change ā¦ honest you can!
The Writer in the Woods 
ooohh, i would like to listen too jude! quite a fascinating little object š
LikeLike
it looks like a bissel. a gallstone from a deer ;sheep; lamb .thats what we watched on tv.nova maybe.it was to take poison from a drink if you got poised.women ware them arond there neck.
LikeLike
Whispers of a million years ago!
LikeLike
We had one a bit like that without the lump. It was very cold. Is yours? x
LikeLike
Hi Di! I think it must be a good conductor of temperature because it gets very warm in the sun and cold out of it. Must be the metal (iron) content.
LikeLike
your last sentence: I believe you!
since the expression “thunder egg” rang some distant memory-bell, I did a quick googly-thing–’round these parts apparently, hostile gods would toss at each other eggs stolen from Thunderbirds’ nests. Is that similar to what you heard? And if so, how’d the Thunderbird go extinct, anyway?!
LikeLike
Maybe he didn’t become extinct after all! Maybe there’s a Thunderbird nest up a nearby tree and the darned egg rolled out. Oh hell, now I have to watch out for hostile gods! You got me thinking here and I just read on another site that ‘The thunder egg will allow me to feel safe and secure in my physical vehicle, and assist me to feel comfortable in my present incarnation. It’ll help me to remain grounded and help me dispel anxiety, stress and fear, and replace the negative vibrations with joy! But does it ward off hostile gods? Dare I walk through the woods any more?!
LikeLike
Just carry that piece of iron in your pocket–the gods will give you a wide berth!
LikeLike
A thunder egg! What a great find!
Here in Ecuador, I scan the ground for pottery artifacts. The beach is often littered with them, and every so often I find a sweet treasure. One of them, a shaman’s tiny little ‘bowl,’ looks a lot like your thunder egg. I thought it was a rock when I carelessly rolled it over, and then I was stunned to see such a sweet little beauty!
Thanks for sharing your treasure with us!
LikeLike
I just had a very strong feeling about it from the moment I found it! It does feel quite magical. š
LikeLike
It’s very cool. I want one.
LikeLike
I’m going back to the same spot to see if the Thunderbird dropped any more. If I find one it’s yours Mike. š
LikeLike
Really? That would be too cool!
LikeLike
Jude, I fancy myself a bit of a rock hound and am always on the lookout for meteorites. I don’t know if they ever get round like this, but the crust looks about right. I am assuming it is attracted to magnets?
LikeLike
Actually it isn’t. It was one of the first things we checked. The chap on the Fossil Forum said that ironstone concretions are rarely magnetic. Based on the measurements and weight he estimated the density as approximately 4.4g/cc which is far too low for lead (or even iron) and much more consistent with rock/mineral.
I’ve looked at loads of images for concretions on Google and they all seem to have a smooth surface – unlike this one. This rock, to me, looks volcanic – kind of a bumpy surface. It also feels very heavy compared with other rocks the same size. I may try a geology website and get a second opinion.
LikeLike
Im thinking a little iron jingle bell.
LikeLike
Many thanks!
LikeLike