They found ancient objects of incalculable value in the stomach of a giant crocodile

What does a 750 pound crocodile eat? Well, just about anything you want, though the elements found in the stomach of this crocodile in Mississippi particularly defy the odds and date back thousands of years.

Shane Smith, owner of Red Antler Processing in Yazoo City, said he was examining the contents of a 13-foot, 5-inch crocodile that weighed 750 pounds and discovered two unusual objects. One could not identify, but the other was clearly a broken stone arrowhead.

The finding was so unexpected that it barely lets the news out.

“At first, I thought, ‘I’m not going to post this on Facebook,’ because no one will believe it.” Smith told Clarion Ledger a local media outlet.

Then he rethought.

“This is too good not to post on Facebook,” he said. “This has probably never happened before. We need to post this.”

The story began to unfold in April when a wildlife processor in South Carolina reported having opened the stomach of a crocodile and found unusual items. Smith read it and was skeptical.

“Curiosity struck me when I saw an online post about someone finding identification plates on a crocodile’s stomach,” said Smith. “I’m one of those who doesn’t believe in fake news.”

To satisfy this curiosity, Smith decided to examine the contents of the larger alligators he processed. The first was a 13-foot, 2-inch, 787-pound crocodile taken by Ty Powell of Columbia.

“We found a bullet inside and it hadn’t been fired with a gun,” said Smith. “I don’t know how he got there. “

The second crocodile he opened contained many of the things he found in the first, including bones, hair, feathers, and stones. Then a little more caught his eye.

“Everyone was standing there as if they were opening a Christmas present”, Said Smith. “Somehow we put it all in a trash can.

“I looked and saw a rock with a different tint. It was the tip of an arrow,” he counted excitedly.

Smith said he was stunned.

“It was just disbelief,” said Smith. “It’s impossible for him to have an arrowhead. The first thing you think of is that he ate a Native American or that one shot him in the stomach.”

However, Smith knew this was not the case.

“My best hypothesis is that wherever he picked up these other rocks, he got that Indian tip,” said Smith. “We joke about it and said I was probably the only person on Earth who pulled an arrowhead out of a crocodile’s stomach.”

But the discovery was not only anecdotal but ended up being of very valuable historical importance. This was determined by James Starnes, director of Surface Geology and Surface Mapping at the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, who examined a photograph of the tip. It is estimated that it was made around 5000-6000 BC. C.

“This is the last part of the Early Archaic and the early part of the Middle Archaic (periods)”, said Starnes. “The way the base is made is a real indicator for estimating the time period.”

Starnes also noted that the object is not an arrowhead. It is a point used in an early weapon that throws a spear using a second piece of wood with a cup at one end that acts as a lever to increase speed.

“This is an atlatl dart point,” said Starnes. “People think all heads are arrowheads, but those (arrowheads) would be the dots.”

Strange as the finding was, it was about to become even stranger. Smith found a heavy teardrop-shaped object about 4 inches long. Both he and the hunter who was allowed to hunt the crocodile, John Hamilton of Raleigh, thought it was a little more modern: a weight of lead used for fishing.

“It’s as heavy as lead,” said Hamilton. “It looks like it has two holes, but they don’t cross it.

“It has a small hole and a bigger hole at the top. I guess it goes in and out again,” he added.

Hamilton investigated the object online, but was unable to identify it.

Starnes said she is known as one plummet and dates back to the Late Archaic Period, or around 1700 BC. C.

Weight is taken into account because it is made of hematite, an iron oxide that is exchanged between the first groups and shines when polished. Starnes said the purpose of the dive falls is unknown.

“Falls, we really have no idea what they were used for,” said Starnes. “These things had some meaning, but we have no idea. We can only guess.”

Both articles are invaluable for their historical relevance. So how did these ancient objects get into the crocodile’s belly? It’s a mystery.

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