Native American Bird Stone From Hexagonaria Fossil

In September 2021 I visited the Besser Museum at Alpena, Michigan, USA. They had a large exhibit on Native American artifacts found in Michigan. One that caught me attention was labeled "petoskey stone pop-eye", see picture above. It is a native American bird stone made shaped from a Hexagonaria coral fossil. They also have on display a copper bird stone identified as the only one known. The museum has an impressive collection of copper artifacts created by native American peoples of Michigan.

The Besser Museum for Northwest Michigan was named for Jesse Besser (1882-1970) who perfected and produced machines that create these famous concrete blocks. Out in the yard is a huge boulder sized Hexagonaria (Gürich, 1896) coral fossil (from Devonian Period). They also have areas where you can search for and keep fossils from material dumped there from local quarry.

 

Polished Prismatophyllum Rugose Coral Fossil

Here is an image of a polished Prismatophyllum rugose coral fossil (Petosky Stone). It existed in the Devonian Period (410-360 million years ago). The fossil is on display at the 2nd floor (next to of the MSD Tunnel project exhibit)  Kentucky Science Center - Louisville Kentucky USA.

Learn more about the Kentucky Science Center (aka Louisville Science Center) at their web site:
 https://kysciencecenter.org/

Michigan's State Stone - Petoskey

Here are some pictures of Michigan's state stone Hexagonaria polished coral (aka Petoskey stone). It was named their state stone in 1965 by Govenor George Romney while their state fossil is the mastondon (Mammut americanum).

The Hexagonaria coral is from the Devonian Period and quite attractive when polished. According to Wikipedia.org they are found in Gravel Point Formation of the Traverse Group of Michigan, USA. The stones are named after an Ottawa Chief Pet-O-Sega (Petosegay) whose land the stones were found on.

Thanks to Vic for the fossil specimens.

Learn more at the Wikipedia.org entry on Petoskey stones.