What could this have been?

[SouthGa Fisher]

If this is the wrong forum please move or let me know. Came across this while fishing in NE Georgia…anyone have any thoughts on it? My thoughts are man-made, looks like it was carved out. It is about 10 feet long. Found it in a river arm that fluctuates heavily with rain and water releases. I hope this rain doesn't wash it out so I can go get a better look.

I've never been incredibly interested in finding old stuff but I may get in this area and walk the banks when it gets drawn down a little further.

 

[geordie]

I am not real sure about the scale but, IMHO it is a catface. For those not fluent in cracker, a catface is the cut trunk of a pine tree used to collect resin for turpentine. The early types were cut quiet deep and usually killed the tree. Later practice was to make shallow cuts and collect the resin in terracotta pots, and more recently in tin cups called boxes after the deep cuts originally made in the tree/

 

[mguthrie]

I am not real sure about the scale but, IMHO it is a catface. For those not fluent in cracker, a catface is the cut trunk of a pine tree used to collect resin for turpentine. The early types were cut quiet deep and usually killed the tree. Later practice was to make shallow cuts and collect the resin in terracotta pots, and more recently in tin cups called boxes after the deep cuts originally made in the tree/

That looks to be a hardwood to me. A pine tree rots away pretty quick

 

[chehawknapper]

That looks to be a hardwood to me. A pine tree rots away pretty quick

The fat lighter in a catface doesn’t rot.

 

[GeorgiaGlockMan]

Cool find


Thanks for sharing.

Would definitely get an archeologist to look at it.

 

[Railroader]

I'm in the VERY old catface camp...

 

[westcobbdog]

I mighta' hauled that one away....

 

[mguthrie]

The fat lighter in a catface doesn’t rot.

The rest of the tree rots pretty quick though.

 

[GLS]

Cat face. As pointed out above, at the bottom of the "V", in the early days, a deep notch was cut at the base to collect the resin. This was called a box cut which shortened tree life. To better protect the pine, in 1901 Charles Herty invented the Herty cup made of clay. It was made until 1920. It's the one in the center and a nail was driven in the trunk and cup hung through its hole. On the right is another style clay cup shaped like a curved bed pan. The tin version replaced terra cotta due to its toughness and ease of manufacture. When the tree was harvested, the cat face portion was left behind and is impervious to rot. I know locations where one can find a pick-up truck load in a matter of minutes. They are typically covered with moss. They make great kindling cut into "wheels" and split. I found an ancient box cut cat face during a turkey season and a cat face with a Herty cup nearby. My buddy made a great part of a turkey mount with the box cut. Gil

 

[Hillbilly stalker]

I’ve learnt something here……all new stuff to a highlander.

 

[GLS]

Good point. I missed it being in the NE corner of GA which would make it unlikely unless someone was trying to get sap out of another type of conifer. If it's cut similarly to complete a chevron on the not visible side it was done to remove sap or resin. Here are the two pine catfaces I mentioned above. Deer not turkey mount. Box cut on the left. Herty cup in front of other catface. This was big business at one time below the fall line.
Carroll's book, Treasures of the Longleaf Pines: Naval Stores, is the definitive book detailing the history of the harvesting of the resin for processing into turpentine, etc. It has many photographs of all stages of collection, processing and shipping from the Gulf ports and Savannah. Gil

 

[tad1]

That’s a pretty awesome display Gil!
JT

 

[SouthGa Fisher]

I appreciate the responses. I plan to go out this weekend and see if it's still there. If so I'll get some better pictures and look closer at it. With the lake level back to full pool it may be underwater though. We'll see.

 

[antharper]

Doesn’t look like pine to me

 

[chehawknapper]

The rest of the tree rots pretty quick though.

Not necessarily. I can show you “logs” of longleaf pine heartwood that has been lying on the ground for decades that is completely solid. My grandfathers home was built 8n the late 1800’s using split fat lighter stumps for the foundation for the floor sills - no rot and no termites. These were virgin longleaf pine. The sapwood rots but not the heart.

 

[GLS]

If not a whiskered catface, prop damage to a submerged log?
The remnants of longleaf harvest wherein the catface portion was discarded are about as long as a man could comfortably reach and scar the tree to encourage sap production. As noted, the sap wood will rot, but not the heart. The heartwood logs we find are up to 18-20" in diameter but usually smaller. Where we find such remnants is a good place to find the clay cups, especially around the stump remains under the leaf mold. Turpentine production declined when it could be made as a byproduct of paper making and cheaper South American imports. Gil

 

[SouthGa Fisher]

Anything I can look for, or do to help shed light on it? If it is there I'll check for any nails, etc and try to determine tree type.

It would be difficult for me to imagine it being prop damage due to it's location. I'll update after I check Sunday.

Thanks everyone for the responses. I've definitely learned some things.

 

[GLS]

It could have floated there.

 

[SouthGa Fisher]

It could have floated there.

I'm sure it got there by floating...but the likelihood of a propeller hitting it from where it floated from is unlikely. But anything is possible. Maybe even going through a dam could have left those marks somehow. Who knows?

 

[SouthGa Fisher]

It was pretty much submerged this weekend, but still there. It's located in Tallulah Gorge, just below the power dam on the lake. That's why I kind of ruled out prop damage.