Featured Thoughts on this rock,please

Hi all,so where do questions about rocks get posted? Anyway I picked this up on a traditional farm area that is now being developed as a mass housing site on the outskirts of ‘town’ (near one of the suburbs of Cape Town) All farming activities stopped many many years ago.There are rivers in the area,but this wasn’t near a river. But it does look like river rock to me (so maybe it was water that made the hole) I know there’s many ways to make a hole in rock. To me it doesn’t look like modern drilling equipment was used (but I really don’t actually know) Any comments? Rock is about 7cm across. Thanks and keep well

 

my 1st thought would be a net weight....

 

Good comment and interesting. Many thanks

 

And the second is that Mr. Lender once used it as a prototype...

 

lender's bagels.........????

not heard that , in like 4 ever......

 

Such perforated stones are found in many parts of the world, with no clear understanding of their original use. They are sometimes described as net weights, or mace heads, or weights for digging sticks. I have found a brief reference by Cyril Hromnik to ones in South Africa being called !kwe stones. Although observed among San people, he believed they were much older artifacts that were being repurposed.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3888195

 

That’s absolutely great information. Thank you very much. Interesting reading. Following on your lead I also found this publishing
https://www.archaeology.org.za/site...hments/publications/2015/12/31/vol_2_no_2.pdf

 

Ha ha,I was completely clueless on the comment. I only found some money lending business in the UK

 

Ok,so bagels.. Got it now!

 

Lender's bagels, LOL.
I used to buy them, they tasted G'd awful.

 

Had I found that here, I'd have called it a *hag stone* ... (though that term most commonly means a hole made through a natural source but I have no idea who or what made the hole and I dunno how anyone can tell)
The OP does look very even, just thought I'd mention the term

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Thank you for comment. I read about hag stones and fairy stones now (some interesting stuff and view points which is cool) I agree one would probably never know for sure man made vs nature. But overall I just felt lucky finding it

 

It's a lovely object. I love stones,always picking up interesting ones x

 

That hole is not 'natural', IMHO.
A human person, however distant in the past, worked long & diligently to accomplish it, and may have shaped the stone in other ways as well.

 

It could be an adder stone/hag stone,made by nature.

 

grumble...mutter...mumble...Sigh.

It is possible, I suppose.

Seems far too symmetrical...an' centrally placed.

But...maybe, just.