Artifact: The Petoskey Stone
Petoskey stones are unique to northern Michigan and are easiest to find on the shores of lake Michigan near Traverse City. Millions of years ago glaciers flattened and dragged along anything on the ground in front of it as they moved down from Canada into Michigan. The characteristic dark round spots surrounded by a light hexagon-like shape are coral fossils that were formed because of glaciers. You can buy Petoskey stones in pretty much every gift shop in northern Michigan as well as well as in fancy rock and mineral shops and shows. As Michigan’s state stone and an essential part to every earth science lesson in grade school, the Petoskey stone is know and recognized by everyone who grows up in the state of Michigan.
As a child, one of my favorite hobbies was collecting rocks. One of my first rock related memories was walking along the shore of Lake Michigan searching for Petoskey stones. With a water spritzer in hand I would carefully examine hundreds of rocks looking for the unique characteristics of the Petoskey Stone. When the small rocks are dry is difficult to tell if it actually a Petoskey Stone, but with a spritz of water the stone essentially comes to life as if it were polished potentially revealing the distinctive Petoskey stone pattern.
On lucky day after a couple hours of searching on the beach would find a couple Petoskey stones as a family. If it was a particularity good one, we would take it to a rock collector who lived a couple houses down from the small cottage we would rent. He would polish the stone for us which would permanently reveal the features of the stone. No state rock symbolizes a state like Petoskey stone with Michigan.
As a child, one of my favorite hobbies was collecting rocks. One of my first rock related memories was walking along the shore of Lake Michigan searching for Petoskey stones. With a water spritzer in hand I would carefully examine hundreds of rocks looking for the unique characteristics of the Petoskey Stone. When the small rocks are dry is difficult to tell if it actually a Petoskey Stone, but with a spritz of water the stone essentially comes to life as if it were polished potentially revealing the distinctive Petoskey stone pattern.
On lucky day after a couple hours of searching on the beach would find a couple Petoskey stones as a family. If it was a particularity good one, we would take it to a rock collector who lived a couple houses down from the small cottage we would rent. He would polish the stone for us which would permanently reveal the features of the stone. No state rock symbolizes a state like Petoskey stone with Michigan.