I Found this artifact[?] on a river rafting trip on the Salmon river in Idaho. The only thing I know is that its made of basalt which the river guides told was commonly used for the tools of the local Native Americans, the Shoshone sheep-eaters (or something like that). Hopefully its not just a plain old piece of basalt. Even if its not an artifact its still a great paperweight. Hopefully you can tell me more about this.

Welcome to the forum first of all!! It's difficult to say from your pictures, try to get natural lighting and use the macro function on your camera if it has one (flower icon)....that will give us better focus and be able to see more detail. From what I can see, I would say you have yourself there a nice little paperweight....I'm not seeing anything that indicates that piece was altered by man. Sorry for the bad news but don't get discouraged.....if your interested in the Native Americans and their artifacts, they are out there to be found.

sfoster15 , i think your guess that it's a boring rock might be right on.jim

Don't like to pile on but, a paperweight.