Coso artifact

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The Coso Artifact is a spark plug found encased in a lump of hard clay or rock on February 13, 1961 by Wallace Lane, Virginia Maxey, and Mike Mikesell while they were prospecting for geodes near the town of Olancha, California and long claimed as an example of an out-of-place artifact. Following its collection, Mikesell destroyed a diamond edged blade cutting through the rock containing the artifact and discovered the item.[1]

Virginia Maxey, one of the people who discovered it, said that a geologist she had spoken to had said that the nodule had required at least 500,000 years to achieve its form, based on an examination of the fossil shells that encrusted the specimen. However, the identity of the geologist remains a mystery, and his findings have apparently never been published.[1] It is well documented that the nodule surrounding the spark plug may have accreted in a matter of years or decades as demonstrated by examples of very similar iron or steel artifact-bearing nodules, which are discussed and illustrated by Cronyn.[2]

[edit] Origin

The origin of the artifact has been the cause of much speculation. Pseudoscientific suggestions include:

  • An ancient advanced civilization (such as Atlantis)
  • Prehistoric extraterrestrial visitors to Earth
  • Human time-travellers from the future leaving or losing the artifact during a visit to the past.

Certain young-earth creationists have hailed the artifact as evidence for a young earth, arguing that if a modern item such as a spark plug can become encased in stone then the entire idea of rocks taking millions of years to form can be shown to be false. However, geologists and archaeologists have known for many decades that the rate at which different types of concretions form[3] and layers of rock lithify vary so greatly that the degree of their lithification cannot be used to determine their age, nor the age of the Earth.[1]

An investigation carried out by Pierre Stromberg and Paul Heinrich with the help of members of the Spark Plug Collectors of America suggested that the artifact is a 1920s Champion spark plug and that it was likely used in the area in support of mining operations during that era. Their report[1] indicates the spark plug became encased in a concretion composed of iron derived from the rusting spark plug. It is typical of iron and steel artifacts to rapidly form iron oxide concretions around them as they rust in the ground.[2]

The location of the Coso artifact is currently unknown. Of its discoverers, Lane has died, Maxey is alive but avoids public comment, and the whereabouts of Mikesell are not known.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Stromberg, Pierre; Paul V. Heinrich (2005-04-18). The Coso Artifact: Mystery from the Depths of Time. TalkOrigins. Retrieved on 2008-02-03.
  2. ^ a b Cronyn, J.M. (1990). The Elements of Archaeological Conservation. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415012-07-4. 
  3. ^ Mozley, Peter S. (Winter 1995). Concretions, Bombs, and Ground Water. New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources. Retrieved on 2008-02-03.
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