Hi there. While removing some trees at our house in central Austin, we discovered this item lodged inside one of the trunks. The tree wasn't exceptionally old, perhaps 40-50 years.

A couple of questions.

Does anyone know what this is? Perhaps a scraper? If it is a tool, any idea of how old it might be?

Has anyone ever encountered a tool like this stuck inside a tree?

Thanks for your help!!

Looks like some sort of chopper or scraper. Could have been a find many years ago by someone and they put it in a fork of the tree for later and forgot about it.
Good find.

Agreed, a "chopper" . That covers a lot of ground like being used for a scraper or preform for a blade or a "trade blank ",
The Austin area was a beehive of older po****tions so it could be from 10,000 yrs BP to about 200 BP The design of such a tool was unchanged over the yrs.

How it found it's home in a young tree is just fun to speculate on.

CAUTION...further research into this indian artifact could lead to serious flint addiction