Hi Tim,
I'm currently living on the West Coast, near a former steatite quarry where the local tribe made bowls. Said bowls are very simple, but they were also traded for hundreds of miles. Steatite (aka soapstone), soft as it is, is a very good material for cooking pots because it evenly radiates heat, doesn't explode when heated, and is easy to carve with all sorts of tools.
That said, I'd rule out California Indians as a source for your artifact. It doesn't look like the steatite work of any tribe I know of. That doesn't help much, as soapstone is found (and carved) all over the world. I'm still sticking with my first guess: someone's art project. Six-pack of Bud on that.
F
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