rectangular section, slightly curved sides, rounded corners, and high
polish over the entire surface, having nearly the same thickness
(about an inch) at every part, would seem to be a polishing or rubbing
stone. There are, however, one from Warren county, Ohio, and three
from Kanawha valley, West Virginia, of almost exactly the same size
and pattern, which have had one end ground off to a sharp edge; so the
specimen may be only an unfinished celt. One of those from Kanawha
valley has had the edge partly broken away, and one face has been
pecked considerably in an attempt to restore it for use; but the
intention was not carried out. Some celts, not of the scraper pattern,
which have the edge to one side of the median line, are perhaps broken
or blunted specimens redressed on one side only.
[Illustration: FIG. 73.--Scraper or adze, with projecting ridge.]
[Illustration: FIG. 74.--Adze or scraper.]
Figure 73 exhibits a specimen of argillite from Carter county,
Tennessee, probably an adze or scraper, with a projection to keep the
implement from being forced into the handle. The edge is symmetrical,
though much striated. The specimen shown in figure 74 (of granite, from
Kanawha valley, West Virginia) represents a peculiar form. There are
several like it in the collection, all but this one from islands in the
Pacific.
CHIPPED CELTS.
On account of their shape and undoubted use, a class of celts, although
neither pecked nor ground, is introduced. Many of them resemble, in
most respects, the so-called paleolithic implements, though sometimes
of better finish. They are made with a rounded top and nearly parallel
sides; rudely triangular; or with the sides curved to a point at the
top. The edge may be straight or curved, and is usually chipped,
though sometimes ground; a few are chisel-shaped. Usually they show
no signs of wear; when they do, it is always in the form of a polish
at the larger end, or on the exposed facets. One of black flint, 8
inches long, from Kanawha valley, has a scraper-form edge, smoothly
polished. Many, even of those scarcely changed from their original form
and natural surface, have the edges dulled and polished from use as
scrapers or adzes.
[Illustration: FIG. 75.--chipped celt.]
[Illustration: FIG. 76.--Chipped celt.]
[Illustration: FIG. 77.--Chipped celt.]
The collection includes the following examples: 36 of argillite,
flint, porphyry, and compact quartzite, from Montgomery county, North
Carolina, some with the wider edge sharp (figure 75, of flint); 12
of limestone and flint from Mason county, Kentucky; 70 of argillite,
a few with the edges ground, from southeastern Tennessee (figure 76,
from McMinn county); over 300 from Kanawha valley, nearly all of black
flint, a few being of diorite or quartzite--some are partly polished,
or have ground edges (figure 77, of black flint, from a mound).
HEMATITE CELTS.
With the exception of two from Iowa and a few from Preston county, West
Virginia, the hematite celts in the collection are from Kanawha valley,
and are small, ranging in length from 1 to 2¾ inches, except one 4½
and one 5½ inches. They are illustrated in figures 78, 79, 80, and 81,
the last from a mound. Nearly all have been ground directly from the
nodule or concretion in which this ore of iron so frequently appears.
Occasionally one of homogeneous structure has been chipped into form
before grinding, the facets in some cases being rubbed nearly away.
Sometimes they have a rectangular outline, but usually the sides taper
from the edge to the top by a gradual curve, or are parallel a part of
the way and then taper either by a straight or, oftener, by a curved
line. The section is rectangular or elliptical.
[Illustration: FIG. 78.--Hematite celt.]
These implements were probably used as knives or scrapers, being set
into the end of a piece of antler, which may in turn have been set
into a larger handle of wood. That some were knives is shown by the
edge which is dulled to a flat polished surface extending from side to
side; and that many were scrapers is shown by their celt-scraper shape,
a half elliptical section, or by the scraper-form edge, seen in the
largest specimen. Some, however, have the edge symmetrical, as in the
hatchet-celts. One has incurved sides, and is roughened on the sides
and on the faces near the top.
[Illustration: FIG. 79.--Hematite celt.]
[Illustration: FIG. 80.--Hematite celt.]
[Illustration: FIG. 81.--Hematite celt.]
PESTLES.
The fact of the ordinary conical or bell-shaped, long-cylindrical, or
somewhat pear-shaped stones having been used for pestles is so well
settled that no confirmatory references are needed. A few citations
may be given in regard to certain forms sometimes differently classed,
especially some of the discoidal stones to be hereafter described.
According to Stevens, the corn crushers used by the Swiss lake dwellers
are spherical; some are flattened on two sides, like an orange, others
almost round with depressions on four sides. They are about the size
of a man’s fist or rather smaller. The Africans have a piece of quartz
or other hard stone as large as half a brick, one side of which is
convex, to fit the hollow of a larger stone used as a mortar.[23]
Evans observes that disks sometimes show marks of use as hammers or
pestles;[24] one found at Ty Mawr was thick, with a cavity on each
face.[25] In preparing pemmican, the American Indians are known to
have pounded the dried meat to a powder between two stones.[26] This
gives the impression that any suitable stones may have been used; and
the ancient California Indians worked out a round stone as an acorn
sheller, modern tribes using any smooth stone.[27]
[Illustration: FIG. 82.--Handled pestle, with expanding base.]
The pestles which have the bottom round or convex are generally found
in the same localities as the hollowed stone mortars. Several forms of
pestles are represented in the collection. They may be grouped as in
the following description and tabulation.
_A._ With expanding base; bottom flat or slightly convex, often with
a slight depression in the middle. Handle tapering, or of uniform
diameter to the top; in a few, slightly swelling above as if to give a
firmer hold. Top rounded, flat, or pointed. Bottom may be very little
expanded or may have twice the diameter of the handle. Probably used
for pounding grain or seeds on a flat stone, as it could not be used
in a mortar even slightly hollowed. None seem to have been used as
mullers or rubbers. They may have served for hammers, and would be
excellent for cracking nuts, as the pit in the bottom would tend to
keep them from flying out to the side. The type is shown in figure 82,
of quartzite, from Sullivan county, Tennessee. The distribution is
moderately wide, and the material chiefly granite and quartzite, with a
few of other rock varieties, as shown in the table:
+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D | E | F |
+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|Northeastern Kentucky | 2| 2| | | 1| |
|Eastern Tennessee | 3| 6| | | | 1|
|Ross county, Ohio | 2| 1| | | | |
|Miami valley, Ohio | 1| 7| 1| 2| | |
|Southwestern Illinois | | 1| | | | |
|Kanawha valley, West Virginia | 1| 1| | 1| 1| |
+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+
KEY:
A = Quartzite.
B = Granite
C = Sienite
D = Diorite.
E = Sandstone.
F = Argillite.
_B._ Almost cylindrical, from 6 to 18 inches long and about two inches
in diameter. Some of the larger ones were probably rolling-pins, as
the ends, either from some fancy finish, or because worked to a point,
are of a shape that would make their use as pestles impracticable.
Even as rollers, some must have been used for crushing grain that had
previously been softened or was not fully matured, as they are of a
soft stone that would wear very easily. The shorter ones are blunt at
the ends, and may have been used in a shallow wooden mortar; none are
adapted for use in stone. The class is illustrated by figure 83, of
soft clay slate, from Cherokee county, Georgia.
+------------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D | E |
+------------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+
|Montgomery county, North Carolina | 1| | | | |
|Northwestern North Carolina | 1| | | | |
|Eastern Tennessee | 3| 2| 3| 1| |
|Butler county, Ohio | | | | 1| |
|Northwestern Georgia | | | 1| 1| |
|Hopkins county, Kentucky | | | | | 1|
+------------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+
KEY:
A = Argillite.
B = Soft slate.
C = Clay slate.
D = Mica-schist.
E = Quartzite.
[Illustration: FIG. 83.--Pestle, long cylindrical form.]
[Illustration: FIG. 84.--Pestle, conical.]
_C._ Conical, or truncated cone, bottom flat, convex or curved from
one side to the opposite. Some are quite smooth on the bottom as if
from rubbing either back and forth or with a rotary motion; while many
have the bottom pecked rough, showing use as hammers or pounders. For
those with curved bottoms a rocking motion seems best adapted; with
the palm resting on the longer side, good work could be done in any of
these ways. Typical specimens are shown in figures 84, of quartzite,
from Monroe county, Tennessee; 85, of granite, from Warren county,
Ohio; and 86, of quartzite, from Saline county, Arkansas. A somewhat
aberrant specimen, shown in figure 87, of granite, from Carter county,
Tennessee, has an elliptical base, rounded top, and flat bottom; the
longer sides grooved for handle. A similar one, of quartzite, came
from Warren county, Ohio. There is considerable variety of material,
quartzite largely predominating. Although the geographic range is
wide, the distribution is rather sparse, and several districts are not
represented.
+---------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D | E | F | G |
+---------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|Southeastern Arkansas | 2| | | | | | |
|Central Arkansas | 1| | | | | | 1|
|Eastern Tennessee | 12| 1| | | 1| | |
|Miami valley, Ohio | 3| | 1| | 3| 2| |
|Montgomery county, North Carolina| | | 1| 1| | | |
|Kanawha valley, West Virginia | 2| | | | | | 1|
+---------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
KEY:
A = Quartzite.
B = Marble.
C = Sienite.
D = Hornblende.
E = Granite.
F = Diorite.
G = Sandstone.
[Illustration: FIG. 85.--Pestle.]
[Illustration: FIG. 86.--Pestle.]
[Illustration: FIG. 87.--Pestle, grooved for handle.]
[Illustration: FIG. 88.--Pestle.]
_D._ Conical, or truncated cone, with top more or less rounded, very
little worked, a stone of approximate form having been chosen and the
angles and corners pecked off; bottom flat, and in some quite smooth;
used as pestles or mullers. The group is represented by 17 specimens of
quartzite, all from southeastern Tennessee.
_E._ Not dressed at all on the sides, but with both ends worn to
a convex shape. Represented by two specimens of quartzite from
southeastern Tennessee.
_F._ Cylindrical, flat bottom, dome-shaped top, these portions having
been carefully pecked into shape. Some are smoothly polished on the
bottom, but none elsewhere. Those from Miami valley, and one from
Kanawha valley are much longer than the others. The type illustrated in
figure 88 is of quartzite, from McMinn county, Tennessee.
+-----------------------------+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D |
+-----------------------------+---+---+---+---+
|Eastern Tennessee | 5| 1| 1| |
|Kanawha valley, West Virginia| 1| | 3| |
|Miami valley, Ohio | | | 1| 1|
+-----------------------------+---+---+---+---+
KEY:
A = Quartzite.
B = Porphyry.
C = Sandstone.
D = Limestone.
PITTED STONES.
There is scarcely a locality in the country where pitted stones are not
found; they are indeed of such frequent occurrence that they are seldom
considered worth the trouble of gathering.
There can be no “type” among such crude implements; they are almost
invariably waterworn sandstone pebbles, with a pit varying from a
slight roughening of the surface to a hollow half an inch in depth
pecked in each face. They probably belong with hammerstones, as they
seldom show other marks of work, the edge in some being only slightly
marked in one or two places, while in others it is much worn.
Various numbers of the Journal of the Anthropological Society of Great
Britain and Ireland refer to pitted stones as found in every part
of the world. According to Evans, slight pits aid in holding stone
hammers; they also prevent the jar to a large extent. If used to pound
meat or break bones, it would be hard to hold them when greasy without
pits.[28] Such implements may have had handles of wood with projections
to fit the pits,[29] though this is not probable; but if so a piece of
buckskin on the handle opposite the pits would do better and be more
convenient to apply.
CUPPED STONES.
Conjecture and theory have had full sway in regard to the uses of
cupped stones; but the question is apparently far from solution. There
is a prevalent idea that they were used for cracking nuts; but why
should an Indian make a large number of holes in a great many stones
for such purpose? It is true there would be an advantage in having the
nut stand on one end; but very few stones have depressions that will
allow this.
Of the southern Indians Adair observes:
They gather a number of hiccory-nuts, which they pound with a
round stone, upon a stone, thick and hollowed for the purpose.
When they are beat fine enough, they mix them with cold water,
in a clay basin, where the shells subside. The other part is
an oily, tough, thick, white substance ... with which they eat
their bread.[30]
Lawson’s language regarding the Indians of North Carolina is even more
definite. He says:
[They gather] likewise hickerie nuts, which they beat betwixt
two great stones, then sift them, so thicken their venison
broth therewith, the small shells precipitating to the bottom
of the pot, whilst the kernel, in the form of flour, mixes it
with the liquor, both these nuts [hickory and chinquapin] made
into meal makes a curious soup, either with clear water, or in
any meat broth.[31]
Neither of these statements seems to have any reference to cupped
stones. The first is a good description of a mortar with a round
pestle, while the second says nothing about any particular form of
stone; yet they have been referred to time and again as proof of the
nut-stone theory. There would be some difficulty in pounding nuts fine
in small holes half an inch or more below where the pounding stone
could reach.
C. C. Jones[32] was satisfied that cupped stones were used for cracking
nuts because great numbers of nut-bearing trees grow where they are
found; while Whittlesey, noting the fact that hundreds of them are
found throughout northern Ohio, considered them as sockets in which
the end of a spindle rested. Dawson[33] speaks of “stones having deep
hollows in the sides which were mortars for grinding pigments, or
sockets for fire drills.”
The cupped stones in the Bureau collection are almost invariably of
reddish sandstone, of varying texture, from a few ounces to 30 pounds
in weight. The holes are from one to twenty-five in number, of various
sizes even in the same stone, and follow the natural contour of the
surface even when that is quite irregular; the stone is never dressed
or flattened to bring the cups on a level; none show any marks of work,
but are the rough blocks or slabs in their natural state.
Many of the holes are roughly pecked in, but the larger ones
are usually quite smooth, as if ground out, and almost complete
hemispheres. They range from a pit only started or going scarcely
beyond the surface to one 2 inches in diameter. The smaller ones with
one cup pass into the pitted stones. Occasionally at the bottom of a
large cup there is a small secondary hole as though made by a flint
drill.
The polished cups may have been used for fire-drill or spindle sockets,
though why there should be a number of holes when but one could be used
at a time awaits explanation. The rough ones may have been for holding
nuts, and so long as they were on the same plane any number could be
utilized; but when they are on different parts of the stone, even on
opposite sides, as many of them are, the question remains open. Slabs
or thin pieces nearly always have cups on both sides, while blocks or
thick slabs have them on one side only. On the former a number of
nuts could be cracked with one blow of a flat stone and thrown into
a receptacle of some kind, either side of the stone being used at
pleasure; but there would be no economy of time or work in this method,
and it would be very strange that any one should not learn with so
much experience that a nut should never be laid on the flat side in
cracking. No theory yet advanced accounts for the greater number of
such relics, namely, the irregular fragments of stone with cups at
varying intervals and different levels.
No division can be made in regard either to size or material of the
stone, or to form or finish of the cups. Many of the smaller ones were
no doubt paint mortars. One well finished specimen of this class is
shown in figure 89; it is of quartzite from 4 feet beneath the surface
in Crittenden county, Arkansas.
[Illustration: FIG. 89.--Cupped stone or paint cup.]
Cupped stones are found wherever representatives of the Bureau have
worked, and numerous references might be given concerning their
existence in other localities.
MULLERS.
The objects known as mullers are generally flat and smooth on one side
and convex on the other, sometimes with a pit in one side or both,
mostly of granite, quartzite, or sandstone; rarely of other materials.
A fine specimen of white quartz from Elmore county, Alabama, has the
bottom flat and highly polished, the edge perpendicular to bottom and
rounding off into the slightly convex top, with a pit at center. Figure
90 represents a muller of marble or crystalline limestone from a grave
in Randolph county, Illinois. It has a smooth, flat bottom, with convex
top somewhat smaller than the base; around the circumference there is
a depression polished by wear. A similar specimen, of diorite, from
Carter county, Tennessee, seems to be the lower part of a pestle with
expanding base, whose top or handle has been lost, the part remaining
having a place for a handle pecked around it.
[Illustration: FIG. 90.--Muller, showing polished surface.]
The discoidal stones with this shape were probably used as mullers;
they were also used as pestles in the hollow mortars, as the edge
is often chipped or pecked, which would account for the pits on the
faces. Figure 91 represents a muller of granite from Savannah, Georgia.
Sometimes the base has an elliptical instead of a circular outline, as
seen in other specimens from Savannah.
Mullers are found wherever there are indications of occupancy for any
considerable length of time.
GRINDING AND POLISHING STONES.
Stones evidently used for grinding and polishing need only to be
mentioned, as they are of widespread occurrence. Implements used for
the former purpose are made of any siliceous stone of convenient
size and suitable texture, from a coarse quartzite to a very fine
close-grained sandstone, according to the class of work to be done. The
markings on them range from the narrow, sharp, incised lines due to
shaping a small ornament, to the broad grooves resulting from grinding
an ax or celt into form. Nearly all of those in museums are small
specimens used for rubbing; but there are many large blocks in various
localities, sometimes several feet square, marked and scored in every
direction by grinding or sharpening the large implements on them.
Among the polishers may be included a number of small pebbles of very
hard siliceous stone, generally some form of quartz, which by the high
polish show long use. The larger ones may have been used for rubbing
skins in tanning, as they can easily be grasped in the hand. Very
few have changed from their primitive form to a greater degree than
would naturally result from the wear upon them. A few very small ones,
long-ovoid in shape, usually not over 2½ or 3 inches in length, were
probably paint mullers, as they are well fitted for use in small paint
cups. Many of the discoidal stones--which will be spoken of under
the proper head--may have had these functions. The highly polished
specimens are all from the southern states. There is one rubbing stone
of pumice from Craighead county, Arkansas.
[Illustration: FIG. 91.--Muller, showing polished surface.]
HAMMERSTONES.
Hammers or hammerstones show every stage of work, from the ordinary
pebble or fragment, with its surface scarcely altered, to the highly
polished round or ovoid “ball.” They are usually of the hardest
available material, and seem to be of more frequent occurrence in
the northern districts than in the southern states, though found
everywhere. Used in their earlier stages merely as tools with which to
fashion other implements, they were assigned to specified purposes when
brought to a better finish or form. A typical example, shown in figure
92, is of granite, from Ross county, Ohio.
The Sioux used an oval stone, with a piece of rawhide covering all but
the point and attaching it to a withe handle,[34] while the Shoshoni
and Ojibwa made use of a round stone, wrapped in leather, attached by
a string of 2 inches to a handle 22 inches long covered with leather;
this was called a poggamoggan.[35] Rounded stones are said to have
been used by the California Indians as bolas,[36] though it is more
probable that they were slung-shots. The ancient Californians worked
out a round stone for an acorn-sheller; the present Indians use any
smooth stone.[37] Elaborately carved round stones, mounted in handles
as clubs, are known to have been used by the Queen Charlotte Island
Indians for killing fish,[38] and other northwestern Indians have been
observed to use a round stone inclosed in a net and attached to a line
as a sinker.[39]
[Illustration: FIG. 92.--Hammerstone.]
It is not necessary to quote references to the well-known fact that the
Eskimo and the Patagonians made use of round stones of various sizes as
bolas. There is no evidence that our Indians ever used anything of the
sort.
GROOVED STONES OTHER THAN AXES.
Three subclasses of grooved stones, differing in essential features
from axes, may be discriminated. They are as follows:
[Illustration: FIG. 93.--Grooved round stone.]
_A._ Slightly or not at all worked, except the groove; often showing
marks of violent usage. With these may be classed the large stone
hammers of the Lake Superior region.
_B._ Round or ellipsoid stones; in the latter the groove may follow
either axis. The type (figure 93) is of sandstone from Carter county,
Tennessee.
_C._ Resembling axes in all but the edge. Of class _A_ there are none
in the collection; their form and size are such that they could have
been for no other purpose than hammerstones. Of class _B_ there are
some from Savannah, which may be sinkers or club heads. According to
Morgan, oval stones with grooves were secured in the heads of war
clubs,[40] and Carver observed that the southwestern Indians used as
a slung-shot a curiously worked stone, with a string a yard and a
half long tied to it, the other end being tied to the arm above the
elbow.[41]
The specimens of class _C_ may be broken axes. Figure 94 (granite,
from Butler county, Ohio) shows a form quite common throughout central
and western Ohio. They are generally small, have evidently never been
sharp, and were in all probability intended for hammers from the
beginning.
MORTARS.
The Indian mortars in the collection are nearly always of sandstone of
varying degrees of fineness. As is the case with cupped stones, when
made of slabs, both sides have been worked; when of rough blocks, only
one.
The Senecas and Cayugas are said by Morgan to have used wooden mortars
in which to pound corn after it was hulled,[42] and it is possible that
the long pestles of soft stone were used with wooden mortars, though
some are not well adapted to this use. The Iroquois women pounded in
stone mortars the stony material used in tempering the clay for their
pottery.[43] The California Indians made mortars by knocking a segment
off a bowlder, making a flat surface, and working out with a hammer
and chisel,[44] while the tribes of the interior worked directly from
the surface of a suitable rock. The Yokuts, according to Powers, use
tolerably well made stone mortars, and sometimes place a basket-like
arrangement around the top to prevent the acorns from flying out.[45]