No two specimens of the mortars and metate-like stones in the Bureau
collection are alike; the nearest approach that can be made to a
classification is as follows:
_A._ Smooth and flat on one or both sides; for use with mullers; from
McMinn county, Tennessee, and Allamakee county, Iowa.
_B._ With round cavities on one or both sides; for round or cylindrical
pestles; from McMinn county, Tennessee. A cobblestone from Bradley
county, Tennessee, has a shallow cavity in either side and a pit in the
center of each. From Kanawha valley there is a slab weighing about 25
pounds, flat and smooth on one side, as though primarily used with a
muller and the regular even cavity afterward made; on the other side a
cavity and a cupped hole have been worked in from the natural surface.
A slab from Warren county, Ohio, has a shallow cavity worked into one
side and a cupped hole in the other. From Union county, Mississippi,
there is a flattened bowlder with a shallow cavity on each side; a
shallow cup has been pecked on the edge of one of them. From Caldwell
county, North Carolina, comes a bowlder of water-worn mica-schist,
with a shallow cavity and a deeper one on one side, and on the other a
cupped hole opposite each of these cavities.
_C._ With one side hollowed out, the other flat and smooth. Specimens
of this type come from Caldwell county, North Carolina; McMinn county,
Tennessee, and Bradley county, Tennessee, the last with a pit in the
center and another on the edge of the flat side.
_D._ With a long, narrow depression on each side. A very large specimen
of fine-grained sandstone from Lincoln county, Arkansas, represents
this type.
There are, in addition, two pieces of fine-grained sandstone with
uniform thickness of less than an inch and about 10 inches across, from
Kanawha valley, West Virginia, and Hale county, Alabama, respectively.
Both sides are ground perfectly smooth, and flat. The objects were
probably for some culinary purpose.
SINKERS.
The sinkers in the collection may be divided into four classes, viz:
_A_, entirely unworked; _B_, notched on the sides; _C_, encircled by
a groove; and _D_, perforated. Conversely, stones under all these
different heads may have served other and widely different purposes.
Of the functions of class _A_, only those who have seen them in use
can speak. Stevens mentions that some tribes inclose a round stone in
a sort of net and attach it to a line in fishing;[46] and no other use
can be imagined for some of the specimens in the Bureau collection.
Specimens of class _B_ are found along water courses in such situations
as to leave no doubt of their use as sinkers;[47] they were attached to
grapevines and dragged on the bottom of streams to frighten fish into
nets or traps.[48] Those in the collection are made of ordinary flat
water-worn pebbles, with notches rudely chipped in the sides; a number
are from southeastern Tennessee.
Of class _C_, while many were perhaps sinkers, more were club heads
and slungshots or hammers. A number have been obtained from Savannah,
Georgia, more or less worked, some being rounded, with grooves of
varying depths and sizes. Small stones of this form are used by
Greenland fishermen as sinkers;[49] and according to Thatcher, a large
stone is by the Indians made fast to a sinking line at each end of a
net, and the net is spread in the water by sinkers at different parts
of it.[50]
Class _D_ will be referred to under the head “Perforated stones,” from
which they can be discriminated only arbitrarily.
A number of roughly chipped, somewhat crescent-shaped specimens of
argillite, from half a pound to 2 pounds in weight, collected in
Montgomery county, North Carolina, may have been used as sinkers.
PERFORATED STONES.
Only the larger or rougher perforated stones used as implements are
included in this class.
Several perforated pieces of steatite, some mere rough fragments,
others with the edges smooth and dressed to a somewhat symmetrical
outline, have been collected about Savannah, Georgia. Some of these
have been drilled, others gouged through apparently with a slender
flint. In the latter group the little projections left by the tool have
been worn smooth. The hole may be near one end or about the center.
Similar pieces have been found in Forsyth county, Georgia; one of
these is worked to an irregular pentagon and smoothly finished. From
Haywood county, North Carolina, there are some very rough fragments,
apparently just as they were picked up, except for the perforation; and
a number of pieces of perforated pottery are from Montgomery county,
North Carolina.
Perforated stones were used by the southern Indians to drag along the
bottoms of streams and frighten fish into their nets and traps.[51]
Four disks 4 to 5½ inches in diameter, with handles from 13 to 17
inches long, were found in a cave at Los Angeles, California,[52] and
objects of this character were, according to Schumacher, used by the
Santa Barbara Indians as weights for wooden spades.[53] According to
Abbott many perforated stones are found close to rivers and on shores
in such positions as to leave no doubt of their use as sinkers.[54]
Similar stones were used as sinkers by the Scandinavians in
comparatively recent times; by the Bechuanas for grinding grasshoppers,
spiders, etc., and also as weights for digging-sticks; by some savages
in the Pacific islands as clubs; by the Icelanders for breaking up
salted fish.[55] They were used by the Iroquois as weights for fire
drills;[56] by the Eskimo as clubs, having a rawhide handle secured
by a knot.[57] According to Dale,[58] Layard,[59] Griesbach,[60] and
Gooch,[61] they were used by natives of southern Africa as root-diggers
(to remove earth from the roots), as weapons, and to give weight to
digging-sticks. They were also used by the Peruvian Indians to be
thrown with a stick. Disk-shaped and cylindrical throwing stones,
perforated for the stick, are found among the Swiss lake dwellings.[62]
According to Evans[63] they were used mostly as hammers or clubs. They
are hard and battered on the edges; sinkers would be of softer stone.
The most complete article that has yet been given concerning the forms
and uses of perforated stones is that by H. W. Henshaw.[64]
DISCOIDAL STONES.
There are numerous references to discoidal stones by various writers,
but a majority of the objects do not fall under any explanation that
has so far been given.
The Choctaw Indians used disks two fingers wide and two spans around
in playing “chungke,”[65] and the Indians of North Carolina were
much addicted to a sport called “chenco,” played with a staff and a
bowl made with stone.[66] The same kind of game was, or still is,
played with hoops or rings of wood or rawhide by the Iroquois,[67]
the Pawnee,[68] the Apache,[69] the Navajo,[70] the Mohave,[71] and
the Omaha;[72] also, with rings of stone, by the Arikara,[73] the
Mandan,[74] and other tribes.
The game of chungke, however, will account for only a small part of
the great number of stones of this form. The Indians of southern
California, in manufacturing pottery, make the clay compact and smooth
by holding a rounded and smooth stone against the inside.[75] The
Fijians, in making pottery, use a small, round flat stone to shape the
inside,[76] while the Indians of Guiana use ancient axes or smooth
stones for polishing the clay in making their vessels.[77] According to
Evans,[78] pitted disks were used as pestles, hammers, or mullers; a
thick one with pitted ends was found in a mortar at Holyhead.[79] Under
the head of pestles and of perforated stones further references will be
found that may apply as well to this form of implements.
No kind of relic is more difficult to classify. From the smooth,
symmetrical, highly-polished chungke stone they gradually merge into
mullers, pestles, pitted stones, polishers, hammers,[80] ornaments,
and the ordinary sinker or club-head, so that no dividing line is
possible. Theories constructed on a basis of their use may be far from
correct.
They present various forms and degrees of finish; many have the
natural surface on both sides with the edge worked off by grinding or
pecking, the latter being produced probably by use as a hammer; the
sides may be ground down while the edge remains untouched; or the sides
may be pecked and the edge ground, being probably of a thick pebble
originally. Some of the finer grades, as chalcedony and quartz, that
have received the highest finish, appear to have had all the work done
by grinding or rubbing, as even those only slightly worked bear no
signs of hammering or pecking. When of the harder materials they are
generally made of water-worn pebbles as nearly the desired form as can
be found; in fact, some specimens which are in their natural state,
entirely unworked, require a very close examination to distinguish them
from others whose whole surface has been artificially produced. In the
jasper conglomerates from Arkansas, however, there is a regular series
from a roughly chipped disk to one of the highest polish and symmetry.
The larger ones of quartz, particularly those with concavities in the
sides, must have been patiently wrought for years before brought to
their present state. Many of the smaller ones, especially sandstone,
seem to have been designed for grinding or polishing.
[Illustration: FIG. 95.--Discoidal stone.]
The following groups are represented in the collection:
_A._ Sides hollowed out, edge convex; 2 to 6 inches diameter,
seven-eighths to 2¾ thick.
1. Edges of concavity sharp.
_a._ Cavity a regular curve from side to side. The type (figure 95) is
of quartz, from Cherokee county, Georgia. There are also, from Kanawha
valley, West Virginia, one of sandstone, of which one side has been
worked out by a flint, the little pits being distinctly visible, while
the other side has natural surface; from Loudon county, Tennessee, one
of quartzite, 6 inches diameter, which has been used as a mortar, the
cavities being roughened, with their edges broken and scarred (the
edge of the stone is battered entirely around midway between the sides
as though used for a hammer); from McMinn county, Tennessee, one of
quartzite, about the same size as last, with a slight pit in the center
of each cavity, the edges of the concavity being considerably chipped,
and the edge of the implement very smooth; from Polk county, Tennessee,
one of quartzite, 3½ inches in diameter, with the edge polished except
in one spot, where it shows marks of use as a hammer or pestle--it
has been used also as a mortar, the edges of the concavity being much
chipped and broken; one each from Craighead county, Arkansas, of
novaculite; Randolph county, Illinois, of granite; Cherokee county,
Georgia, of quartz; and Obion county, Tennessee, of sandstone. In the
four last mentioned the entire surface is quite smooth or even highly
polished.
[Illustration: FIG. 96.--Discoidal stone, with perforation.]
_b._ With a small perforation at the center. The type is shown in
figures 96 (of sandstone, from a grave in Union county, Illinois),
and 97 (of granite, from Virginia). There is another specimen, of
sandstone, from Red River county, Texas.
[Illustration: FIG. 97.--Discoidal stone, with perforation.]
_c._ With a secondary depression in each cavity. Figure 98 (yellow
quartz, highly polished, from Fulton county, Georgia) is typical. There
is also one of quartzite, with a secondary depression in one side only,
from Roane county, Tennessee, which may be supposed, from this and
other imperfections, to be unfinished.
2. Edges of concavity rubbed off blunt. These are grouped simply
by form, as the specimens from Kanawha valley, West Virginia, and
northeastern Kentucky are nearly all roughly finished, quite different
from the smooth or polished ones from farther south. Some are worked
out into the form of a ring, and there is every stage between that
form and the flat disk whose sides show no trace of pecking. Figure
99 (quartzite, from Sevier county, Tennessee) illustrates a typical
example, roughly worked but entirely perforated, and figure 97 shows
the same type in another form.
[Illustration: FIG. 98.--Discoidal stone, with secondary depression.]
[Illustration: FIG. 99.--Discoidal stone, in form of a ring.]
+-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D | E | F |
+-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|Caldwell county, North Carolina| 1| | | | | |
|Crittenden county, Arkansas | | 1| | | | |
|Drew county, Arkansas | | | | 1| | |
|Randolph county, Illinois | | | 1| 2| | |
|Eastern Tennessee | 1| | | 1| | |
|Bartow county, Georgia | | | | 1| | |
|Kanawha valley, West Virginia | | | | 1| 1| 1|
|Northeastern Kentucky | | | | | 22| |
+-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+
KEY:
A = Quartz.
B = Novaculite.
C = Flint.
D = Quartzite.
E = Sandstone.
F = Granite.
_B._ Flat or slightly concave sides, edges straight and at right angles
to the sides; diameter, 1⅝ to 5 inches. The type shown in figure 100 is
of sandstone from Lauderdale county, Alabama.
[Illustration: FIG. 100.--Discoidal stone.]
+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D | E |
+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+
|Lauderdale county, Alabama | 1| | | | |
|Mississippi county, Arkansas | | 1| 1| 1| |
|McMinn county, Tennessee | 1| | | | 4|
|Kanawha valley, West Virginia | 1| | | | |
+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+
KEY:
A = Sandstone.
B = Quartzite.
C = Very fine schist.
D = Yellow jasper.
E = Argillite.
[Illustration: FIG. 101.--Discoidal stone.]
_C._ Sides flat; edges straight, sometimes rounding off into the sides;
diameter, 2¼ to 6 inches; thickness, three-quarters to 2¼ inches.
A number from southeastern Tennessee, especially the smaller ones,
are quite rough, being merely pecked or chipped into shape with no
subsequent rubbing. Figure 101 (chalcedony, from a mound in Monroe
county, Tennessee) represents the type. The material is variable.
+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |
+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|Southeastern Tennessee | | 5| 5| 1| 3| 1| | | 9|
|Western Tennessee | | 1| | | 1| | | | |
|Savannah, Georgia | 1| | | | | | 7| | 1|
|Mississippi county, Arkansas | | | | | | | | 1| |
+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
KEY:
A = Quartz.
B = Sandstone.
C = Argillite.
D = Chalcedony.
E = Limestone.
F = Marble.
G = Granite.
H = Jasper conglomerate.
I = Quartzite.
_D._ Like the last, except much smaller. Very few are polished over
the entire surface; some are rubbed more or less on the edges or
sides, but a majority have the edge rough as it was chipped or pecked
out; many have either the edge or sides in the natural state. From
those smoothly polished to those very rudely worked the gradation is
such that no dividing line can be drawn. This is true, also, of the
smaller specimens of other types. Some of the quartzite specimens are
very loose in texture. From seven-eighths to 2 inches in diameter and
one-fourth to three-fourths of an inch thick.
+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J |
+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|Eastern Tennessee | 1| 54| 64| | | 32| 1| 12| 4| |
|Bartow county, Georgia | | 1| | 1| 1| 4| | | | |
|Savannah, Georgia | | | 2| | | | | | | |
|Kanawha valley, West Virginia | | 7| | | | 20| | | | 1|
|Northeastern Kentucky | | 14| | | | | | 5| | |
+------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
KEY:
A = Marble.
B = Sandstone.
C = Argillite.
D = Granite.
E = Red jasper.
F = Quartzite.
G = Micaceous sandstone.
H = Limestone.
I = Quartz.
J = Cannel coal.
[Illustration: FIG. 102.--Discoidal stone, convex.]
_E._ Convex on both sides, edges straight. One of white quartz from
Caldwell county, North Carolina, has the sides much curved, making the
stone very thick in proportion to its width; there is a deep pit on
each side, the entire surface being highly polished. Diameter, 2 to 3½
inches; thickness, three-fourths to an inch and a half. Illustrated
by figure 102 (of porphyry, from a grave in Caldwell county, North
Carolina).
+------------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
| District. | A| B| C| D| E| F| G| H| I| J| K| L| M| N| O| P| Q| R| S|
+------------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
|Eastern Arkansas | 3| 1| 1| 1| 4| 7| | 1| | | | 7| 1| | | 1| | | |
|Eastern Tennessee | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| (many of these | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| rough and | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| entirely | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| without | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| polish) | | | 1| | |88|29| | 1| 1|31|27| 8| 1| 1| 2| | | |
|Kanawha valley, | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| West Virginia | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| (rough) | | | | | | 1| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|Savannah, Georgia | | | | | | 1| 3| | | | | | | | | | | | |
|Union county, | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Mississippi | | | | | | | | | | | | 1| | | | | | | |
|Caldwell county, | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| North Carolina | | | | | | 1|10| | | | | 4| | | 1| 2| 1| 2| 1|
+------------------+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
KEY:
A = Yellow jasper.
B = Iron ore.
C = Mica schist.
D = Novaculite.
E = Jasper conglomerate.
F = Quartzite.
G = Quartz.
H = Hornblende.
I = Marble.
J = Clayey limestone.
K = Argillite.
L = Sandstone.
M = Limestone.
N = Sienite.
O = Granite.
P = Chalcedony.
Q = Steatite.
R = Black flint.
S = Porphyry.
_F._ Same form as the above; 1¼ to 2 inches in diameter, one-half to
seven-eighths of an inch thick.
+-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J |
+-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|Elmore county, Alabama | | | | 2| 1| | | 1| | 1|
|Western North Carolina | | | | 1| | | 2| | | |
|Eastern Tennessee | | | | 2| | 1| 9| | 1| |
|Bartow county, Georgia | 1| 1| 1| 2| | | | | | |
|Savannah, Georgia | | | | 3| | | | | | |
|Kanawha valley, West Virginia | | | | | | | 4| | | |
|Drew county, Arkansas | | | | 1| | | | | | |
+-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
KEY:
A = Jasper.
B = Mica schist.
C = Micaceous sandstone.
D = Quartzite.
E = Quartz.
F = Marble.
G = Argillite.
H = Sandstone.
I = Limestone.
J = Steatite.
[Illustration: FIG. 103.--Discoidal stone.]
_G._ Flat or slightly convex on one or both sides, edge straight, one
side wider than the other. Some have the edge battered or chipped and
it is always at the angle of the edge with the wider side. From 1⅝ to
3½ inches in diameter, and three-fourths to an inch and a half thick.
The specimen shown in figure 103 (of compact quartzite, from Bartow
county, Georgia) is typical. The material is quite diverse.
+-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K |
+-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|Eastern Tennessee | 2| 1| 2| | | 2| | 1| | | |
|Savannah, Georgia | | | 1| 3| | | | | | | |
|Bartow county, Georgia | | | | | | | 1| 1| | | |
|Kanawha valley, West Virginia | 2| | | | 1| | | | | | |
|Caldwell county, North Carolina| | | | | 3| | | | 1| 1| 2|
|Mississippi county, Arkansas | | | | | | | | | | | 1|
+-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
KEY:
A = Sandstone.
B = Marble.
C = Quartzite.
D = Quartz hornblende.
E = Granite.
F = Quartz.
G = Compact quartzite.
H = Sienite.
I = Chalcedony.
J = Schist.
K = Flint.
There are also of this type, one of very hard black stone (not
identified) from Red River county, Texas, three-fourths of an inch
in diameter; one of barite from Bartow county, Georgia, one inch in
diameter, three-fourths inch thick; and one of granite, from Chester
county, South Carolina, an inch in diameter. There are also one of
quartzite from Drew county, Arkansas, with a shallow pit on each side;
one of the same material from southeastern Tennessee, with a deep pit
gouged in smaller side; and from the same locality, three of quartzite,
one of quartz, and one of sandstone, each with a deep pit in the larger
side. All of these are small and none of them polished.
[Illustration: FIG. 104.--Discoidal stone.]
_H._ Convex sides and curved edges; size as in group _G_. The type
(figure 104) is of quartz, from Caldwell county, North Carolina.
+--------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D | E | F |
+--------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|Catahoula parish, Louisiana | | | | | | 1|
|Eastern Tennessee | | 1| 2| 3| | |
|Caldwell county, North Carolina | | 2| | | 1| |
|Northeastern Arkansas | 1| | 1| | | |
+--------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+
KEY:
A = Jasper conglomerate.
B = Quartz.
C = Limestone.
D = Quartzite.
E = Sandstone.
F = Conglomerate.
_I._ Same form, rough and not polished; 1 to 2¾ inches in diameter,
one-half to 1 inch thick.
+-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D | E | F |
+-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|Eastern Tennessee | 50| | | 3| 11| 10|
|Northeastern Arkansas | 1| | 3| | | 3|
|Caldwell county, North Carolina| | | | | | 1|
|Kanawha valley, West Virginia | 36| 1| | | | |
+-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+
KEY:
A = Quartzite.
B = Flint.
C = Yellow jasper.
D = Argillite.
E = Quartz.
F = Sandstone.
_J._ Sides slightly convex, edge slightly curved; 2¼ to 3½ inches in
diameter, three-quarters to an inch and a half thick.
+-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H |
+-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|Kanawha valley, West | 1| | | | | | | |
| Virginia (evidently | | | | | | | | |
| used for a hammerstone) | | | | | | | | |
|Eastern Tennessee | 2| 3| 4| 1| 2| 1| | |
|Lauderdale county, Tennessee | | | 1| | | | | |
|Caldwell county, North Carolina| | 2| | | | | 1| |
|Fulton county, Georgia | | | | | | | | 1|
+-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
KEY:
A = Sandstone.
B = Quartz.
C = Quartzite.
D = Chalcedony.
E = Argillite.
F = Clayey limestone.
G = Steatite.
H = Sienite.
_K._ Sides flat; edges convex; roughly finished, no polish; 1⅛ to 2¼
inches in diameter, three-eighths to three-fourths of an inch thick.
+-------------------------------+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C |
+-------------------------------+---+---+---+
|Kanawha valley, West Virginia | 1| | 1|
|Eastern Tennessee | 4| 1| 7|
+-------------------------------+---+---+---+
KEY:
A = Sandstone.
B = Quartz.
C = Quartzite.
_L._ Not polished; roughly chipped edges; 2 to 3½ inches in diameter.
+-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+
| District. | A | B | C | D |
+-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+
|Mississippi county, Arkansas | 1| 1| 1| 3|
|Bartow county, Georgia | | 1| | |
|Union county, Mississippi | 3| | | |
+-------------------------------+---+---+---+---+
KEY:
A = Sandstone.
B = Quartzite.
C = Chalcedony.
D = Yellow jasper.
_M._ Edges V-shape; 1¾ to 2½ inches diameter, 1 to 1½ inches thick. The
type (figure 105) is of granite, from Randolph county, Illinois, with
insunk pecked sides and polished edge. A specimen from Kanawha valley,
West Virginia, is of flint, with only the edge worked; apparently a
hammer. One from Craighead county, Arkansas, has flat sides and the
entire surface polished; another from McMinn county, Tennessee, is also
polished entire. A good specimen from Cocke county, Tennessee, is of
flint, one side rubbed flat, the other a rounded cone, highly polished.
[Illustration: FIG. 105.--Discoidal stone, with V-shaped edges.]