Cooking Stones/Fire Rock

[old digger]

Out here in the northern plains a sure sign of a prehistoric camp site is ''Fire rock''. The rocks are always river cobbles that are orange to red in color, and are usually scattered in a small area. You can find these ''fire rock'' sometimes miles from the nearest river source where they were collected.

My understanding is that these rocks were heated up first in the fire and then were put with the food that was to be eaten. Literally the opposite the way we normally cook these days. In other words you would put the fire on your food.

Other sites, these ''fire rock'' were used in a sweat-lodge ceremony.

At this time I only have one example of one of these rocks, but you can see that these rocks were heated quite hot and are still red.

 

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[old digger]

Hey Dennis tried to send you a PM, but your box is full.

Gotcha!

 

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[old digger]

We find plenty of fire broken rock here in Manitoba as well. Mostly in the form of granite. It usually has a red colour and "crumbly" texture to it and is concentrated in the same area on sites along with lithic debitage. From what I've read, early people would dig a small pit lined with hides and fill it with water. Then they would put the red hot stones in the pit along with bones and they would extract the grease from them. One of the names given to the Assiniboine was the "Stoney Sioux" because of this technique. The older cultures such as the oxbow complex practiced it as well

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Yes, I heard about that too, wouldn't it be awesome to still find some old leather still intact in these drier areas that we live in.

 

[quito]

They knew what was good for them! Raw liver has more essential nutrients than most things you can think of. And speaking as one who just had a little dental work done- it's far easier to chew and consume as a raw product than any other part of the animal, unless you go for the brains (and those you save for tanning). Liver first- or a tie with heart (which was more symbolic, I think). Yakker

I agree they knew what they needed. But the nutrient rich livers (filters) back then weren't being loaded up with the pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and herbicides like today's animal livers are. They may be loaded with nutrients, but they can also be loaded with nasties now days.

 

[unclemac]

liver is my kryptonite....can't stand being in the same room if it is even being cooked!

 

[quito]

liver is my kryptonite....can't stand being in the same room if it is even being cooked!

Hmm.... How do you feel about mountain oysters? LOL!!

 

[outdoorfunblonde]

I never knew anything about these occasional red/ orange-ish rocks I see.
Hmmm, fire rocks, ehh? next time I see them, I will take a closer look at the surroundings.
I usually find them in a river bed, but not all the time.
This is an interesting post.
Im glad I looked at it, because now I can learn more about what I'm actually looking at.
Thanks, old digger!

 

[outdoorfunblonde]

liver is my kryptonite....can't stand being in the same room if it is even being cooked!

Yes, it stinks!!
I buy calf livers for the dogs, and cook it, and yes... GROSS!

 

[old digger]

Hmm.... How do you feel about mountain oysters? LOL!!

I don't mind cooked liver, but I still haven't gained the fortitude to try mountain oysters. Your a brave soul Quito!

 

[old digger]

I usually find them in a river bed, but not all the time.
This is an interesting post.
Im glad I looked at it, because now I can learn more about what I'm actually looking at.
Thanks, old digger!

Finding fire rock in the river bed is odd unless the river has changed course and revealed where the camp would have been. I would suggest looking down stream from where the fire rock are found for artifacts.

 

[unclemac]

Hmm.... How do you feel about mountain oysters? LOL!!

i admit they are not a passion of mine, sweetbreads are fair decent however, but you can keep head cheese and pan fried brains.

 

[Charl]

Hmm. Don't know why, but I guess I brought one home once....

 

[unclemac]

use some common sense too....i see those baked stones on the beach all the time, they are just remnants of past beach fires and very common.

 

[old digger]

Hmm. Don't know why, but I guess I brought one home once....

That's a pretty nice one. A lot of ones that I have found are broken in half.

 

[rock]

They used Quartzite for many things. I find tools made from them as nutting stones and Hammer stones. Don't know why they liked them but they did.

 

[Lone Star]

Here on the upper Texas coast we have no hard rock that could have been used to heat and thro in the bowl, pot, or basket.
Thru the years I've found rough clay balls, some with finger indentions, that they used to heat such food stuffs.

I was oblivious to what they were, as I'd find them all the time when I dug a camp area. I had occasion to discuss this with Lee Paterson when the HAS did some digging on a site I frequent. He told me that what wasn't eaten raw was put in a pot with these hot clay balls. They didn't last as long as hard rock did, but they apparently worked too. Lone Star

 

[Charl]

That's a pretty nice one. A lot of ones that I have found are broken in half.

Thanks, came from my "field of dreams". There are several areas where the ancient hearths have been plowed up. Yeah, most are exploded from the heat, I think. This is a nice one because of the color and mostly intact....

 

[Charl]

use some common sense too....i see those baked stones on the beach all the time, they are just remnants of past beach fires and very common.

That's for sure. I was relaxing on a beach with my wife once when she found an ancient hearth exposed on the mudflats. Not perfect of course, but you could tell what it was, and see the rocks had been burnt. On the interior she recovered the remains of a soapstone bowl, also burned by the fire. Meanwhile, dozens of people clamming all around us, oblivious to this ancient campfire right amidst them. Yeah, helps to know the context of what you're seeing. The one I collected came from an ancient hearth in a corn field.....

 

[unclemac]

i can't tell you how many times I have picked up significant finds in full view of a half dozen houses...one of my favorite places is just like that.

 

[Charl]

use some common sense too....i see those baked stones on the beach all the time, they are just remnants of past beach fires and very common.

Here's the bowl,that my wife found in the midst of burnt hearth stones lying exposed on the beach. In this case the beach fire was thousands of years ago, and coastal changes being what they are, those mud flats are under a couple feet of sand these days. Should have thought to collect a rock from the hearth where this bowl was last used, now that I think of it....

 

[unclemac]

yep...check out this privy...