Hardstone plummets

mainejman · Jan 2, 2020

Here are a few different styles of plummets and a few odds and ends..mjm

Fred250 · Jan 3, 2020

I found this article from 1913 on the excavation of red paint cemetery’s, seems likely the piece I asked about in the other thread is a plummet.

The Grim Reaper · Jan 3, 2020

Nice examples. Your types seem to be bigger and made from a different material than what I find in my area. I find Hematite, Granite, Slate, and Sandstone here.

Sum585 · Jan 10, 2020

Im glad you posted these! Maybe you can help me with this piece I found a while ago in my garden where I’ve found a few artifacts and it is close to a creek. I held onto it because I thought *maybe* it was worked, but I’m still a novice at this so I’m unsure. It looks similar in shape to your plummets. I’m in York County SC..thank you for any info! SL

tomclark · Jan 10, 2020

Some are obviously utilitarian and some obviously are not. Some plummets has such a jack groove and so simple that they might have been covered with hide??

joshuaream · Jan 11, 2020

Nice examples MJM & Tom.

arrow86 · Jan 11, 2020

Summ58 said:
Im glad you posted these! Maybe you can help me with this piece I found a while ago in my garden where I’ve found a few artifacts and it is close to a creek. I held onto it because I thought *maybe* it was worked, but I’m still a novice at this so I’m unsure. It looks similar in shape to your plummets. I’m in York County SC..thank you for any info! SL View attachment 1788658 View attachment 1788662 View attachment 1788662

Look natural to me

Sum585 · Jan 12, 2020

Thank you arrow86. Will toss this one to the rock pile!

mainejman · Jan 12, 2020

I think that is natural...it wouldn't be their stone of choice to make one out of...my opinion...mjm

newnan man · Jan 12, 2020

Only plummet I've found. Made from a Welk shell.

Charl · Jan 12, 2020

We have found a few in RI and Ma. I call this one the Figure 8 plummet. No idea what that shape, created by an inclusion, meant to the maker, but he would have known that "figure" would end up on top of the knob, so I'm sure it was a deliberate choice on the maker's part....

Charl · Jan 12, 2020

Here is a much larger then average plummet, and plain gouge, both made from apparently the same material, and found in the same RI field....

newnan man · Jan 12, 2020

Is it known what purpose plummets were used for? I've heard fishing weights but that is ludicrous. They could tie any rock on a line or net, why go through hours of grinding to throw it in the water?

The Grim Reaper · Jan 13, 2020

A few Plummets from my area. Most are personal finds, however I did buy the ones in the 3rd picture from a local man who found them on his families farm in Greenup county Kentucky.

mainejman · Jan 13, 2020

Sure would be nice coming across a hieroglyphic scene depicting the use of plummets..Some are way to nice.But that goes hand in hand with most hardstone artifacts..mjm

OntarioArch · Jan 14, 2020

NYS Archeologist Wm. Ritchie postulates, "I believe (plummets) were employed as sinkers in hook-and-line or trot-line fishing, and in the first capacity they might have performed the additional service of sounding or feeling the bottom..."
His Plate 35 photographs in The Archeology of New York State show a plummet practically identical to mine, which is pictured here. Ritchie puts its age at 4000 years bp to 5000 years bp. Awesome.

My only comment is this: seems like a lot of work for a fishing weight...