Bell Pestle (corn grinder)

[RedCardHack]

I found this while they were digging the foundation for my house, a landscaper friend of mine said it was a corn grinder and has found many of them in the area. What do the experts think.
It measures 5" high and tapers to 4" wide at the bottom. The damage was how I found it and the area is mainly farmland. Thanks for helping, RCH.

 

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[RedCardHack]

Here are a couple more pictures.

 

[1320]

Agreed...pestle, used for nuts more so than corn. This tool would have been inserted into a mortar hole (hominy hole) that was bored into a much larger rock. The big end is the "handle" not the grinder. The business end of your pestle is broken, It's a nice one though broken or not!

 

[RedCardHack]

Thanks for the info, I would have thought the bigger end was the "business" end. The tapered side fits the contour of my hand perfectly. Interesting....RCH

 

[rock]

Nice pestle with a little damage.

 

[RedCardHack]

Here are two pictures of the end, some newer damage possible from a plow or excavator. Any Idea of the age or period? Thanks, RCH.

 

[monsterrack]

Very nice find and there must be more artifacts around, I would be looking.

 

[Tnmountains]

The big end was the grinding end. Yours is a very nice example of a bell pestle. Lot of work went into a tool like that. Nice looking artifact. Welcome to the forum.

 

[RedCardHack]

Thanks for the info and replies.

 

[GatorBoy]

The big end was the grinding end. Yours is a very nice example of a bell pestle. Lot of work went into a tool like that. Nice looking artifact. Welcome to the forum.

Ditto

 

[1320]

The big end was not used for grinding

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[GatorBoy]

All the use wear on every example I've ever seen is on the bottom and edges of the wide portion.
Some..very predominantly.
It makes no sence at all to put the section with the most mass in the air to be balanced on a smaller end then try to work with it.
Picture trying to do that.

 

[quito]

IMHO, it would take a very special hole for the piece shown to be used in the manner suggested. It is way to crooked to fit in a conical hole.

Does that make any sense?

 

[1320]

Have you ever studied any examples from Kentucky/Ohio? Did you browse the links I posted? The OP's pestle is not a bell pestle, it's a mortar pestle, very common in this part of the woods. Mortar pestles are not balanced, they form an interference fit with the hole in which they are used. That's why these pestles have a "handle" look to them on the big end...that portion of the pestle doesn't receive any friction wear plus it provides a grip area for the user to keep from crushing/abrading fingers. It is gripped on the big end and repeatedly forced up and down into the hole to crush mast. By studying bedrock mortar holes, common sense tells us what a mortar pestle should look like. It's not possible to use a traditional bell style pestle in a mortar hole.

A few archaeologists have suggested that the big end of mortar pestles may have been wrapped in rope, with a user on each end and twisted back and forth to provide a circular, drill like grinding motion.

I would agree that the big end of a bell pestle is the business end...this isn't a bell.

All the use wear on every example I've ever seen is on the bottom and edges of the wide portion.
Some..very predominantly.
It makes no sence at all to put the section with the most mass in the air to be balanced on a smaller end then try to work with it.
Picture trying to do that.

 

[1320]

IMHO, it would take a very special hole for the piece shown to be used in the manner suggested. It is way to crooked to fit in a conical hole.

Does that make any sense?

Only the first image makes the pestle seem a little whack. Look at the others, they show the pestle to be pretty symetrical. I have seen two bedrock mortar holes that were "drilled" into a step angle as well as a few that have heavier grinding on one side at the very top. I would guess that depending upon the material of the pestle and the material of the bedrock that we could see some eccentric shapes here and there.

 

[GatorBoy]

Thank you for taking the time to post this info.
I guess there are just some theories I don't buy into.
One thing is that it seems like a hole like that would be constantly getting filled with water..next..just how would they retrieve whatever was smashed into the bottom?
Take your photo for example .. why is there hardly any wear around the lower portion of the hole? It looks natural to me.
Also on the one posted..it sure looks to have use wear on the wide end.

 

[1320]

Close to 99% of the mortar holes in this area are inside rock shelters so water fill wasn't an issue. The "outdoor" holes that I've witnessed are made into sandstone and water will drain from them rather quickly. After grinding the mast, the user would simply pull with his hand whatever is in the bottom of the hole. The majority of these types aren't very deep as evidenced by the OP's pestle measuring only 5 inches tall. I'm simply guessing about lack of wear at the bottom of any given mortar hole but I would think that as the hole filled with mast/grain the pestle would lose contact at the bottom until the hole was emptied. I would also guess that any one mortar hole would have seen use by several different pestles of different shapes and sizes in a given season and over the course of many years.

The OP's pestle could have been used in the traditional bell manner as well as the bedrock manner, all he or she would have to do is flip it over...lol. Wouldn't surprise me given the many multi purpose tools that we see.

We may disagree on the use/purpose but I think we all agree that it's a pestle and a nice artifact to have in one's collection.

 

[GatorBoy]

Well done..thank you for allowing me to pick your brain.
In conclusion ... definitely "nice find".. and thanks for posting.

 

[RedCardHack]

Thanks for the replies and comments, it is great to see different suggestions as to how it was used, if you look at it closely it would be easy to see how it could be used in both manners described. Any ideas as to the age of the pestle?
Thanks again!!