Scraper and a unique Pestle

Missouri Breaks

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Couple pieces here, personal finds from our family property. Obsidian fan shaped scraper, might’ve been hafted. A pestle with a well shaped depression on one side and a shallower depression on the other, both along the length. Both ends show sign of use wear. Basalt. The deeper depression might’ve had a bowl/grinding function as it doesn’t really give the tool a better grip. Only one I’ve ever seen quite like it. Nor CA
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Missouri Breaks

Missouri Breaks

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That’s vesicular basalt. We have basalt here in the glacial till but vesicular is rare. Most of ours is olivine. Right out of the mouth of a volcano.
Differentiating btw basalt types isn’t easy down here. I’m still figuring out the difference between rhyolite / rhyolitic tuff rock and basalt. Red is the rarest, charcoal and grey are common along with tans and beiges. The very light whitish tan stuff is also rare. Pumice is rare. The vesicular we called ‘lava rock’ can be any of those colors(maybe not the lightest stuff) and usually we refer to it as that when the pits are very big. This pestle is definitely made from vesicular when I think about it. Seems like the olivine is what came up out of a deep well we dug, dense gravel like material, also in the ground everywhere as the hills around Sonoma County were volcanic back when.
 

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Missouri Breaks

Missouri Breaks

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I have a scraper like that but made from chert. I’d share it if you want to see it later today
Yes, I’d definitely like to see it. We have chert tools around here, some elaborately made while others are more simple but effective.
 

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Missouri Breaks

Missouri Breaks

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That pestle is very nice. I've got a piece of Obsidian very similar to yours my nephew in Oregon gave me years ago. I'm going to look for it as I remember it being like this one.
I’d definitely like to see that obsidian piece. The pestle was partially buried but visible enough in a debris pile pulled out of one of our ponds. Had it been more covered I might’ve missed it as i wouldn’t have thought stuff would be coming out of the pond. I scoured that debris pile.
 

newnan man

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I’d definitely like to see that obsidian piece. The pestle was partially buried but visible enough in a debris pile pulled out of one of our ponds. Had it been more covered I might’ve missed it as i wouldn’t have thought stuff would be coming out of the pond. I scoured that debris pile.
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This could be completely natural but it does have a little chipping on the edge.
 

CreekSide

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Jan 31, 2023
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Very nice. The black one being worked all around, always a big confirmation of a style/intended shape. The chert also finely worked and special material.
The ones I posted have a graver tip on each top left side and both are missing on the right top side. Found left one in a field right one in a creek miles apart from each other.
 

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