stone tools or just rocks?

monte952003

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May 11, 2014
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found these while metal detecting around a known indian village just curios cause they looked completly out of place and seem to fit pefectly in my hand?
 

ARC

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I would say the triangular piece is a "firestone" and the long one is a pestle...a heavy tool with a rounded end, used for crushing and grinding substances such as spices, grains, herbs etc, usually in a mortar.
The firestone would be use with straight stick and prolly with "bow"... kindling would be set around "divit" in stone... whenglowing emders were achieved they would pick up the stone and dump into a crevice of secondary kindling... hence the shape.
I would dare to say you made a great find.

P.S. Not sure what your laws concerning the matter of artifacts of this nature in your area are but... If legal... go back and see if you can find the "motar"... would prolly look like curved indented stone... maybe 12 to 15 inches .
 

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Indian Steve

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The piece with the hole could be a nutting stone. You would set the nut in it to crack the nut with a hammerstone. It saves you from hitting your fingers. It would not be a "firestone". It could be a handhold for bowdrill fire making but is too big for that. When you make fire with a bowdrill, the spindle spins in a fireboard to create the powder that forms a coal. Spinning a spindle in stone just makes dust.
 

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Charlie P. (NY)

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The socket or upper "bearing" used to lean on and put downward force on the wood-to-wood at the other end was commonly stone. Or antler, or wood.

Whether it was worth carrying around is doubtful but at a more permanent camp a few might have been kept for use. I like the above idea of a nut-cracker/holder as well. Even if you just pound an acorn with two rocks you'd be chasing pieces all over without something like that.
 

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