Columbia County, Pennsylvania finds

Old Dude · May 19, 2013

Hi all. This is my first time posting in this area of the forum. I am normally in the metal detecting area. My friend brought in these finds today. I apologize for the picture quality but he promised to bring them back tomorrow when I have a better camera. He thinks he has a mortar and pestle and what he called a "tomahawk" head. I told him I would post them here in hopes you guys could help in discovering exactly what they are. I will post better pics with a tape measure for reference tomorrow night hopefully. Thanks for looking and your comments.

SCrocks · May 19, 2013

Nice artifacts! = mortar/pestle and grooved axe

Tnmountains · May 19, 2013

Grooved axe for sure. Not so sure on the mortar and pestle :dontknow:

I saw your name and was like he is from the metal detecting side ! lol Treasure comes in many forms.

rock · May 19, 2013

Ax head for sure. IDK on the other 2. I found a natural stone in the same shape as your Pestle the other day in a creek.

Wyoming Valley Relics · May 20, 2013

Columbia County , right next door to me! The "pestle" appears(at least from the photo) to not have any work done on it to shape it or wear from use. I've found rocks like that in storage or garbage middens. i think they picked stuff like this up and kept it . from the shape its already a preformed tool, just never got used.

The round rock i really can't say anything about ,need to see other angles. If these items were found in a plowed farm field it's any ones guess what there history was. But if they were dug and pulled out of undisturbed earth , well ... like i said, Ive found them where I know a human at one time had it and placed it in a pit with other items. Finding items in there original context says so much more then any photo or expert could tell you.

To get a good idea of the native tool making process , look closely at the axe( :headbang:

that is a beautiful grooved axe by the way). If the tool isn't fully polished smooth you can still see little dimples all over the surface of it. These dimples are created by pecking the tool with a harder stone to shape it. Hope this helps .

wvwildman · May 20, 2013

nice finds

Old Dude · May 20, 2013

Thanks for your replies. The fellow found the "mortar and pestle" at one location of the county and the axe at another location of the same county. The axe was found in a creek. The M and P were found about 30 yds from a creek when footers for a house were being dug. The area had not previously been plowed to his knowledge. Both pieces were within 2 or 3 feet of each other and were higher in elevation than the creek by several feet. I hope the new pictures I have included might help. The pestle has grooves in one side which fit your fingers extraordinarily well. One end appears to be broken but the other does not seem to be naturally shaped. The very end is flat while the piece is rectangular(having almost 90 degree sides), but as the one pic shows, the corners of the end have been rounded. I am sure the mortar will have varying opinions as to authenticity but the pestle certainly appears to have been shaped by human hands. Thanks again for everyone's interest.

rock · May 20, 2013

Might be a Mortar the Pestle I am still not sure on though. You should wash them and let them dry so we can see the use wear on the bowl.

Wyoming Valley Relics · May 20, 2013

Thank you for the updated pics! Yes, now I'm seeing the wear. If the "mortar" was found close or in the same stratum i wouldn't doubt it was used . You gotta imagine , other then the glaciers only humans moved rocks, so if your digging a stratum and finding artifacts , all the other rocks and bits were placed, thrown, or kicked there by a human being.

i'd get out to that hole and start looking for the rest of the camp.

scepter1 · May 21, 2013

"...other then the glaciers only humans moved rocks"

What about water, animals, landslides, earthquakes, tornados, erosion, etc? even the wind can move rocks !

yakker · May 21, 2013

Cool stuff there! I'm in same same general region, and have seen examples of very similar tools. Your M+P are legit, IMHO. And that axe is sweet-- what are the dimensions- how long, wide, deep? Looks nice and smooth, from the pics you've shown. Nice finds all around. And yes, lots of different things move rock over time, but also keep in mind that you gotta use the lithic you have available, and I've seen a lot of material from that area/region that looks like that. Easy to conclude that a raw piece would be formed to use as perhaps not a typical or museum example of a pestle, but a pestle nonetheless. Yak

Wyoming Valley Relics · May 21, 2013

scepter1 said:
"...other then the glaciers only humans moved rocks"

What about water, animals, landslides, earthquakes, tornados, erosion, etc? even the wind can move rocks !

All true but not typical for our area.

scepter1 · May 21, 2013

No water erosion there? "Massive levees along the Susquehanna in much of Wyoming Valley, Pa. officially protect cities including Wilkes-Barre, Kingston and Forty Fort from water levels up to 41 feet..." Remember that the only flood control system native americans had was to run for the highest hills! and over a period of thousands of years....

Old Dude · May 22, 2013

yakker said:
Cool stuff there! I'm in same same general region, and have seen examples of very similar tools. Your M+P are legit, IMHO. And that axe is sweet-- what are the dimensions- how long, wide, deep? Looks nice and smooth, from the pics you've shown. Nice finds all around. And yes, lots of different things move rock over time, but also keep in mind that you gotta use the lithic you have available, and I've seen a lot of material from that area/region that looks like that. Easy to conclude that a raw piece would be formed to use as perhaps not a typical or museum example of a pestle, but a pestle nonetheless. Yak

As I said, these finds belong to a friend. I do not have them here to measure them, but to the best of my memory, the axe was app. 6 in long,3 1/4- 4 in wide and 1 1/2-2 in thick. It was very smooth and to date is definitely the coolest relic I have ever held in my hand. The area he found the m&p in is now a yard so no chance of digging the site unfortunately. I knew you guys here would appreciate them and the debate is very helpful. Thanks so much for proving me right when I told him this site would help.

Wyoming Valley Relics · May 22, 2013

scepter1, you're right , nature does happen. my comments or based on my experiences in the ground. All i wanted to say is if they are on the same stratum there's a good chance they are related .