Know anything about this grinding stone?

[75rifleman]

Hi this is my first post, I really enjoy this site. I have something that I have been wondering about for a while. Could anyone tell me about this grinding stone? At least that is what I think it is. Does anyone know what it might have been used for? I'm curious about the worn area on the right side, maybe it was a handle? Or used for rubbing something else back and forth? Thanks.




eta: After reading some other posts with similar items I think it is called a grinding stone, maybe metate wasn't the correct term. So I changed the title from 'metate' to 'grinding stone'.


Someone told me that it might just be a rock that was shaped that way naturally. To me it seems that it was shaped by human hands, but maybe I am wrong. The grinding hole is about 5 inches deep.

 

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[pickaway]

I'm not an expert but i dont think that is just a rock.
Congrats on the find...

 

[luckyinkentucky]

Looks like a Mortar stone that was ground down through use.

 

[75rifleman]

Thanks, I didn't think it was just a rock either. When you see it in person it seems pretty obvious that it took a long time to make that hole. My neighbor actually found it while operating some digging machinery on private property. He didn't seem to have any interest in it. I've always been interested in history and I spend lots of time looking for artifacts and ruins in the desert. I gave him $50 for it. It was worth every penny to me. It's probably one of my favorite things that I have. I wonder things like how many generations used this, and for what exactly? How many different people worked on making the hole that deep? What happened to it's original owners, how did it end up where it was found? I wish it could talk, I bet it has some stories.

 

[stryker-one]

I have to say that I believe it to be a mortar stone. If you had found that in AZ and it was flat with an abraded area and was made of lavarock I would call it a metate.

Nice

Stryker

 

[75rifleman]

Thank you.

This was indeed found in AZ. I was told by the person who found it that they were digging approximately 40 feet underground when it was found. It amazes me that according to some articles I've been reading, this could be thousands of years old. Maybe it was used to grind mesquite beans, which I've read was a common use for a mortar and pestle in this region in past times.

 

[Cannonman17]

Interesting piece- does that wear pattern on the right go all the way around and is the bottom of the piece rough or smooth?

 

[75rifleman]

The wear pattern on the right does go all the way around, although not as distinct as the top. The bottom is rounded and about as smooth as the top.