Large chiseled stone - Indian artifact?

ModernMiner · Oct 25, 2008

Do you think this stone may be an Indian artifact? I found it in the woods yesterday.
There have been a LOT of Indian arrowheads found in this area.
All sides of this stone have areas chiseled out to some degree.
One side has a smooth small bowl like area carved into it. You can see chisel marks in some of the areas.
It looks like a stone that never got finished.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
MM

GL · Oct 25, 2008

That is a super cool rock! I would have totally picked that up and added it to my collection.

*Molly* · Oct 25, 2008

Looks natural to me, the pits don't look drilled or ground. But I'm no expert, just my opinion.

Molly.

ModernMiner · Oct 25, 2008

Molly said:
Looks natural to me, the pits don't look drilled or ground. But I'm no expert, just my opinion.

Molly.

Thanks Molly.
You would probably need to see it in person. The one area is a hollowed out smooth small bowl like area, and this area is chiseled out to about 2" deep in a cone shape. Hard to tell in the picture.
-MM-

SwampHunter · Oct 25, 2008

There are no natural rocks in this area and they were all carried in here by man at some time. We find alot of hardstones in our area that look alot like this one does. Alot of them have the smooth holes. I never really knew how they made them until I found some alot like yours. From what I have seen it looks like the Indians here peaked out a hole and then used a round ended rock just a tad bit bigger to smooth out the jagged holes.

SoIll · Oct 26, 2008

That's a nutting stone/anvil. 100 percent artifact.

ModernMiner · Oct 26, 2008

SoIll said:
That's a nutting stone/anvil. 100 percent artifact.

SoIll,
Can you explain what a nutting stone/anvil is please?
Thanks so much for the info. I'm glad I carried it back now. :thumbsup:

-MM-

ModernMiner · Oct 26, 2008

SwampHunter said:
There are no natural rocks in this area and they were all carried in here by man at some time. We find alot of hardstones in our area that look alot like this one does. Alot of them have the smooth holes. I never really knew how they made them until I found some alot like yours. From what I have seen it looks like the Indians here peaked out a hole and then used a round ended rock just a tad bit bigger to smooth out the jagged holes.

Very interesting SH. Thank you for that info. That is how the holes on this stone look like. Deep center area with jagged areas that haven't been finished off yet, like a piece mid way through the process. Very cool. :thumbsup:

-MM-

SoIll · Oct 26, 2008

whenever the holes or indentions are small people call them nutting stones. They were used two extract tree nuts (so they say) an anvil would have been used in the knapping process, probably like we use a modern anvil. I will say the jagged holes on yours are unusual, usually they are smoother.

Ohio_Doug · Oct 26, 2008

Sure looks like a nutting stone to me also, sweet find :thumbsup:

ModernMiner · Oct 26, 2008

SoIll said:
whenever the holes or indentions are small people call them nutting stones. They were used two extract tree nuts (so they say) an anvil would have been used in the knapping process, probably like we use a modern anvil. I will say the jagged holes on yours are unusual, usually they are smoother.

Thanks again SI.
Great info. :thumbsup:

-MM-

Ohio_Doug said:
Sure looks like a nutting stone to me also, sweet find

Thanks for the input too Doug.
A neat find indeed. I wonder if my wife will allow it to be displayed indoors. :wink:

-MM-

Ohio_Doug · Oct 26, 2008

Ohio_Doug said:
Sure looks like a nutting stone to me also, sweet find

Thanks for the input too Doug.
A neat find indeed. I wonder if my wife will allow it to be displayed indoors. :wink:

-MM-

[/quote]

Might take some sweet talking, how do you think I got away with useing this hammerstone as a door stop?

ModernMiner · Oct 26, 2008

Ohio_Doug said:
Ohio_Doug said:

Sure looks like a nutting stone to me also, sweet find

Click to expand...

Thanks for the input too Doug.
A neat find indeed. I wonder if my wife will allow it to be displayed indoors.
-MM-

Might take some sweet talking, how do you think I got away with useing this hammerstone as a door stop?

[/quote]

Great idea. :thumbsup:

Us Doug's think alike. :wink:

I was going to tell her the pet rock was back in style again or place a candle in it. :icon_scratch:

-Doug-

Ohio_Doug · Oct 26, 2008

What ya need to do is take her hunting with ya, when she finds something she will be as hooked as you are. Just 2 weeks ago I took my girlfriend with me to my dig site and she found a nice worked blade in the sifter. Actually she did'nt realize what she had found until I explained it to her, pointing out the pressure flaking and how it was made, what it could have been used for and how old it was likely to be. Ever since she has been begging me to take her back to dig some more. You have to draw them in man, kinda like when ya first started dating