Lets see your hammer stones

[rock]

I would like for everyone to post their hammer stones they have. I know the ones I find are either quartz types or flint types. If you know the lithic of the ones you post please say the type. I know everyone picks these up so dont be shy. They come in all different styles some are nicer than others by shape and design. I think this will be fun so post away! rock

 

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[The Grim Reaper]

I don't have a lot of pictures of my Hammerstones and I actually have about twice this many just setting around in my wifes flowers and around our fish pond, but here is a pic of the ones I have in a display case in my artifact room.

 

[NC field hunter]

I don't have a lot of pictures of my Hammerstones and I actually have about twice this many just setting around in my wifes flowers and around our fish pond, but here is a pic of the ones I have in a display case in my artifact room.

I really like the way you display your artifacts. I wish I could get a little more organized. Lol! Nice collection!!

 

[Jon Stewart]

Rock, being a flintknapper I am not too sure that they would use the three rocks in the middle, obsidian looking rock, flints and maybe a jasper rock. The bottom right rock is a perfect example of a hammer stone. I go to many knap ins including the grand daddy , Flintridge, and most if not all hammer stones being used are like the one on the bottom. I know that if you strike a rock with the obsidian rock, it would crack and crumble.

Grim reaper has a bunch of very good examples of hammer stones and none look to be knapping rock.

IMHO

By the way, I would love to get ahold of a football size of that greenish rock, second one down on the left. that looks like it would make some beautiful arrowheads

 

[NC field hunter]

That's all I have pics of. Around here, they aren't rare finds. I normally toss them to the fields edge.

 

[quito]

Well here are three of my hammer stones, use wear is obvious. 4th one? I don't know, Sundisk preform? Unfinished discoidal? You guys tell me. The only sign of workmanship is the edge is somewhat beat up.

I would also like to point out all those brown marks on those stones. They are the result of plow strikes. Steel strikes the rock, leaves a little bit of itself from the abrasion, then it rusts on the stone. Tillage does not bust up rocks as often as some people like to think. It is far more likely to mar a stone that bust it or take a chip out of it.

 

[SCrocks]

A few pitted hammerstones from S.C.

 

[NC field hunter]

Well here are three of my hammer stones, use wear is obvious. 4th one? I don't know, Sundisk preform? Unfinished discoidal? You guys tell me. The only sign of workmanship is the edge is somewhat beat up.

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I have a Mano that is worn or beat on its edge, like yours. Mine is worn smooth on both faces, bottom is flat and smooth from grinding and top worn smooth by the hand. If yours isn't smooth on top and bottom, I call pecking stone. I have a piece like your 2nd or 3rd pic as well. I'll show them.















I have another but must have deleted the pic. Here is one I need answers for.

 

[quito]

"I have a Mano that is worn or beat on its edge, like yours."

You have some nice ones nc. I have noticed many mano's with a beat up edge or end or two. I would imagine some materials they were grinding needed a little pounding on occasion.

I pick up quite a few hammer stones, but like the earlier poster, I also toss a lot of the them over toward the fence line.

 

[quito]

"They come in all different styles some are nicer than others by shape and design. I think this will be fun so post away! rock"

I don't think they come in as many styles, shapes, and designs as you think rock. You don't show very many in your pics.

 

[SCrocks]

This was found by a friend on a camp site we were digging. It was dug up just like it is in the picture. Hard to see but the flat rock is smoother around the center were some grinding had been done. The hammerstone is all beat-up.

 

[theviking]

Here are a few that I have found around here. All found within about 20' of the large anvil stone in the top left of the second to last pic.

 

[quito]

That is just too cool when they are discovered like that. There's a farmer a half mile from me that has a set he found on his farm, the mano is made from a colorful conglomerate and has an excellent form to it, the nicest I have ever had in hand. I tried to get pictures last year, but he had taken it out to his daughter in Ca. so she could show it to her students. And he left it there

I can see from the pic, the metate shown is slightly depressed. I suppose the system was pound and grind, pound and grind which would explain the condition of mano's having both smooth sides and beat up edges on occasion.

 

[SCrocks]

These were just a few feet apart. I pretty certain they went together. Same friend found it on same property.

 

[rock]

Rock, being a flintknapper I am not too sure that they would use the three rocks in the middle, obsidian looking rock, flints and maybe a jasper rock. The bottom right rock is a perfect example of a hammer stone. I go to many knap ins including the grand daddy , Flintridge, and most if not all hammer stones being used are like the one on the bottom. I know that if you strike a rock with the obsidian rock, it would crack and crumble.

Grim reaper has a bunch of very good examples of hammer stones and none look to be knapping rock.

IMHO

By the way, I would love to get ahold of a football size of that greenish rock, second one down on the left. that looks like it would make some beautiful arrowheads

Yeah the black one is flint and the brown one is the only one I have found.

 

[quito]

These were just a few feet apart. I pretty certain they went together. Same friend found it on same property. View attachment 809119

Your friend has a nice property. Those are awesome.

 

[Charl]

Here are my 2 largest, and my 2 best as well, both large quartzite cobbles with the skin showing battering only at the 2 ends of each stone. First one found several years ago, 2nd one found in the same part of the field as the first, and just last Saturday. Won't get much bigger then this before it's time to groove them and fashion a large grooved maul. These are great examples of very large hammerstones because each has barely been used. You can see the type of rock that would be selected, a hard quartzite cobble, and the battering that removed the skin is very clear. So many hammerstones are beat to hell from usage, but these have hardly been used. My thanks to the native or natives who hardly used them and left them for me. LOL.

 

[Jon Stewart]

My guess would be that they were used to spall out large rocks. Kind of big and would be hard to control if used as a hammer stone to make smaller points . Very nice examples.

 

[quito]

Those are some monsters compared to most that I find Charl. I've only got one comparable in size.

 

[tomclark]

got a zillion, few pics. good ones are inside, not so good are outside in the garden.
Woodland site large polyp agatized coral hammerstone.