Mipmuc maize grinding stone in central MA?

[diabolicalbeans]

Nipmuc maize grinding stone in central MA?

I was hiking in central Massachusetts last week and found this very odd shaped stone, my first thought was that it could be a grinding stone. What are your opinions?

 

[dognose]

It does not look like I would expect a grind stone to look like.

Was the stone very soft? Did you try rubbing it to attempt to determine the material? If so, what occurred?

It sort looks like someone used quickcrete to form some sort of basin.

Were there any old home foundations or the like around the immediate area? What was the area?

It looks like you were in a forested area. In the surrounding area, were there any large hardwoods? It looks to be in a clearing sort of area. I don't see any large trees in the background. That may indicate its an old homestead area, or the land could have been clear cut in the past, and the workers made some homemade tool for some reason.

 

[BillA]

clean it up and photograph
looks disguised as a rock

 

[unclemac]

yep, we would need more to give you an opinion, clean it up, brush it off...give us a size reference too....put you shoe in the photo.

 

[diabolicalbeans]

I put a bottle on the photo above for a size reference, it was pretty good size I would say at least 3 1/2 feet long. I was on a hiking trail in Medfield Massachusetts, there are a ton of stone walls the whole area had been farmed at one time. But it also was heavily populated by native people before the Europeans. I did not feel the stone so I don’t know what it felt like. It’s pretty far from where I live.

 

[Charl]

Trailside mortars, large and for communal use, are not uncommon. But you would need to clean that out and examine it for evidence that it was being used as a mortar. Here’s a good one from RI. Until just a few years ago, this was located in its original location, where the Narragansett held huge summer festivals. It was positioned at the base of a sloping outcrop that had a channel worn into it, ending just above the basin of the mortar....

 

[diabolicalbeans]

I contacted the chief of the Nipmuc tribe, they are in charge of artifacts and things like that, I asked them if they wanted to check it out. Waiting for a response now I’ll let you guys know what they say.