Mystery Hardstone Piece with Cross Hatching

romeo-1 · Jan 22, 2014

I posted this years ago but thought I would do so again to take advantage of the new expertise on the forum. Has anyone seen anything like this before? Found in a very well known seasonal site in Nova Scotia, Canada. It's got a fair amount of polish on the edges and cross hatching all along the rounded side. The back side is flat. Doesn't appear to be a celt so it's really a mystery to me.

Charl · Jan 22, 2014

That is one cool piece. It might have been a tool of some sort, but with the break you may never really know for certain. No doubt artificial incising, though, and the crosshatch design is one of the more common design motifs in Native American rock art and decorative application on artifacts as well. Here is a quartzite cobble from Ma. that shows no sign of use, but it has an incised crosshatch pattern. Tic-Tac-Toe anyone? Essentially a portable petroglyph, but your's might have been a tool. That's a great find with all that decoration, that's a prize in my book, even with the damage....

Charl · Jan 22, 2014

One possibility, since it's rounded on one side and flat on the other, is an adz. That would be the basic profile for an adz and it's a common tool form in the far Northeast of NA.

monsterrack · Jan 22, 2014

Those both are very cool finds :icon_thumleft:

Can't say what they were used for :icon_scratch:

rock · Jan 22, 2014

Just guessing but I think the first one was a mano type for grinding on a metate. Does the lines go on both sides or just 1 side?

GatorBoy · Jan 22, 2014

It definitely looks like a broken mano to me.
That type is common in that area

curious kat · Jan 22, 2014

Boy that is something...yes wonder what the cross hatching meant? Thanks for sharing it again!

GatorBoy · Jan 22, 2014

This may either be way out there or just so simple it was overlooked but those crosshatch lines reminded me of what I used to do to my surfboard wax when I didn't have a bar of Wax left to put any extra on...
I would find a shell on the beach and cut crosshatch lines into the existing wax on the surfboard for better grip.

mainejman · Jan 23, 2014

What do the ends look like?If it was any type of wood working tool the ends should tell.

Charl · Jan 23, 2014

mainejman said:
What do the ends look like?If it was any type of wood working tool the ends should tell.

If it had a bit, that end is broken off. If it were a mano, one should see obvious usage wear on the flat side.

Need to see a photo of the flat side without the crosshatch design....