Nut Stone

Atlantis0077 · Aug 3, 2006

Morning,

Here's a photo of a nice nut stone I found at the lake several years ago. It was laying upside down and caught my eye because it was of a different type of stone than is normally found there. I picked it up and as I was lifting it the cup of dirt fell out of the hole on the opposite side....The stone weighs about 25 pounds. One of the nicer ones I have in my collection. Love the mineral lines through the stone.

Happy Hunting,

Atlantis

Cannonman17 · Aug 8, 2006

Okay, I've looked at this a few times now and have avoided saying anything but I'm bored so we might as well discuss this right?

What's a "nut stone"? I'm guessing that the basic assumption is that this was used to crack nuts with? If so is there any signs of wear/usage? Was the hole drilled intentionally to hold the nut in place or is the hole the result of so many nuts being cracked in one spot that it wore a hole into it? What kind of nuts? Are these the same as the "fire rocks"? Atlantis, if you have other ones could you scan them or take pictures? I would like to compare some.. (if/when you have the time) thanks!

Been out looking lately?

schlooppy · Aug 8, 2006

I have a nice nutting stone I found here in missouri on a campsite. its about 9" square and 3" thick, it has 5 or 6 "divets" ground into the top. Nutting stones are interesting artifacts and I do not know exactly what they were used for, they dont hold much value on the market. If I can figure out how to post a pic I post mine.

Atlantis0077 · Aug 8, 2006

Morning,

Nut stone, Nutting stone, rock with hole, or holes.....call them what you will. Some are valid relics. I call them nut stones because that is what they are referred to in all archaeological materials.....same reason I call a plummet a plummet and not a bolo weight or a rock with a hole in it. I will make some photos of other nut stones I have at home Cannonman for your reference. I have several of different types of stone. And yes the one pictured here is a bonafide nut stone....Indian made, not just a rock with a hole in it.....you must remember that in my neck of the woods large hard stones are very hard to come by...most had to be traded for and that made them of some value to the Indians. I do know that they spent a great deal of time and effort making some of them. Getting a hole that size in a rock that hard with only abrasive and rubbing isn't easy.

As for their purpose, that is up for debate. I have some stones that have multiple holes....one that has one hole on each side. Whether they actually crushed nuts in them or used them for small mortars I have no idea......many relics that we fine have undefined purposes.....problematicals they are called....LOL I wonder what the used discoidals for...some say chunky stones...please.....nobody needed that many game stones.....and the time that went into making them too. Anyhow its fun to debate just what purpose some of these objects served. Some are easy to figure out, some I doubt we will ever know for certain.

I will try and get those photos on tomorrow. Hey wait....I have a couple in the cases here...hold the phone.

Ok, these aren't the best specimens of the subject, but they are on hand here. I will photo some more, better ones tonite and put them on tomorrow....if all goes as planned.

Atlantis0077 · Aug 8, 2006

All but the last of those served a double purpose as grinding/nutting stone. The last one is made of an iron ore type stone....the kind that tends to come apart in layers...as that one is doing....the polished hole remains while the edge is flaking a bit. The ones I have at home are better than these, more square with deeper more defined holes. Anyhow, spend much time on a woodland Indian site and you will come up with grinding stones and nutting stones, sometimes two in one.

One sidebar.... I have been digging Indian relics for nigh on 35 years now, have more hours of university study than I care to think about on the subject....granted my expertise is more limited to the South...LA, TX, ARK and the Caddo in specific...but chances are if I post a pic....its Indian.....unless of course I just don't know for sure and in that event I will be the first to say so. I know where you are coming from to be sure, I get my share of people bringing by "priceless relics" that are just rocks with holes in them...I try and be tactful with them because not everyone has spent over half their life in the pursuit.

Even Indiana Jones found a few rocks before he found a relic I bet. I'll get those other pics up tomorrow and see what you think of those.

Atlantis

Atlantis

Cannonman17 · Aug 10, 2006

Maybe it's just a southern thing for the nutting stones.. I've (like you) spent years and years walking the fields and researching the sites up here and looking at other peoples collections and I can't remember ever coming across one of these. I've seen rocks with holes but the ones I've see aren't like yours and I am positive they were natural.. I guess the northern indians didn't believe in carrying a 20lb rock around to crack their peanuts with

michbray86 · Mar 13, 2012

yea i found quite i few nice nut stones in central indiana the best one i have has 2 very nice and deffined nut holes in it and most all of my stuff i find has mineral lines all the way though them i have thought my self it is some kind of purpose
even a few ax heads and stone hammers

Tnmountains · Mar 14, 2012

Nice examples. Most of mine are from mtn stone but some may have as many as 10 or more dimples per side. I like them.

tmodel · Mar 16, 2012

the story i have gotten and think more likey, is that they ground a soallow depression to hold hickrey nuts in place so could use hammer stone to crack shell with out hiting fingers. it is said that they would leave this stones in the camp, if they moved to a camp they had used befor they had a nuting stone watting. if moved to new camp and still had nuts they would make a new one and leave it when they left. that is why there are so many of them. if the one that made it did not return with the next group to use camp a new person might find it and a new generation started useing the nuting stone. Terry

scotto · Mar 17, 2012

tmodel said:
the story i have gotten and think more likey, is that they ground a soallow depression to hold hickrey nuts in place so could use hammer stone to crack shell with out hiting fingers. it is said that they would leave this stones in the camp, if they moved to a camp they had used befor they had a nuting stone watting. if moved to new camp and still had nuts they would make a new one and leave it when they left. that is why there are so many of them.

Makes sense to me, I've found quite a few of them at one place, and the area is loaded with old hickory trees.

IllinoisDug · Mar 17, 2012

Finally some insightful discussion on "nut stones." It seems that some people almost take offense to that term. But it seems to be the generic term for rocks with holes. Here is my find. Its a cup shaped hole and I've never seen anything like it. The hole is about the size of a quarter, so its a relatively pronounced cup. Any thoughts?

tmodel · Mar 17, 2012

Dug!! i do not think your stone is a nuting stone, a nuting stone starts as shallow depression and gets larger and deeper as they are used. first photo of last 4, the artifact has two holes the right one looks deep and pollished, and i think that it could have been used to grind and mix their paint the left depression is what i think a nutting stone looks like new. OH back to your stone they used a hollow reed or cane and sand to drill a hole through the stone why they stoped good

?? i think they sometimes used hammer stones to peck out the depression for a nuting stone. Terry

tmodel · Mar 17, 2012

Dug!! need you to resize your photos it tells you how on post or reply pages, and it would also help us ID artifacts if you inclouded a ruller with artifacts

Get-the-point · Mar 17, 2012

Most nutting stones show damage around the rim from a hammerstone cracking the nut. Illinois, your stone strikes me funny. It looks deliberately done and shows some paint substance all around the cupped circle. Yet if you look around that you see fresh breaks in the rock showing the rocks real color, and old patinated original surface. That item is something modern made and looks like a steel pole was driven into it. The green residue extends into the fresh chipped area showing no patination tells me this was made recently...........................GTP

IllinoisDug · Mar 17, 2012

Get-the-point said:
Most nutting stones show damage around the rim from a hammerstone cracking the nut. Illinois, your stone strikes me funny. It looks deliberately done and shows some paint substance all around the cupped circle. Yet if you look around that you see fresh breaks in the rock showing the rocks real color, and old patinated original surface. That item is something modern made and looks like a steel pole was driven into it. The green residue extends into the fresh chipped area showing no patination tells me this was made recently...........................GTP

Its old. The fresh breaks look different because the hole was packed with mud when found. My guess was that they used the inner cup to grind up something and the outer cup to catch it. Probably not used for nutting as the rim of the cup would be destroyed.

mikusek · Mar 18, 2012

I have found these stones in Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri, always at Indian habitation sites where many other artifacts have been found over the years. I have one that I used to crack walnuts and hickory nuts in, worked great.

Drilling stone was not that difficult for the Native Americans, Ironweed stalk, sand, a rock or piece of wood to hold the top of the "drill"(ironweed stalk) so your hand doesn't get burnt, and a small bow to power the "drill". It works and works well. I figured that out by experimenting. I first tried spinning the stalk between my hands, didn't work worth a darn. And without a top socket, heat is a problem when trying to hold the "drill" straight, and lubrication helps in the top socket. Once you feel the heat, you can readily imagine this type of set up could have been used to start a fire also.

Several years ago, more than 10 anyway, I watched a demonstration where a similar set up was used to drill granite, the man doing the demonstration drilled a hole about 1/2 inch diameter about 2 inches deep in 20 minutes. That was much faster than I ever managed, he used pitch on the end of his drill for the sand to adhere to and that may have been the difference, or it could have been what reed, stalk, or cane he used for his "drill".

The Grim Reaper · Mar 18, 2012

Here's one I found a while back while walking a creek that has two holes on one face and one on the side. It now resides next to my fish pond. I usually don't pick these up unless they are really nice and a liked this one a lot so I drug it home with me.