pebble hammer

[larson1951]

does anybody find these pebble hammers?
there are hundreds of them laying around in my field
i don't usually pick them up anymore as they are so prolific
should i be saving these pieces or?
thanks much,
larson1951

 

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[Neogeo]

Those are soooo cool...I dont find them much..Just because one site has tons of one type of artifact,does not mean they aren't as rare as hens teeth elsewhere.Your bone and bone related artifacts,scrapers and such,are a prime example of that...In my book....If shows any signs of the hand of man...It's a keeper...

 

[shorelinesearcher]

I have a bunch of them, in boxes, the flower beds, and some in display. I pick them all up and look at them closer, the ones that are unique or show lots of polish from use I keep. The one in your hand I would keep for a box, only because I have several like it out on a shelf now.

mike

 

[*Molly*]

I wouldn't normally keep rocks like that but, knowing your site Steve, they have obviously been used to something,
Matt told me a long time ago that most rocks/stones on a artifact rich site have been utilised inone way or another & you can clearly see thats been pecked..
I imagine ( now this is just my theory) young boys with small hands wouldn't be using larger stones for pecking/grinding & such, they would use smaller ones. I have a feeling the young boys would be taught to ulitise rocks/stones at a young age. Just my thoughts on the matter..
I would keep them if only for the yard..You could make a nice water feature with them.

Molly.

 

[Neogeo]

I think it depends on the job at hand...I have found that the shape & size and material of the hammer changes the type and shape of the flakes pulled off.Since he has alot of smallish points there,I think smaller hammerstones would come into play.Plus it looks roughly the groove shape as the hardstone tools there.

 

[larson1951]

thanks neo, shoreline and molly
i like your theory
i also think girls used them too
one other idea is they were used for grinding paint, or medicine or spices
and also like you say for making grooves on small hammers that were then hafted to long handles
and maybe for creating flakes for the small points
i truly believe that a lot of the nice points were made by women, maybe older ones that stayed in the lodges quite a bit, they could show the younger ones the
skill as some had too stay home with their young ones,
i think they could prolly make a few dozen in a good afternoon
steve