DEBATE time!

[trevmma]

I hear all sorts of reasoned for Nutting stones. So this is my
Nutting stone debate, what were they. My guess is they were used to re ruff up a antler billet, to round it back up. That's why most are sandstone. Small ones are for personal use where others are whenwhen people get together knapping and u can just use another spot. Picture knapping a point, how do u resharpen or dull or ruff up ur antler,, bamm with a sandstone. All ur weight can be applied to a the antler as.u twist it back and forth grinding it back into shape.

 

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[NC field hunter]

Never thought of that. Some of the deep ones are obviously not for cracking nuts. If so, how could the meat be removed from the deep hole? Good thinking Trev!

 

[pickaway]

My guess is they had multiple uses.I like your theory trevmma. Heres one I found with a small sand stone disc with it.Kind of puzzling what that little disc was used for.

 

[GatorBoy]

That one looks stained with red ochre still. "Paint"

 

[unclemac]

a lot of the small ones you see afe geofacts too......

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Trev, I talked to a guy at the Porstmouth show that had that same theory and after he showed me his Stones and the Billets he had found at a rock shelter I think he may be right. His buddy and him had dug a huge rock shelter in Jackson county and had found quite a few of the Stones and Billets closely associated with them. They fit the holes perfectly. He said he tried to convince some Archies of his theory and they dismissed it but I think he is spot on.

 

[trevmma]

That could explain why I find much more around my four mile flint out crop site.

 

[Tnmountains]

Why would they not rough up an antler billet with it? It was perfect for that as well. But it is fact that the ones found here especially in shelters were for the processing of hickory nuts and acorns. We have two types one shaped like a bowl and another shaped with holes for the nuts. I think the little dimpled ones I find in open air sites were multi purpose platform stones with many uses. Kinda like a third hand. They would keep a antler tine rough to grab material for sure.

 

[Backbacon]

 

[GatorBoy]

Agreed. The billets are a very good observation also.
Many "nutting" or otherwise dimpled stones have been positively tested for many different plant material. Also..hematite and even crystals in the mid west.. known commonly as dessert rose that were ground for their sodium content to season food.
Seagrape leaves here in Florida that grow along the coast collected considerable amounts of salt from sea spray and were used for that purpose here. Well preserved submerged sites here have produced a pretty amazing amount of info when it comes to perishables... dating back to the early archaic.

 

[Th3rty7]

I think the term " nutting stone " like alot of categorizations in this hobby is overused and not always accurate. I'd say 98% of the dimpled or pitted stones I find have usewear of being a hammerstone. I know " it fits the hand really well " is overused as well but in the case of pitted hammerstones it only makes sense, ergonomics.

 

[bci101tractors]

I think it greatly depends on the locality of the find. Lots of geofacts that could be passed as nutting or hammer stones depending where found...

 

[NC field hunter]

My guess is they had multiple uses.I like your theory trevmma. Heres one I found with a small sand stone disc with it.Kind of puzzling what that little disc was used for.
<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=765987"/><img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=765988"/>

Ha! I have one like that! Smaller stone found with it as well. A friend found mine, but recently I noticed yellow ore still in it, and the small stone fits perfectly in 3 or 4 positions. It will not spin freely in a circle.

 

[bravowhiskey]

consider the need for a holding device. Set your goods in the hole to crack or mash and your hands and fingers get much less abuse.

you ever hit your thumb/fingers with a hammer? yeoow!

 

[GatorBoy]

Good point..ouch
Here are two of mine. One.." The smaller one" shows definite impact damage on both sides. It fits good in the hand too and appears to have been intentionally shaped that way. The larger one has impact damage on one side and definite spiral grinding marks in the indentions on the other side.

 

[NC field hunter]

A few that I think are nutting stones. The small square piece in pic one has only one well defined concave spot, with smaller ones on all but one face.