it fits in my hand

[unclemac]

.....sorry I couldn't resist saying that...but actually it does fit. Now before you rush to judgement and say "it's just a rock" let me tell you that I have seen one of these before in another collection with obvious incised marks on it. The guy that owned it is one of the Columbia River artifacts gurus and I have never had reason to doubt him. Trouble is he had no idea what it was used for (but told me he had seen others also). I used to think that it was was a hammer stone for delicate woodworking (Northwest Coast after all) but what would be the striking surface is smooth and polished. My next thought was it was used to burnish ceramics before they are fired to give it a glazed finish but in truth there is no ceramics tradition in the cultural area where it was found (SW Washington)...even given a HUGE abundance or readily available clays.

It fits in my right hand with a grip that is more precise than a lot of hand tools that I have. Who wants to weigh in on what it was used for?

 

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[GatorBoy]

I'm only seeing a natural anomaly in a common beach tumbled stone from the left coast.

 

[rock]

Ill guess for you...hide smoother or maybe a small pestle for herbs and paints? I would of picked it up. No one will actually know I dont believe but never hurts to guess. Only the person that used it would know.

 

[unclemac]

I'm only seeing a natural anomaly in a common beach tumbled stone from the left coast.

I would have said the same thing until I saw that other one that had obvious incised markings on it...parallel lines around the whole thing. It was even the same black smooth stone.

 

[natchitoches]

looks like a rock to me

 

[IllinoisDug]

I can't see what it would be used for other than a net weight or something like that.

 

[trevmma]

would not even make a good skipping stone, lol. id say nothing, maybe the old collector found one insized cause the indian found it unique and had that same qusetion himself, but then thought its cool so let me insize it

 

[The Grim Reaper]

That is not incising. That is just natural erosion of a softer substance that has left lines in the rock. Just a natural stone and not an artifact.

 

[unclemac]

That is not incising. That is just natural erosion of a softer substance that has left lines in the rock. Just a natural stone and not an artifact.

no this one is not incised... the other one that looked the same was with lines decorating it all around the bottom circumference

 

[RCarson]

An antique garlic press?