Native American Grinding Stone (I think)

[TexasDeano]

Hello all,

I found this stone on our land in east Texas (about 20 miles west of Lake 'O Pines) some 30 years ago. I've had it sitting on my desk with a baseball on it ever since. My dad and I always figured it was some kind of grinding stone/hammer. But we never researched it.

It is very smooth. The top side has a deep, round indention where it looks like someone used it to grind something. When you hold it in your hand you can even feel find grooves on the sides. I like to imagine how long this must have been used to do that. The bottom also has a round indention, but not nearly as deep. The edge has lots of jagged chips in like it was used to hammer things. I love this thing and would love to know more about it.

View from the top:

View from the bottom:

View from the side:

 

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[Indian Steve]

I believe it is native made. Possibly a small mortar . Please post on the North American Indian Relics forum.

 

[sawmill man]

You have you a very nice morter. probably not used for corn or nuts . but i would say medicinal .

 

[Plug N Play]

Looks like a very nice example of a "nutting stone".
Agree with sawmill man, in that it may have been used to grind finer materials.

 

[BosnMate]

The hold down socket on a bow drill.





The socket can be made from hard wood, bone, antler, or stone, and if used, is highly polished in the cup.

 

[Indian Steve]

It could very well be a bow drill socket but the hole is a little wide and not quite deep enough for most spindles, but they do get that polished look, at least the one that I use does.

 

[Indian Steve]

Here are pictures of my bowdrill socket made of catlanite. Hundreds of fires have been made with this and left their polish in the hole.

 

[Indian Steve]

Bowdrills were also used for drilling holes in wood, bone, and stone. I could see where a bigger hole could be for a bigger spindle that would have a stone bit. It is a VERY COOL PIECE that you found!

 

[Old Pueblo]

Id say Native American, especially if you found it on the ground somewhere in Texas. It definitely looks like a bowdrill handle, that was also used as a hammerstone (judging by the obvious impact chips around the end). Did you find it on the ground?

 

[Old Pueblo]

Looks like a very nice example of a "nutting stone".
Agree with sawmill man, in that it may have been used to grind finer materials.

Thats a good possibility, as well. Similar are found all over AZ, sometimes even in bedrock. And the archaeologists say they are a type of grinding stone.