two grinding stones - smooth and shiny and rough spots

[ho2cultcha]

hello.

i'm new to this forum and looking forward to getting lots of treasure mysteries solved by you experts.

first one are these stones i found near the remains of a cabin in the woods near Brentwood / Oakley, California.

Two very round and flattened stones. it looks like they were both very highly polished except around the outside rim and in the very center where they show wear. the larger one appears to have lost most of it's sheen and is 4" across. The smaller is still shiny and 3" across.



thanks for any help. i've enjoyed going through all of your 'what's it' posts.

pete

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Diving for Pleasure and Treasure - Grab it through Amazon!

[Dirkdigger]

Grain grinding stones, age uncertain, looks colonial I think the Indian stones were less precise more rustic. the polish was from grain grinding smooth with a flat indented rock. Rare find... Nice work

 

[ho2cultcha]

thanks for the feedback. i thought they might be colonial too - probably mexican since i found them in california. do you think they were used on a flat grinding surface or what? and they seem kind of small to grind grain. it would take a long time to make an english muffin w/ one of these!

 

[ho2cultcha]

here are some other photos i took of it. i'm interested in more info if anyone has any. thank you.

 

[ho2cultcha]

 

[cw0909]

nice very nice,is the other half there,im not sure what you call the other stone
more




A Woodsrunner's Diary: Trail foods and survival foods. Sunflowers.

 

[kuger]

They could have also been heating stones.Early Indians didnt have Iron Pots so they actually cooked in Baskets,by heating stones and the putting them in the basket.Acorn mush was cooked this way...especially in Calif

 

[ho2cultcha]

i guess i'm still wondering what caused the very uniform scratching wear on the outside edges and center top/bottom of these very polished stones.

 

[ho2cultcha]

i call the larger piece a 'metate' and the hand piece a 'mano'. i have a large collection of these, but these stones are very highly polished w/ strong wear around the outer edge and somewhat lesser in the center top/bottom.