Some Stone Artifacts

I like hard stone tools better than points. Here are a few of mine.

Capstone for a Bow Drill.




Horse Hoof Pestles.



Celt.




Grooved Stone Axes.




Anvil Stone.




Bone Sharpening Stone.




Pestles.




Stone Game Ball.



1 Flint and Slate Hoes.



Slate Pendants and Pre-Forms.



Small Mortar and Pestle. This Pestle fits that Mortar 2 different ways and 2 other Mortars I found too.






Please feel free to share what you got.

Keith

Interesting!

Here's a couple

Several blades in here

Nut Cracker.




Hammerstone.



Celts, Some Broken. Celts with ground edges can be surprisingly sharp. They are often reworked. There is many times more broken Celts than intact ones.



Grooved Stoned Hammers, Damaged.





Keith

I only have arrow heads. My 94 year old grandmother dug them when she was a kid on the farm.

Very cool post. Thanks for sharing.

Really cool

Nice stone artifacts.

The game ball is interesting. You know it took dad a week to make it and the kids lost it in the back yard the first time they used it.

LOL

Lost it first time took it to the beach see if it would float.. LMAO!

Mac

Kieth
Any ideal what the one on the right is. It rolls like a tire, hollowed out on both sides to balance it is what it seems like,

Nate, pieces like the one on the right are called discoidals. No one is exactly sure how the discoidals were used, but they were a type of game stone. There were none found predating the Woodland Period and they then became very popular. I suspect they might have been used with the game balls. It could be you tried to land your ball in the discoidal and other people tried to knock it out. It may have been similar to Bocci.

You have some very fine pieces.

Keith

If you would like to post pictures of your arrowheads, I would like to see them.

Keith

I've posted these pictures a couple times before. Ancient ice spud?? I don't think it was for chopping on wood, it was not found in a region that has trees. it is sharpened on both ends; almost like it's reversible.

Kieth
Glad you like them I really enjoy showing them to people to enjoy. The big black blade is very fine piece,it's just under six inches and was never sharpened on the top side meaning it's close to original as when they finished it.
Here's a few more hope you enjoy them. I found all these none are bought and there documented.

I remember seeing your ice spud. Thanks for posting again. It is very cool. I would guess it's made of basalt?

Keith

Very nice

Nate, you have some great finds. I've only found around 70 artifacts, most of what I have, especially in points, I've bought. There was a camp or small village on my farm. Most of what I have found here is tools used for making pemmican. I think I may have 2 small mounds on my farm. In 2020 moles pushed fragments of pottery out of 1 of them. I left it lay. Most of the tools I've found have been on 3 sides, downhill of one of my barns. I think the Natives camped right where the barn is.

Keith

Thanks Keith
You have some way cool stuff as well thanks for sharing with us. I've walked several miles of creeks/rivers to find it , I've found a few campsights as well and have them documented, been slowing down alittle as I age and spend more time with family. I'm going to eventually donate my finds to a historical society, I may destroy all the doucmented sights and documents to the individual pieces. I've got some way cool bones of primitive animals as well I may post them here sometime.if you have anymore stuff please share with us.

Any idea on this? I found it across the road from the house about a quarter mile.

Awesome thread

It's likely an anvil and or a nutting stone. Nutting stones are often more dished out. Whatever they hit into it was very hard, so it's more likely an anvil, but could still be used for both.

Keith

Grindstones the two large ones are 85 lbs each

These are mostly pieces I bought.

These are the reason North America no longer has megafauna. Spear Heads and Atlatl Points.



True Arrowheads and Small Atlatl Points. Most of what we call arrowheads were used with an Atlatl. Bow and arrows were late to come to the Americas.



Miscellaneous Artifacts.







Keith

It's always made me wonder, how come the rest of the world (outside the new world) was able to enter the bronze age contemporaneously about 5000 years ago, and then the Iron age.
Yet in this hemisphere, only 500 years ago, the folks were still using the latest technology; stone tools. Even in mesoamerica which had advance civilizations they hadn't figured out metal technology.

I like your grindstones. They are comparatively portable compared to 3 of them I have on my farm. 1 has 11 mortars worn into it and probably weighs over a ton. It's the first artifact I found on my farm. It's hard to miss. The other 2, 1 of which is similar to yours, probably weigh a few hundred pounds. I should dig around them because they would be great places to hide a cache, though my area has few pieces of worked flint.

Keith

Nice collections. Only ones I've found here.

Thank you all . It is truly amazing what men did to feed their families . Now it is mostly just entertainment .

Keith
Very nice collection, I feel like a lot of the big spear head's were multi purpose and were unhafted and used as knife blades as well, thinking they could travel with less hassle.'not sure'
I've got a ton of hammer/ pecking stones and several Mano's I'll try n get a pic.and put up for you.

Crescent, AKA, Lunate. Some were decorative and some were used for some unknown purpose. I think this one was decorative. They are very common in Denmark and Norway. I strongly suspect some of the Scandinavians, that came over, introduced them along with the Clovis Points.



Scrapers/Fleshers



Drills



Keith

Thanks Nate. I have literal tonnage of artifacts, if you count the big pieces I can't move.

I am sure you are right that the big spear heads were multi purpose.

Everyone please feel free to post your artifacts. I enjoy seeing them. There's an incredible amount to learn.

Keith

Here's the bottom side of the longer one, the pic. doesn't do much for it, but there is six nutting holes across it and a grinding depression about 3x6 inches not sure what all it was used for but I guessing some one was very proud of it. What's really amazing is a lot of this stuff was here prior to when Jesus Christ walked this earth. Definitely made to last

Could ya'll give me some information on these points. Time frame, etc. These were found in southeast Texas.

What I find odd and it is kind of hard to see in the pictures, is the center is raised almost as high as the out side of the circles. So it looks like something hollow, tube like was what made the dished out part. It is not just dished out. I am not sure if you noticed that.

Thank you Keith.

Those are very nice finds. I apologize, but I am still a pretty rank amateur. If you post them on:

https://forums.arrowheads.com/

some of the members there can tell you what specific stone they are made of, time period and maybe even tribe.

Keith

I mistakenly though the center was deeper. I've never seen anything like that.

Keith

I'll do that. Thanks for the tip.

I think all the big pieces like that were left in place and probably used for many years and even centuries. They might have flipped it as they wore one side or needed to use it differently.

I suspect my biggest rock, with the 11 mortars, had multiple women sit around it and work at one time, probably chatting the whole while. There's few big rocks like it, around here.

Keith

You're welcome.

Keith

In areas like North America, South America, Australia and Africa population densities were mostly low and living was relatively easy, so people didn't have to become as creative. Europe and parts of Asia were crowded and cold, with fewer natural resources. Surviving in Europe and parts of Asia took more innovation. The environment strongly shapes human behavior and phenotype.

The Scythians, Greeks, Romans, Celts and Vikings spread ideas and technology throughout Europe and Asia mostly.

Keith

I knew several of the Mesoamerican cultures, notably the Aztecs, were accomplished gold and silver workers. But I did not know they also had bronze... Kind of a kick in the head.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlaximaltepoztli

Mike

Thanks for all the pics and info. It is truly amazing how our ancestors lived. Hard live's for sure. I'm watching a program now on the clovis people. Hence the clovis points that I see in some of your guy's pics. The relics in your all pics were not made for target practice, but pure survival! I used to walk plowed fields looking for arrow heads and found a lot. Probably picked up and discarded some valuable ones as well not knowing what they were.

Another advantage in having a higher population density is that people can specialize more. I think if they would have lasted, the Aztecs and Mayans would eventually have become technologically advanced enough to work steel and iron.

Keith

I don't believe they had smelting technology, the same with gold and silver, it was utilized as it was found in its native state. Very similar to native Americans in southeast Alaska who used native copper to fashion various things. They simply hammered out nuggets of copper. Some of the nuggets were huge.

Here's a few-

Very interesting and informative post!

I know they don’t meet the post description of “stone” but I found these copper tools this past summer near a traditional spring sturgeon and walleye fishing camp on the Mn/Canadian border. Presumably Eastern Archaic dating as far back as 6000 BC. The copper likely came from Isle Royal or somewhere near the shores of Lake Superior and made it to this camp hundreds of miles away. Some interesting stuff to say the least!

Fish hook and spear point:

really enjoy seeing posts like this.....some of you guys have some really nice pieces.........ive been at it awhile...so I honestly couldn't say how many artifacts ive found over the years............its still a thrill finding something that was last seen and held a minimum of a thousand years ago.............most have no idea how old some points actually are.......my clovis and daltons are my favorites.....

I see some VERY nice stuff in your collection FoxKidd44!

Here is a different angle of the doughnut cut into the rock. Both are close the same size and shape. Any ideas?

Wow, you guys have found some amazing artifacts. I don't have any tools or points but I did find this stone effigy pipe 68 years ago when I was playing by a creek as a kid.



I put the stem in it from a piece of hollowed out sumac.

Very nice artifacts!

I am planning to use a few of my arrow points or hunt deer this fall. That is what they were made for, right?

Considering how the values have skyrocketed, consider that homeowners insurance does not cover antiquities. Min will not, even with an appraisal and a rider.

Mjm, this subject usually gets some folks riled up because they are hardcore convinced they have an artifact,, been in a gazillion heated discussions… what you have unfortunately is an Omar https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omarolluk

Cool thread, may have shown these on here before, but here's some NC stuff I have picked up over the years

I could really care less what it is, I would just like to know for sure. I am not sure you would think that it was a Omar if you had it in your hand. I have hauled rocks home that were well over 100 lbs that I knew had nothing to do with Indians, other than one may have seen it. The doughnut was made at a different time than the rock and it is much rougher than the stone. Being rough leads me to belied it was chipped out not rubbed. Thanks for the input.

Here is a handful of better rocks I picked up. I gave them to my wife, and she had the one put on a pin so she can ware it on a chain. The mono fish line was a add to keep them together. That way we can loose them all at once.

I like your grooved axes. Grooved axes are probably my favorite Native American tool.

Keith

Those are neat. Copper was widely traded. Flint was traded very far distances too. I don't have any copper Native American artifacts.

Keith

You have a very nice collection. Illinois is an artifact hunters Mecca.

Keith

Nice find. Did you ever use it?

Keith

In the closeup, it looks like it was pecked at by another rock, from the roughness. I believe omars are usually smooth. It might be the start of an atlatl weight.

Keith

Those beads are really nice. They were hard to make. They were probably made with a tiny, flint tipped bow drill. Your wife is lucky you gave them to her.

Keith

Nice finds.

Here's some from North Carolina I have. You can often tell where an artifact is from by the style and material. You can see stylistically that some of our points are the same and the material used is the same too.

In some cases, experts can actually tell that one specific person made many found artifacts. They can also follow how a new style spread from group to group.




Keith

A couple times when I was younger by about 50 years.

That's a nice grooved hammer. I really like the bell pestle. I've never seen one that short. That was likely used for a very long time.

Keith

This rock has a flattened out side on each side. Not sure what the original design was for....but I know what the indian that I sleep with uses it for....garlic crusher! Keeps it next to the rolling pin and pie plates.

Pecked is a much better discerption than chipped like I said. I looked up atlatl weighs and I would think this would be on the heavy side and a odd shape for one. But I do agree that the doughnut is pecked out.

Stone Gouge.





It's the only gouge I have. It's hard to see the curvature of the blade end in the pictures. It's pretty cool. I bought it with 34 other hard stone tools today.

Keith

More grooved axes.



Keith

Keith. How much do the stone groove axes go for?? I found 1 20 years ago. Sitting on top of a beaver (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman). I gave it to the land owner. He didn’t think much of it. I wish so would of kept it. Never found anything since then

Those are awesome Keith.

Wayne, on Ebay grooved axes like those mostly sell between $80.00 and $200.00 each. Prettier stone, higher polish, larger size and no damage brings higher prices. I paid a little under $40.00 each on those averaged out.

There should be more artifacts in that same area you found the axe in. Most of the artifacts I've found have been all in small areas, within feet of each other. The Native Americans apparently had a camp right where my back barn was. I've found a total of 60 some tools on 3 sides of my barn.

Keith

Carl, I think your wife's garlic crusher may be a nutting stone. Here's one for comparison.




The small pecked out depression was enough to hold an acorn or other nut still, while it was smashed open with a hammer stone.

Keith

Thanks.

Keith

More hoof pestles.




Keith

Grooved hammers.




The first hammer pictured has a really nice level of polish. It feels good in the hand.

Keith

More celts and adzes.






The names celt and adze are used fairly interchangeably, but technically a celt is more balanced and closer to identical on both sides.

Keith

Banded slate. A lot of very beautiful gorgets, banner stones, pendants and other ornaments are made from banded slate.




Someone started working on this piece and then quit.

Keith

Let's see your Indian rocks.

Keith

Wow. Very interesting Keith. Thank you for sharing. Nice artifacts for sure. Nice collection. I wish I would of saved mine for sure.

Very cool stuff

Some very nice stuff guys!! This is the time of year when us rock hounds are out hot n heavy,,
Found this one a few days ago,,,,,I’ve been at it for awhile… I have a
couple

Cruder one

Was down to a Minn convention a couple years back and camped besides someone ( trapper) from a SW Minn Indian reservation and they said very few were left to be able to dig for the rock to make those pipes from as for the rules the Band had. I have dug one in an archeological site in Manitoba so it was interesting to learn the process

Arrowheads I have. The stone on the left I think is just natural occurring, although I did find it while fishing on the upper reaches of the historic Mohawk River in NY.

Those are plant fossils from the ancient sea floor; stem of some kind, no markings to identify. You can see the vascular system. I could literally pick up 50 of those in 10 minutes. Definitely not pecked

Tough time to be a young male pig.

In no way do I mean this to demean Native Americans, but have you ever wondered; If Europeans had never landed in the western hemisphere would the Indians still be in the stone-age? I think they would be. Just think, the eastern hemisphere in the computer age and here in north America it would still be as is was before Columbus discovered this place.

It amazes me that the rest of the world discovered bronze and iron thousands of years ago, yet the native Americans were still in the stone-age. I wonder why?

Not exactly stone but one of the ones my dad found

They were still living the good life.

Here are a few of mine. These are Yupik Eskimo.

As you can see they used glass and porcelain when they had it available.

A caribou horn bucket handle.

A moose leg bone scraper/tanner

A bone fish point.

Ice pick tip.

A small turtle back scraper, made out of a chert nodule. I found it on my farm. I noticed it a few days ago and finally picked it up today.

The rounded spot on the right was pecked and then ground out to hold the maker's thumb. There are scratches where a smaller rock was moved back and forth, to deepen the hole and produce some grip on the smooth chert.



The upper right side is steak knife sharp. Flakes were knocked off on both sides and the edge was ground too. The bottom edge had a series of shallow flakes knocked off and then was ground to hold the side of the maker's index finger.

The ident for the index finger is deep enough that the index finger would not touch the item being scraped. The scraper was used enough there is the start of a polished area going down from the sharp edge in what looks like a triangle with a small square on the edge. The polished area looks lighter grey in the picture.



The fairly straight edge on the left, is the steak knife like one.



It may be a small flesher.

Keith

Not exactly right because they were smelting copper around 3500 bp in North America (Lake Superior region) and making projectile points from them.

This small piece of chert is similar to yours Kieth. It's old. I picked it up on some private property in NM known to have been settled before the Apaches showed up. I suspect it was a multi purpose tool. Used to cut meat as well as a fleshing tool. I have been told that often a simple flake was used as a blade but this was deliberately shaped. I think it could also be a preform.

Old Copper Culture artifacts from the Great Lakes were cold hammered to shape. There is no evidence of smelting.

Yes, it's the same basic tool. Once the sharp edge was lost, with a little grinding of the edge or the knapping off a few flakes, the scrapers were sharp and ready to use again.

Keith

Has anyone found any interesting Native American artifacts recently? If so please post them.

I am still unable to walk, so I haven't found much this year.

Keith

I don't know if "smelting" would really be the correct term, If they were merely melting native copper (like nuggets), then that would be understandable. However, if they were smelting ores containing copper compounds like sulfides and oxides, then I would find that truly amazing. The reason gold and to a lesser extent silver was being used in Mesoamerica is because those metals a often found in their native state. The only other metals that are occasionally found that way are the platinum group metals and copper. All other metals require some pretty advance understanding of technology in order to recover from ores.

Very nice collections! Thank you all for sharing.
Here's a piece a friend found on his wife's family farm.