FOWKE] 



FORMS OF PESTLES. 



89 



the ends, either from some fancy finish, or because worked to a point, 

 are of a shape that woukl make their use as pestles impracticable. 

 Even as rollers, some must have been used for crushing grain that had 

 previously been softened or was not fully matured, as they are of a soft 

 stone that would wear very easily. The shorter ones are 

 blunt at the ends, and may have been used in a shallow 

 wooden mortar; none are adapted for use in stone. The 

 class is illustrated by figure S3, of soft clay slate, from 

 Cherokee county, Georgia. 



G. Conical, or truncated cone, bottom flat, convex or 

 curved from one side to the opposite. Some are quite 



smooth on the bottom 

 as if from rubbing 

 either back and forth 

 or with a rotary 

 motion ; while many 

 have the bottom 

 pecked rough, show- 

 ing use as hammers 

 or pounders. For those 



H? 



with curved bottoms ^■*=- ^^ 



loD - 



—Pestle, 

 cylindri- 

 motioil <^arturi'u. 



a rockiiij. 



seems best adapted; with the 

 palm resting on the longer side, 

 good work could be done in any 

 of these ways. Typical speci- 

 mens are shown in figures 84, of 

 (luartzite, from Monroe county, 

 Tennessee; So, of granite, from 

 Warren county, Ohio; and 86, 

 of quartzite, from Saline county, 

 Arkansas. A somewhat aberrant 

 specimen, shown in figure 87, of 

 granite, from Carter county, Tennessee, has an elliptical base, rounded 

 top, and flat bottom; the longer sides grooved for handle. A similar 

 one, of quaftziLe, came from Warren county, Ohio. There is consider- 

 able variety of material, quartzite largely predominating. Although 



Fig. 84. — I'PStlr, inllic.al. 



