FORMS OF PESTLES. 



91 



E. Not dressed at all on the sides, but with botli enils worn to a con- 

 vex shape. Eepresented by two specimens of quartzite from southeast- 

 ern Tennessee. 



-F. Cylindrical, flat bottom, dome-shaped top, these portions having 

 been carefully pecked into shape. Some are smoothly polished on the 

 bottom, but none elsewhere. Those from Mianii valley, and one from 

 Kanawha valley are much longer than the others. The type illustrated 

 in figure 88 is of quartzite, from McMinn county, Tennessee. 



Pitted Stones. 



There is scarcely a locality in the country where pitted stones are 

 not found; they are indeed of such frequent occurrence that they are 

 seldom considered worth the trouble of gathering. 



There can be no "type" among such crude implements; they are 

 almost invariably waterworn sandstone pebbles, with a pit varying 

 from a slight roughening of the surface to a hollow half an inch in depth 

 pecked in each face. They probably belong with hammerstones, as 

 they seldom show other marks of work, the edge in some being only 

 slightly marked in one or two places, while in others it is much worn. 



Various numbers of the Journal of the Anthrojiological Society of 

 Great Britain and Ireland refer to pitted stones as found in every part 

 of the world. According to Evans, slight pits aid in holding stone 

 hammers ; they also prevent the jar to a large extent. If used to pound 

 meat or break bones, it would be hard to hold them when greasy with- 

 out pits.' Such implements may have had handles of wood with pro- 

 jections to fit the pits,^ though this is not probable; but if so a piece of 

 buckskin on the handle opposite the pits would do better and be more 

 convenient to apply. 



Cupped Stones. 



Conjecture and theory have had full sway in regard to the uses of 

 cupped stones ; but the question is apparently far from solution. There 

 is a prevalent idea that they were used for cracking nuts ; but why should 

 an Indian make a large number of holes in a great many stones for snch 

 purpose ? It is true there would be an advantage in havingthe nut stand 

 on one end ; but very few stones have depressions that will allow this. 



Of the southern Indians Adair observes: 



They gather a number of hiccory-nuts, which they pound with a round stone, upon 

 a stone, thick .and hollowed for the purpose. When they are beat fine enough, they 



^ Stone Implements, p. 218. 

 "Ibid., p. 213. 



