USES OF CUPPED STONES. 



93 



former a number of nuts could be cracked with one blow of a flat stone 

 and thrown into a receptacle of some kind, either side of the stone be- 

 in^ used at pleasure ; but there would be no economy of time or work 

 in this method, and it would be very strange that any one should not 

 learn with so much experience that a nut should never be laid on the 

 flat side in cracking. No theory yet advanced accounts for the greater 

 number of such relics, namely, the irregular fragments of stone with 

 cups at varying intervals and different levels. 



No division can be made in regard either to size or material of the 

 stone, or to form or finish of the cups. Many of the 

 smaller ones were no doubt paint mortars. One well 

 tinished specimen of this class is shown in figure 89; 

 it is of quavtzite from 4 feet beneath the surface in 

 Crittenden county, Arkansas. 



Cupped stones are found wherever representatives 

 of the Bureau have worked, and numerous references ^"'- OTl.aiT™p.''*"°^ 

 might be given concerning their existence in other localities. 



MULLERS. 



The objects known as mullers are generally flat and smooth on one 

 side and convex on the other, sometimes with a pit in one side or both, 

 mostly of granite, quartzite, or sandstone; rarely of other materials. 



A flue specimen of white quartz from Elmore county, Alabama, has 

 the bottom flat and highly polished, the edge perpendicular to bottom 



and rounding oft' into the slightly convex top, 

 with a pit at center. Figure 90 represents a 

 muller of marble or crystalline limestone from 

 a grave in Eandoliih county, Illinois. It has a 

 smooth, flat bottom, with convex top somewhat 

 siiuvller than the base; around the circumfer- 

 ence there is a dein-ession jiolished by wear. 

 A similar specimen, of diorite, from Carter 

 county, Tennessee, seems to be the lower part of 

 a pestle with expanding base, whose top or handle has been lost, the 

 part remaining having a place for a handle pecked around it. 



The discoidal stones with this shape were probably used as mullers ; 

 they were also used as pestles in the hollow mortars, as the edge is 

 often ciiipped or pecked, which would account for the pits on the faces. 

 Figure 91 represents a muller of granite from Savannah, Georgia. Some- 

 times the base has an elliptical instead of a circular outline, as seen 

 in other specimens from Savannah. 



Mullers are found wherever there are indications of occupancy for 

 any considerable length of time. 



Grindin<; and Polishing Stones. 



Stones evidently used for grinding and polishing need only to be men- 

 tioned, as they are of widespread occurrence. Implements used for the 



Fio. 90.— Muller, showing pol- 

 ished siirtare. 



