543 



On a Polygonal Grinding Stone of Quartzite found on 

 Lamherton Moor. 



This Polygonal Grinding Stone of Quartzite was communicated 

 by Major Campbell Eenton, of Mordington, through Colonel 

 David Milne-Home, M.P,, Eoyal Horse Guards, to the Society 

 of Antiquaries of Scotland, and an account of it was pi-inted in 

 the " Proceedings " of the Society for 1881, which by permission, 

 is here reproduced, along with the copy of the figure, the gift of 

 the Society, at the instance of Colonel Milne Home. 



It is 13^ inches in length, 3 inches in breadth, and 2|- inches 

 in thickness, and was found in excavating a drain on Lamberton 

 Moor, Berwickshire. It bears on one of its broader sides three 

 grinding faces which have been worn to concave surfaces, and 

 highly polished by use. The concavities of these surfaces are 

 greatest towards the centre of the stone where the pressure of 

 friction has been greatest ; and towards the ends the unworn 



surface of the stone is convex instead of concave. On one of its 

 narrower sides two similar grinding faces are found. On the 

 opposite side there is but one grinding face, broader and deeper 

 in the centre than the others. The broader side opposite to that 

 first described has scarcely been used, and the surface is convex. 

 The form and appearance of the implement will be more readily 

 understood from the accompanying engraving. It is the only 

 specimen of the kind in the collection. These polygonal grinding 

 stones are rare, probably because their characteristics are not so 

 obvious and striking as those of the implements they were em- 

 ployed to sharpen and polish. Hone-stones and whetstones are 

 much more common than these large and massive polissoirs, which 

 are of such size and solidity that they may have been used for 

 giving the necessary grinding finish to the larger as well as to 

 the smaller varieties of polished stone celts. 



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