E. Not dressed at all on the sides, but with both ends worn to a convex shape. Represented by two specimens of quartzite from southeastern 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 Miami 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.
| District. | A | B | C | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Tennessee | 5 | 1 | 1 | |
| Kanawha valley, West Virginia | 1 | 3 | ||
| Miami valley, Ohio | 1 | 1 | ||
| KEY: A = Quartzite. B = Porphyry. C = Sandstone. D = Limestone. | ||||
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 Anthropological 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 without pits.[28] Such implements may have had handles of wood with projections to fit the pits,[29] 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 such purpose? It is true there would be an advantage in having the nut stand on one end; but very few stones have depressions that will allow this.
Of the southern Indians Adair observes: