Fig. 105.—Discoidal stone, with V-shaped edges.

N. Sides hollowed out; edges straight or slightly curved; very thick; used as mortars, hammers, or pestles. This form gradually merges into disk-shaped, pitted, or entire dressed hammers, which in turn run into the ordinary hammerstones. The types are figures 106 (quartzite, from Bradley county, Tennessee) and 107 (quartzite, from Nicholas county, Kentucky). There are in this group from eastern Tennessee three of quartzite, 2¼ by 4½ inches, 4¼ by 5¾ inches, and 1¾ by 3¼ inches, and one of granite, 2¾ by 3 inches; from Caldwell county, North Carolina, one of granite; and from Montgomery county, North Carolina, three of quartzite. The last four are evidently hammers or pestles. In addition there is a specimen from Jackson county, Illinois, of ferruginous sandstone, 3 inches in diameter. On one side there is a pit and on the other a shallow, mortar-like cavity extending entirely across.

Fig. 106.—Discoidal stone, used as mortar.

Fig. 107.—Discoidal stone, probably used as hammer.

O. One side flat, the other rounded; of convenient size for grasping. In some the bottom is quite smooth. There is sometimes a pit in one or both sides, more frequently in the bottom. They were used as mullers or pestles; in the latter, either the side or the edge may have been the pounding surface. The line between these implements and the cylindrical, dome-topped pestles can not be drawn (see [figure 91]).

District.ABCD
Eastern Tennessee12
Southwestern Wisconsin211
Kanawha valley, West Virginia1
Crittenden county, Arkansas1
Jackson county, North Carolina1
Warren county, Ohio1
Savannah, Georgia2128
KEY:
A = Quartzite.
B = Quartz.
C = Sandstone.
D = Granite.

P. Sides flat; edge convex; same size and use as last.

District.ABCD
Southeastern Tennessee11
Kanawha valley, West Virginia35
Warren county, Ohio1
Madison county, Alabama1
KEY:
A = Quartzite.
B = Quartz.
C = Sandstone.
D = Granite.