Fig. 16 and 17. × 1/2. The lower ends of pestles. Fig. 18. × 1/2. Stone used for hammer with depression for fingers. Fig. 19. × 1/2. A new type of implement of unknown use.
The 17 fragments of pestles of usual shape were fairly uniformly distributed throughout all the strata, as was the case with the mortars. However, 7 of these came from stratum II alone. There were no peculiarities to be noted in the fragments as to their forms. They were about 2-1/2 inches thick and were rounded off at the lower end. The upper end sometimes tapered after a conical swelling immediately next the grinding surface. They were cut straight off at the upper end, unless indeed the abruptly cut surface is the result of a previous breaking. Sharply pointed or button-like ornamentations at the upper ends which are usual in those found in California[[70]] were not noticed. Figures 15 to 17 show three fragments,—1-8882, 1-8597, and 1-8666 from strata VIII, II, and from the cut A. Of these, the first illustrates the upper end of a pestle, the other two, lower ends.
The little object 1-8620 from stratum II, [plate 12], fig. 11, seems to be best included under pestle stones. It is made of fine grained stone, which would point to its use for more delicate purposes. It is a truncated cone, with oval section, 1-1/8 inches wide and 1-3/16 inches thick. The lower base is slightly arched and, as can plainly be seen, is scratched slightly by use; a small middle cavity in the narrow upper surface shows traces of asphaltum. It may have been used as a pestle.
[69] Observations on the cup-shaped sculpture in Contrib. to North American Ethnology, 1882, V, fig. 39, with p. 47 repeated by Stephen D. Peet in The Moundbuilders, 1892, I, p. 5, fig. 5.
[70] Putnam, l. c., pp. 87-89; Moorehead, l. c., p. 290.
4. Hammer-like Stones.
Strangely enough, only two such implements were found in this mound, while in the West Berkeley mound several that conclusively belonged to this class were unearthed.
One of these, a boulder stone the size of one’s fist, oval in shape and flattened, was found in the lowest stratum, X. The marks of blows making the side edges uneven show its use as a hammer. The other, 1-8720, fig. 18, from stratum IV, is one of the familiar type having a groove for the insertion of the fingers. It is a stone 3-1/4 inches long, 3 inches wide, and of an uneven thickness not exceeding 1-5/8 inches, flattened off at its thickest (lower) end. There is a depression in each of the broad sides. The surface of the indentations is dotted with small holes. Similar stones have been found in many places in the United States,—in New Jersey, Pennsylvania,[[71]] on the Aleutians,[[72]] and elsewhere. Abbott has pointed out the fact that the edges of some of these stones could not very well have been used for hammering since they do not show the signs of such usage. The stone in question was evidently used in two ways,—as a hammer at the lower flat surface, which is from five-eighths to 1-1/8 inches wide and in this case provided with indentations serving for the insertion of the finger; and as a hammer at the flat sides for the driving of stakes, etc., in which case it was grasped by the rims. The pits in the depressions were probably the result of this latter use of the implement. The writer has noticed that just such flat stones were used in Bolivia for the driving of stakes, and there, too, the broad side which gave the blow was pitted. The material used is hard sandstone.