Whetstone?

[Hoss]

I found this item many years ago at a dig site? The edges are very smooth as if it was used to hone or polish something . Not sure about the tallies either. This was found at a site where I found a few Stanley points. It is quite different maybe a tie on Atlatl. Looking for others to comment please.

[cgode]

Interesting piece Matt. Are there marks on the other side as well?.....and how big is it, we have nothing to give it size.
I would guess some type of abraider, shaft straightener maybe?.....I'm just throwing my initial thoughts at ya, I have never seen anything like it personally.

[Hoss]

The other side is similar sorry for the lack of information. It is 1 and 1/2 wide 4" long and the ends were broken off so that does not help me either. It is 5/16th thick on average. I prize this find as it almost looks more like it was engraved. I will post a pick of the other side. I apologize the pics are not that good.

[cgode]

The pic isn't bad, at least it's in focus...lol......If it were an abraiding stone type of thing, why would they have made multiple chanels to abraid?.......soooo......thqat doesn't make sense....NOT an abraiding stone.
The marks on your piece Matt, are evenly spaced and at the same angles to each other....starting at both ends....there are some that appear random but there is definately a purposeful arrangement to most of them. I would say yes, it is engraved. What purpose it served I have no idea but isn't engraved/decorated items more for show and less for "work".....a ceremonial piece??????

[shartis]

Here is a couple that are similiar

[ksrocks]

Maybe to record or document times or events that were of importance to them. Is a very unique artifact, if found with Stanly possibly very old Archaic piece! Nice find!
Joe.

[shartis]

might have been used to grind down the bases of points. Just a thought I really don't have a clue

[CMD]

For abrading stones in general, the material preferences, at least in New England, are argillite, sandstone, and schist. I'm guessing either schist or sandstone on the piece you show, Hoss. I have a sandstone abrading stone that shows use as a whetstone, but it also has grooves. The grooves on such stones are thought to have been used for sharpening bone awls. I suspect that was the case for this one:

In the case of your stone, Hoss, I'm not sure if they were functional or, as you suspect, engraved.
In the case of the larger of the 2 examples shown by Sam, I would guess sharpening grooves, but I'm really guessing all around on these

[Hoss]

Thank you all so far. I will get more shots with a ruler next to it and post them. This thing is very unusual. Charlie yes I think schist.

[shartis]

Here are a couple found by a friend of mine on a site we hunt. The first one is soap stone and looks like it may have been the rim of a bowl. The marks may just be decloration on that one. Thought the markings looked similiar to Hosses

[ksrocks]

Charlie -and- Matt found these here in KS. would you consider them abraders or wet stones?? These are very soft sand stone.
Joe.

[ksrocks]

All of yours very interesting Samuel. Some strange markings but do look like abraters, very nice.
Joe

[CMD]

This is an interesting thread. Nice examples Sam and Joe! Hoss, I just read this entry in A Handbook of Indian Artifacts from Southern New England(Fowler, 1976, revised by Hoffman, 1991) It describes a type of abrading stone known as Rubbed/Rubbing Stones. The illustration shown in Hoffman's revision is poor and does not resemble your stone at all. But check out the end of the entry for this artifact type: "They are usually bar-shaped blocks or slabs of soft stones which have been roughly shaped. They often show parallel striations across one or more of their surfaces indicating rubbing wear. Some have been decorated with incision. Their function is unknown." Obviously what jumped out at me was "some have been decorated with incision."
Joe, your stones look like some type of abrading stone. It's a case where all whetstones are abrading stones, but not all abrading stones are whetstones. The New England guide I'm using lists these as all being types of abrading stones: Abrading stone, whetstone, shaft abrader, sinewstone, and Rubbed/Rubbing stone. Just based on the illustrations in this particular guide, Joe, your stones most resemble shaft abraders. But again, I'm no expert, and I'm only using a small sample of illustrations

[Hoss]

The one on the left looks like they were trying to cut the stone in half. Is it worked like that all the way around? The other two I am not sure on.

[Hoss]

CMD wrote:

This is an interesting thread. Nice examples Sam and Joe! Hoss, I just read this entry in A Handbook of Indian Artifacts from Southern New England(Fowler, 1976, revised by Hoffman, 1991) It describes a type of abrading stone known as Rubbed/Rubbing Stones. The illustration shown in Hoffman's revision is poor and does not resemble your stone at all. But check out the end of the entry for this artifact type: "They are usually bar-shaped blocks or slabs of soft stones which have been roughly shaped. They often show parallel striations across one or more of their surfaces indicating rubbing wear. Some have been decorated with incision. Their function is unknown." Obviously what jumped out at me was "some have been decorated with incision."
Joe, your stones look like some type of abrading stone. It's a case where all whetstones are abrading stones, but not all abrading stones are whetstones. The New England guide I'm using lists these as all being types of abrading stones: Abrading stone, whetstone, shaft abrader, sinewstone, and Rubbed/Rubbing stone. Just based on the illustrations in this particular guide, Joe, your stones most resmble shaft abraders. But again, I'm no expert, and I'm only using a small sample of illustrations

I am wondering now if that could have been for hide preparations. It is very smooth except for the grooves. The grooves may have been for a better grip on the stone as it became smoother and smoother from treating the hides.