Use Wear Pattern

[Ron Kelley]

I have never experimented with tool making. I know that many members have done some tool making and I hope that someone can explain this use wear pattern. The hammerstone is 3 1/4 inches long, 2 1/2 inches wide on the wide end and 1 inch wide on the narrow end. The hammerstone is 1 3/4 inches thick and weighs 12.2 ounces. On both sides of the hammerstone the use wear is in a narrow central area. The use wear widens at the end. I hope that my first picture has captured the use wear. In the second and third pictures I have outlined the use wear.

[greg blood]

I have done quite a bit of knapping and the narrowness of that use pattern does match anything this rock breaker has done!
It is a definite pattern.

[Hoss]

it looks like the stone was picked for the purpose and they stuck with the plan till the job was done and left it for you to scratch your head about Ron. Sure is a strange pattern maybe someone will come up with something.  I sure can't! Thank for the head scratch er brother.

[JoshMathews]

Could it have been in a handle ?  Rock wedges drove in to keep it tight  may have wore it like that.   Its a guess though.  Useing it with a stone chisel  could have done it.    Percision  nut cracking ,,lol       .  I wish i knew enough to be helpful.  Nice hammer stone though...         You can tell they used it.

[lukecreekwalker]

Could this be an atlatl loafstone?   Sorry just a guess.  Looks like some of the ones I have seen for sale online.

[waterglass]

Could it have been a sort of a sceptre? As in a rock fastened into a handle for fighting or throwing? Throwing sticks are weighted at one end, but 12oz seems a bit much for that type of hunting tool.

[OnewiththewilD]

ive made a bunch of pecked hardstone tools.my guess is it was going to be a grooved weight but someone gave up on it. maybe the stone was to hard to work?  i have a couple in my rockpile that look exactly like that,lol.

[lukecreekwalker]

Isn't a loafstone a grooved weight?  I can't really find any info on them.  I saw one for sale that looks a lot like this one.  Sorry if I am wrong I am trying lol.  It's a neat piece