Polished Discoidal or nutting stone?

[farmerwayne]

And what's with the paint?

[G10+]

isnt that a fire starting stone ? there are two of them to a set , one for the top of the stick and one for the bottom " to hold vertical"

[farmerwayne]

Yes it very well could be a friction stone ! Duh never crossed my mind LOL. I have lots of stones with smooth indentions ,that I have found,but this one came from estate auction.  Never seen one polished before.  My finds are ruff texture. Thanks .

[painshill]

Hi Wayne
Unless you are able to rub any of those markings off (try that pointy end at the extreme left perhaps) then I would say it's part of the mineral composition of the cobble itself. If that's the case the the centre area of the 'ring' may well have had a mineral inclusion of some kind, or a softer area which acted as a starter hole for subsequent enlargement by someone.
What's the other side like? Is it just rounded and smooth?

[G10+]

I was holding one the other day , not mine . but it look almost identical to yours. awesome piece ! thanks for sharing.

[farmerwayne]

It's not coming off tried pencil eraser,alcohol,bleach I give.  Could it be fake I've been burned before! Thanks for you trouble.

[Hoss]

I have seen them called by all of these names.. Cupston, Nuttingstone, Muller, Pittedstone. First ones I found we called them pitted stones in Connecticut. I have also used Muller as a term and Nuttingstone. Cupstone is a relativly new term for me although it has been in use for a very long time in other parts of the US. I have also heard ones with a depression on each side called Bipolar Pitted stones.

[Hoss]

Could it be asphaltum? I have seen remnants of the material on points and an axe head once.

[painshill]

farmerwayne wrote:

It's not coming off tried pencil eraser,alcohol,bleach I give.  Could it be fake I've been burned before! Thanks for you trouble.

  Wayne, no I'm not suggesting it's a fake. Only that the colouration is inherent to the rock itself and probably has little significance to its use as an artefact. It is often the case that artefacts are made from rocks which already have natural features that are helpful. The geology of that cobble just looks like it already some concentric features which made it easier for a circular cup to be created - either by enlargement of a smaller depression that already existed or by grinding out some inclusion within that dark ring. Nothing wrong with that.
I'm encouraged to see that the base is flattened. Both the base and the cup definitely look to be ground.
It's a very nice artefact.

[farmerwayne]

Thanks hoss, yes those in the second pic has depression on the other side as well . It makes it easier when you find them your self .  Not so complicated.

[farmerwayne]

I don't know what asphaltum is.

[farmerwayne]

Gotcha, learned a lot in the last month thanks so much Roger

[gregszybala]

That is one pretty nutting stone! As to the rest of them, what do they grow on trees down there and fall off like apples? There are rocks all over around here but yet to find one nutting stone. Nice collection.
Was going to suggest paint, it was used as a doorstop, but looks like Painshill has the correct answer!

[farmerwayne]

Greg, there are no rocks here at all for miles .  The stones and points we find here came from Illinois and Crowley Ridge. When you see a rock your in luck! Thanks for the kind words.

[G10+]

OK yall, LMAO what is a nuting stone !, I could have looked it up but thought I would give  yall a gigle by asking :laugh:  :laugh: