This time I found the pestle too (I think)

[tomf]

Creek is not giving up obsidian points but I'm still finding things.

Another 'nutting stone'


.



And a pestle or something. Whatever, it's cool.









Creek finds northern California.

[Jethro355]

Holy Crap! That thing is huge!! I’d say you found THE pestal.

nice find, for sure.

[SurfaceHunter]

Darn shame the end is broken off. Until I saw you holding it I thought Celt but it’s huge. Nice find on it. On your nutting stone I’m not seeing any polish in the divot but the pestle is great

[tomf]

I see what you mean about the divot. I don't think it disqualifies it though. Maybe just not as used as others.

The pestle is a amazing thing.

Very heavy and polished.

I haven't seen one like it before.

There are highly manufactured ones found in this area. Some have flanges and are quite fancy.

But this tusk-shaped one seems quite unique.

Sorry that it's dinged, but at least there is a bit of the grinding end so you can see it's full shape.

[tomf]

Did a bit of googling and found a couple of images of similar pestles.

So, no, it's not unique, but it is very nice.

I would love to know if it is middle or late archaic, like many of the points I find.

[willjo]

On polish in divot, it is no telling how long ago it was used and polish erodes away on that type of stone

[SurfaceHunter]

It might of been 2 sided the break could of been from use maybe a pounding end

[SurfaceHunter]

I’d like to see the broken end to compare it to the rest of it. The material looks like one of my Celts I found. Really heavy stuff. I like the polish it shows

[tomf]

It hadn't occurred to me but I like the idea that it's two ended.

Kind of makes sense, otherwise why work so hard to shape it into a point?

Plus it is clearly worn on both ends.

I'll try and post some close ups of both ends tomorrow.

[gregszybala]

Great find congrats on that pestle in particular!

[Tam]

Very very nice find there

[Lindenmeier-Man]

Yes !

[Whippoorwill]

Nice!

[BabaORiley]

Wow Tom that sure is one heckuva day. I know that the NA's in California had a vast amount of acorns and walnuts that that was used as a large part of their diet. That nutter is a darn nice one and I agree that the divot has worn from erosion. You have a darn nice pair to display there. Great finds man...

[Emaner377]

Awesome finds Tomf!

[redrocks]

Nice! Congrats man .That's a sweet artifact

[JesseJames]

WOW! What a cool tool Tom(maybe basalt). I've never seen one like that, and at first, also thought it looked broken on one end. Looks like it broke a long time ago if it is. It also might be intentional, it sure looks symmetrical to me. Tools often had multiple purposes, and yours looks like it could have been used as an adze or some type of farming tool. The nutting stone is really cool too and I'm thinking made from granite. Check out the smaller tapered end- is it rounded? I can see peck marks all over it, looks like a potential pestle as well which would make sense to me. Dual purpose, complimentary uses. Very neat.
Can you tell us: Did you find them right next to each other? Were they in a meadow or field? Very interested.

[JesseJames]

Very cool. This one was probably left or lost.

[tomf]

This one may of been left close to where it was found.

I think it's too heavy to travel far.

Chances are the people who owned this, lived and used this pestle close to the creeks edge.

There is a chance this pestle was 'killed', which as you probably know, means it was ritually destroyed often on the death of it's owner.

It's such a strong piece of stone that it seems unlikely that the creek could break it the way it is.

It looks like there are two chunks cleanly broken off the blunt end - as if it was wacked against something.

It's a pure guess, though.

[JesseJames]

It's surprising how little it takes to break that hard stone. Strong when used the right way but if used in a wrong way where stresses/percussions are put on the thin/weak parts, it's as fragile as anything(shatters).

[SurfaceHunter]

That type of pestle would of been used on a boulder mortar. If you have any large rocks in the area I’d be looking at them might be some holes on them.

[tomf]

I'm itching to find a bowl mortar and am constantly turning boulders.

One day I'll get lucky.

Also want a real metate.

I think the chronological sequence runs ; metate, bowl mortar, hopper mortar.

I want one an example of each.

[SurfaceHunter]

Those mortars would be huge you wouldn’t be able too roll it. If you find it the campsite will be close. It should be along that creek

[JesseJames]

Also check above the existing creek bed. Erosion and time shift the bed around. The old creek bed banks are probably higher than the current one. Debris tends to fill up the mortars so remove vegetation from likely places.

[SDhunter]

Nice pestle Tom. Congratulations

[tomf]

So I went back to the spot I found the pestle and hunted the mortar.

Believe it or not...

It's cool that it's worn clean through and the shape and size of the divot might match the pestle.

It's a great find.



Also found some obsidian.

Couple of brokes , a little bird point that lost it's tip , a worn biface and some interesting debitage that looks like an aborted attempt at something with notches.

[JesseJames]

Tom that is the coolest. I'm beyond jealous.