Hillbilly Mom, Archaeology Woman

Here are today's finds from our
creekwalking tour. You may say,
"Whoop-ti-do! HM found some
rocks in the creek! Ain't she
OH SO SPECIAL?" Don't mock
me, people! This is history from


my back yard! I don't know which time period in history, because,
um...that was my worst subject.



Anyhoo, these look to me like
stones that were used to grind
seeds or nuts. The ones I
Googled had bigger holes.
Maybe these stones were used
to sharpen or shape something.


That one on the left, with two, almost three holes, has a little grinder
part there above it that fits the holes exactly. Somebody, please, for
the love of Gummi Mary, tell me you know something about this.

The closest thing I found to these is called an "anvil". It has the
same kind of small shallow holes. My resource is in Adobe and
I don't know how to link it. It says these stones may have been
used to grind ocher as a pigment for use in hides or burial or
marking pottery. Go figure. There is a red ocher pigment that
I think is related to hematite, which is plentiful in these parts.

Other people say these are rocks formed by erosion, but I don't
think so. They have also been called "nutting stones" or "cupstones"
or maybe were used for shaping something.

The smaller one, on the right, fits neatly into a right hand, and the
little hole has a slant to it like the person using the grinding stick
used the left hand to hold the stick.

Whatever they are, they appear human-made to me. I think I'll
keep them. Better in my mansion than in the creek bed.