Fort McCoy ArtiFACT: Basalt grinding stone

Courtesy Photo | A basalt grinding stone found on a past archaeological dig at Fort McCoy, Wis., is...... read more read more

Courtesy Photo | A basalt grinding stone found on a past archaeological dig at Fort McCoy, Wis., is shown on Aug. 8, 2016. Archaeologists with the Colorado State University (CSU) Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands (CEMML) were investigating an archaeological site near the North Flowage when they uncovered a mano, a type of grinding stone used with a metate to process both wild and cultivated plant foods. Ground stone tools are not commonly found at archaeological sites around Fort McCoy. Between 2013 and 2016, the CEMML archaeologists investigated 162 sites and only 24 of these had ground stone tools. These 24 sites yielded 64 ground stone tools, of which only eight were assumed to be grinding tools associated with food processing. (Contributed photo)  see less | View Image Page

FORT MCCOY, WI, UNITED STATES

11.20.2023

Courtesy Story

Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office           

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Archaeologists with the Colorado State University (CSU) Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands (CEMML) were investigating an archaeological site near the North Flowage when they uncovered a mano, a type of grinding stone used with a metate to process both wild and cultivated plant foods.

The word mano translates from Spanish to mean “hand.” It is a ground stone tool that is held in one or both hands and is most often associated with a larger grinding stone called a metate. The mano is moved back and forth along the metate, which is used as the platform and collection area for the processed plant foods, and results in a crushing, grinding, or pounding of seeds, nuts, or grains to create a powdery substance.

Metate can be translated from Bangla (more commonly called Bengali) as “to meet,” which is quite appropriate considering the mano and metate are used to grind and process plant materials such as nuts and grains. Acorns and hickory nuts are relatively common today at Fort McCoy and were almost certainly processed by the early inhabitants of these lands.

Another commonly known type of plant grinding system that is comparable to the mano and metate is the mortar (metate) and pestle (mano), which also crushes, grinds, or pounds nuts and grains into a powder for use in cooking.

A mano is a type of ground stone artifact, which means that the stone object is ground down or smoothed to the desired shape. Conversely, artifacts such as projectile points such as spear points, arrowheads, and most animal processing tools are flaked stone tools that are fashioned by chipping off pieces of the tool stone to work it down to the desired shape and size.

Other examples of ground stone tools include adzes, axes, and hammerstones. An adze is a chopping tool used for woodworking, often in making watercraft such as canoes. An axe is used to harvest timber; shape, split, and cut wood; butcher animals; dig the ground; as a weapon; and sometimes as a ceremonial object.

A hammerstone is exactly what its name implies and is used for fashioning flaked stone tools. Hammerstones are used to make flaked tools such as spearpoints, arrow heads, knives, and scraping tools. Grinding is also used frequently in creating flaked stone tools, helping the maker direct the force through the raw stone tool material to remove specific parts toward creating the desired final product.

Ground stone tools are generally made of basalt, rhyolite, or granite which are not locally available at Fort McCoy. Local sedimentary rocks such as limestone and sandstone can be used for grinding but are not nearly as durable or reliable as the non-local igneous materials which can be found in the vicinity of Black River Falls.

Ground stone tools are not commonly found at archaeological sites around Fort McCoy; between 2013 and 2016 the CEMML archaeologists investigated 162 sites and only 24 of these had ground stone tools. These 24 sites yielded 64 ground stone tools, of which only eight were assumed to be grinding tools associated with food processing. This is a small number when compared to the thousands of waste flakes and the flaked stone tools from which they were removed.

Finding less common artifacts such as grinding stones associated with food processing helps archaeologists understand the range of activities which occurred at specific locations, which leads to more confidence in how best to protect and manage the historic resources within the installation lands.

Less common artifacts increase the potential that future research at an archaeological site will help answer important questions about people in the past and how they interacted with their environment and are frequently considered more significant than sites which lack that potential.

Archaeologists at Fort McCoy are often tasked with making recommendations about whether archaeological sites deserve to be protected from a variety of common ground-disturbing activities which are undertaken across the installation, and rare finds like the grinding stone featured here are important considerations that help archaeological researchers make strong recommendations for historic preservation.

All archaeological work conducted at Fort McCoy was sponsored by the Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch.

Visitors and employees are reminded they should not collect artifacts on Fort McCoy or other government lands and leave the digging to the professionals.

Any individual who excavates, removes, damages, or otherwise alters or defaces any post-contact or pre-contact site, artifact, or object of antiquity on Fort McCoy is in violation of federal law.

The discovery of any archaeological artifact should be reported to the Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch at 608-388-8214.

Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on the Defense Visual Information Distribution System at https://www.dvidshub.net/fmpao, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”

Also try downloading the Digital Garrison app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base. Fort McCoy is also part of Army’s Installation Management Command where “We Are The Army’s Home.”

(Article prepared by the Fort McCoy Archaeology Team.)