Bell Pestle

A bell pestle is a short pestle shaped like a bell: a rounded or tapering handle above sides that flare out to a broad, flat or slightly convex base, often with a small dimple in the middle of the base. The base may be barely wider than the handle or up to twice its diameter, and Moorehead (1910) notes forms that range from a plain bell to a narrow top over an unusually broad base.

Makers pecked a cobble of tough stone to shape with a hammerstone and then ground it; some handles swell slightly near the top for a firmer grip, and some finished pieces are highly polished (Fowke 1896; Moorehead 1910). Granite and quartzite predominate in Fowke's sample; a cache at Carlston Annis, Kentucky, was mostly limestone with some granite (Kentucky Archaeological Survey).

Fowke (1896) judged that the flat base suited pounding seeds or grain on a flat stone rather than in a hollowed mortar, saw no muller wear on his specimens, and suggested the central pit would hold a nut steady for cracking. Kentucky archaeologists interpret Green River examples as tools for processing seeds and nuts and for preparing plant foods and dyes (Henderson and Burdin 2006). The key trait is a broad, flat base flaring out beneath a narrower handle.

Height 86–127 mm; base 49–95 mm across; weight 245–868 g (n = 4 measured specimens, Ohio History Connection catalog).

Ohio Valley and adjacent valleys, where the short bell-shaped pestle is the prevailing form (Hodge 1910). Fowke (1896) recorded the expanding-base form from northeastern Kentucky, eastern Tennessee, southern Ohio (Ross County and the Miami valley), southwestern Illinois and the Kanawha valley of West Virginia; it is common in the Green River shell middens of western Kentucky.

Identification tips: Stand it on its base: a bell pestle sits upright on a flat or gently rounded bottom that is wider than the handle. Look for a smoothed or lightly pitted base and pecking scars on the sides.

Similar types: A Pestle of conical or cylindrical form has no flare at the base. A Cone is no taller than its base is wide and has no handle (Fowke 1896). A Pitted Stone is a cobble with pits on its faces and no shaped handle.

Naming: Fowke (1896) called it the pestle "with expanding base"; Moorehead (1910) listed bell-shaped pestles as his class C and called them typical of the Ohio Valley.

Dating evidence: Webb listed bell-shaped pestles among the defining traits of Indian Knoll, and the Carlston Annis shell midden (3000–1000 B.C.) held a cache of conical and bell-shaped pestles (Jefferies 2008; Kentucky Archaeological Survey).