Page:The Pima Indians.pdf/114

] metates were counted on the ground (every one had been intentionally broken), and there must have been a much larger number beneath the surface. Some of those found in the Hohokam ruins are of lava and have legs several inches in length. Most of these are hollowed out, as are those of the Hopis, whereas the metates of the Pimas are perfectly flat on the top from side to side, being slightly concave formfrom [sic] end to end (fig. 28). They are of coarse-grained rock from the surrounding hills and never carved or provided with legs. They vary in weight from 20 to 200 pounds and are carried about the premises as needed, never being set in bins, as among the Pueblo tribes. Their grinding surface is sharpened or roughened by pecking with a stone ax, or with a similarly shaped stone if an ax is not obtainable.



The muller is of lava or of stone similar to that of the metate itself. It is longer than that used by the Hohokam, so that the entire upper surface of the metate is worn down. It is not shaped into a rectangular bar, as is that found in the ruins. Indeed, the writer saw few that showed any evidence of having been shaped in any manner except through use.

The stone pestle is used in every Pima household to crush the mesquite bean and other seeds in the wooden mortars. The pestle varies in size from the small stone the size of one's finger to the great