Closeup on the grinding operation. |
Of course, grinding stuff on stone grinders is nothing new. It is in fact quite old and just recently, we visited Montezuma's Castle in Arizona where a number of stone grinders were on exhibit.
The stone grinders in the American Southwest are known as Mano and Metate, the metate being the large flat stone and the smaller one you grind with is called the Mano.
A slightly different arrangement visible throughout California are large flat boulders that were used for grinding acorns, a staple food in much of California before the arrival of the Europeans. Unlike the metate which is flat, the grind stones for acorns have conical pits in them. This prevents the acorns from spreading about. Any that escape in the grinding process can be easily swept back into the hole.
And here is a long view of the grinding rock. Note that the rock had a number of pits in it and so had room for a number of women to go about their grinding in a sociable way. The rock also happens to be conveniently located in a flat area surrounded by oaks.
No comments:
Post a Comment