ANCIENT PUEBLOS OF UPPER GILA EEGION. 



15 



example of a series of such depressions was seen on a large block of 

 stone near Tiilarosa Cave. 



"Worked stones connected with household uses or architecture were 

 observed at the Delgar ruin, on the lower Tularosa. They consist 



Fig. 9. — Stone mortar from 

 Spuk Ranch. 



Fig. 8. — Grinding stones from Blue. 

 of several subconical blocks like the seats described by Dr. J. Walter 

 Fewkes from Four Mile Euin ; ^ a conical stone about 15 inches high ; 



and a number of large stone disks chipped 

 on the edge. Objects of this character were 

 not found in any other ruins. 



MORTARS AND PESTLES. 



No large well-finished pestles are found 

 in this region, and on the whole this imple- 

 ment was merely a thing of utility receiving 

 scant treatment in the way of working out 

 and finishing. Most of the pestles were 

 made from stones which approached the shape desired and necessi- 

 tated little labor to reduce them to the size required. 

 Mortars are small and rarely has much care been 

 given by the stoneworker to secure accuracy of form 

 or smoothness of finish. A more specific description 

 of a mortar and pestle from the Spur Ranch, Luna, 

 New Mexico, follows: 



Bowl-shaped mortar of breccia, irregularly worked 

 on the exterior. (Fig. 9.) The working cavity is 

 very regular, is 5| inches in diameter and 3f inches 

 deep. An oblong cylindroid of fine grain, almost 

 white stone, found in the same room with the mortar, 

 but not in close association with it, is perhaps the 

 pestle. It is 5f inches long and 2 by 2f inches in 

 diameter, the end smooth and rounded, and the sides fig. lo. 

 showing marks of the pecking required to bring it 

 into shape. It has two shallow pits in the surface, 

 probably to facilitate gripping by the hand. (Fig. 10, Cat. No. 

 231886, U.S.N.M.) Such mortars were probablv used for pounding 



-Pestle 

 FROM Spur 

 Ranch. 



1 Two Summers' Work in Pueblo Ruins, 22d Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethnology, 1900- 

 1901 (1904), plate 65. 



