16 



BULLETIN" 87, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Fig. 11. — CAR^'ED stone vessel from Solomonsville. 



yucca and other leaves for fiber, crushing leaves and roots for in- 

 fusions, and for comminuting such materials not suitable for reduc- 

 tion on the grinding slab. The Pueblo mortar is never large and was 



not used for the prepara- 

 tion of food, but was 

 employed for a number 

 of small tasks as occasion 

 required. Generally they 

 were not portable, being 

 formed in neighboring 

 rock masses wherever the 

 conditions were favor- 

 able. 



STONE VESSELS. 



In the Upper Gila 

 Valley (Pueblo Viejo 

 Valley) there are encoun- 

 tered somewhat fre- 

 quently stone vessels of 



superior workmanship, the material being very hard, the form very 



characteristic, and the finish excellent. They are oblong, terminating 



in projections at both ends (fig. 11). This vessel was also probably 



a form of mortar for small quantities of material. 



(Cat. No. 238437, U.S.N.M.) 

 Another small stone mortar (fig. 12) is of gray 



tufaceous rock and has a small projection on one 



fcide, forming the handle. The specimen was 



found in a grave containing worked shell objects. 



(See fig. 12, Cat. No. 231823, U.S.N.M.; diameter, fig. 12.— small stone 



^o-l i-i.^i'l rt T» l,T VESSEL FROM S P U U 



If inches; height, 1^ inches; Spur Kanch, Luna, ranch. 



New Mexico; and fig. 13.) 



A stone cup, neatly worked from gray tufaceous rock, and having 



side walls and flat bottom, is shown in figure 13. (Cat. No. 231965, 



U.S.N.M.; diameter, 2| inches; height, IJ inches; 



Spur Kanch, Luna, New Mexico.) In many 



cases natural stones, mostly concretionary, with 



cavities of a shape suggesting use as vessels, have 



been found in the ruins. 



„ „ Fisaire 14 illustrates a stone vessel made from 



Fig. 13. — Small stonh o . 



VESSEL PKOM spue vcf^ hard, fine-grained, gray limestone, smoothly 

 ^^^*^"- finished. The working surface is evenly curved 



and polished. It is possible that this vessel was used for grind- 

 ing paint, but the surface sliows no such wear. Stone vessels of 



