FEWKES] ANTIQUITIES OF MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK 41 



face and flat on the opposite; (3) having two faces on each side, sep- 

 arated by a sharp ridge. The third type represents apparently the 

 last stage in the life of a grinding stone the surfaces of which have 

 been worn to this shape by constant use. 



Several flat stones, each having a slight depression on one side, were 

 found to be covered with pigments of various colors, which were 

 ground on their surfaces by means of conical stones, as shown in fig- 

 ure 13. Two rectangular flat stones (pi. 21, i, ;)• with finely polished 

 surfaces and rounded edges have a notch on the rim. Their use is 

 unknown. Nordenskiold refers to similar stones as " moccasin lasts," 

 but there seems no valid reason thus to identify these objects except 

 that they have the general form — although larger — of the sole of the 

 foot. The Spruce-tree House aborigines wore sandals and had no 

 need for lasts. Moreover, so far as known, the Pueblo Indians never 

 made use of an object of this kind in fashioning their moccasins. 



Pounding Stones 



In the course of the excavations a large number of stones having 

 pits in the sides were exhumed, but these are so heavy that they w^ere 

 not sent to Washington. Several of these stones are cubical in form 

 and have lateral pits, one on each of 

 four faces. Some are thick, while 

 others are thin and sharpened at the 

 end like an ax. These stones are prob- 



,1 ,1 1 .,, 1 • 1 Ji Fig. 13. Stone pigment-grinder. 



ably the mauls with which the masons 



dressed the rocks used in the construction of the buildings. With such 



mauls the surfaces of the floors of some ceremonial rooms were cut 



down several inches below the original level. Some of the pounding 



stones resemble in a measure the grinding stones, but in them pits 



replace grooves commonly found in the edge of the latter. 



Corn was usually ground on flat stones called metates which 



were found in considerable numbers. These metates commonly show 



wear on one or both surfaces, and a few specimens have a ridge on 



each border resulting from the wearing down of the middle of the 



stone. 



Cylinder of Polished Hematite 



Among the objects from the ruins of Mesa Yerde figured by Xor- 

 denskiold is one designated a " cylinder of polished hematite, per- 

 haps a fetish." Another stone cylinder closely resembling this was 

 found b}' the present author at Spruce-tree House. This object 

 closely resembles a bead, but as the author has seen similar stones 

 used on Hopi altars, especiall}^ on the altar to the cardinal points, 

 he is inclined to accept the identification suggested by Nordenskiold. 

 On altars to the cardinal points small stones of diiferent shapes 

 and colors are arranged near ears of corn surrounding a medicine 

 69392— Bull. 41—09 4 



