l8 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 70 



from a fragment of a broken muller. The absence of these common 

 North American implements is, in itself, significant; especially so, 

 since suitable stone was not entirely lacking. It means either that 

 the aborigines had not yet discovered the feasibility of stone axes — 

 which is almost unbelievable, considering their advancement in 

 other lines — or that they were still content to use other weapons and 

 to employ fire in felling the larger timbers utilized in the construc- 

 tion of their dwellings and associated structures. 



Most of the metates, or stones on which corn, etc., was crushed, 

 are of a type peculiar to western Utah. They consist of fairly large 

 basaltic boulders and are generally but little worked, excepting the 

 upper surface. The exceptional feature of these metates is the small, 

 secondary area adjoining the grinding surface and at that end of the 

 stone which would have been elevated while in use. It is usually, 

 though not always, concave, but whether it was designed as a rest for 

 the muller or intended primarily as a container for ground meal 

 is still problematical. It would have answered either purpose, al- 

 though not absolutely essential to the efficient use of the metate. 

 The small basin does not customarily appear on stone mills found 

 elsewhere.^ 



Traces of red paint on both metates and mullers illustrate the 

 readiness with which primitive man employed his various utensils 

 in the task at hand. Red ochre was collected along the foothills, 

 brought to the village and pulverized for use in bodily adornment 

 and the ornamentation of pottery, etc. The frequency with which 

 paint-covered mullers are found indicates that the quantity of 

 natural pigment employed by the ancient people of Paragonah was 

 not inconsiderable. It is not apparent that they employed special 

 mortars and pestles in the preparation of paints as was done at 

 Zuiii and elsewhere. 



The pottery exposed by the expedition of 1917 is much the same 

 as that found during the excavations of the two preceding years. 

 A majority of the shards recovered are of plain ware ; corrugated 

 vessels were evidently less common than in ruins farther north. 

 These fragments, however, taken with those which bear traces of 

 ornamentation, are sufficient to indicate the development of the 

 ceramic art among these house builders and to establish a cultural 

 affinity between them and the ancient people south and east of the 



^ The writer's atiention has been called to a similar metate discovered on the 

 outskirts of Moab in Grand County, Utah, by Dr. A. V. Kidder of Harvard 

 University. 



