hundred. Some of the W estern tribes set 
a conical basket, after removing its bottom, 
within the rim of the mortar bowl to 
serve as a hopper for retaining the meal. 
GROUP OF MORTARS IN GRANITE SURFACE, CALIFORNIA 
( holmes) 
Primitive forms of this utensil are the 
rawhide mortars used by the Plains tribes 
for pounding pemmican, the piece of 
rawhide being 
forced into a de- 
press i o n in the 
ground, forming a 
basin. Again, the 
hide was placed be- 
neath the stone or 
wooden mortar to 
catch the particles 
that fell over. The 
rough basket - like 
receptacle of sticks 
set in the ground by 
of lower Colorado 1 
rudest known form c 
Stone Mortar with Basket 
Hopper; California 
the Yuman tribes 
. is probably the 
if this utensil. In 
‘ ' •Uli/' ‘ 'if".., > \ 
HUPA MORTAR WITH BASKET HOPPERS. (mason) 
size stone mortars vary from that of the 
tiny paint cup found among the toilet 
articles of the warrior to the substan- 
tial basin holding several 
gallons. The larger ones, 
especially those exca- 
v a t e d in . rock masses, 
were probably often 
used for “stone-boiling.” 
(See Food. ) 
The substances pulverized in mortars 
were the various minerals used for paint, 
potsherds and shells for tempering clay, 
etc., medicinal and ceremonial substances 
SMALL PAINT MORTAR, 
HU PA | 1-7 (MASON) 
of many kinds, including tobacco, and a 
wide range of food products, as maize, 
seeds, nuts, berries, roots, bark, dried 
meats, fish, grasshop- 
pers, etc. A note- 
worthy group of paint 
mortars or plates, the 
use of which has here- 
tofore been regarded 
as problematical, are 
described under the 
heading Notched plates. 
The wooden mortar 
was usually made of a 
short section of a log, 
hollowed out at one 
end and in some cases 
sharpened at the other 
for setting in the 
ground ; but the recep- 
tacles were sometimes 
made in the side of a 
log or were cut out as in- 
dividual utensils in basin or trough shape. 
The wooden mortar was in much more gen- 
eral use in districts where suitable stone 
was notavailable, as in Florida^m portions 
of the Mississippi valley, and on lower 
Colorado r. Among the remarkable 
WOODEN MORTAR, GOOOPA 
WOODEN MORTAR, CHIPPEWA; 1-16. (hoffman) 
archeologic finds made by Cushing at Key 
Marco, Fla., are a number of small cup- 
like mortars with mallet-shaped pestles, 
handsomely formed and carefully fin- 
ished. 
Ancient wooden Mor- Wooden Mortar, Iroquois 
tar, Florida; 1-4. (lafitau) 
(cushing) 
Speaking of the Indians of Carolina 
Lawson says: “The savage men neve 
beat their corn to make bread, but that i 
the women’s work, especially the girls, c 
whom you shall see four beating wit 
long great pestles in a narrow woode 
mortar; and everyone keeps her stroke & 
exactly that ’ tis worthy of admiration. 
