Manufacturing Costs of Long Pestles in Late Period Central California: Results from Replicative Experiments

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Formal Models and Experimental Archaeology of Ground Stone Milling Technology" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The shift to mortars and pestles is associated with the acorn-based resource intensification in central California, which is also linked with decreased mobility and changes in social organization. Many long (>35 cm) and completely shaped pestles are associated with Late period California (cal AD 1265–1770) contexts, particularly burials, and also appear in a number of ethnohistoric photos of women pounding acorn. Given the central role these tools played in daily life, and the personal connection they seem to have had with individuals, we sought to learn more about their manufacturing costs and sequence of manufacture. Our initial attempts to manufacture basalt pestles met with a very high failure rate (75%); suitable raw materials were also difficult to find. In comparison, here, we also present the results of a subsequent series of graywacke manufacturing experiments designed to understand how raw material selection may significantly impact manufacturing success, as well as the operator skill. Moreover, we explore the sequence of pestle manufacture with respect to specific debris that may be left behind in the archaeological record.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• Formal Models and Experimental Archaeology of Ground Stone Milling Technology

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 31992