Illustrated Catalogue Of The Collections Obtained From The Indians Of New Mexico Part 4

These are found in use at all the pueblos, but are more common in Zuni and the Moki villages than elsewhere, as these Indians use mineral pigments more extensively and in greater variety than any of the others.

The pestles and mortars obtained from these tribes are all too small to be used for any other purpose than grinding pigments. Many of them appear to be quite old, and were probably handed down from distant ancestors, or obtained from the ruins. Some of them are evidently of modern manufacture.

83. (40707). Mortar; a round, flat, quartzitic boulder with round cavity on one side about one inch in diameter and half an inch deep, and a square depression on the other about an inch deep and two inches in width; indigo still clinging to the surface of the depression.

84. (40708). Mortar of quartzite, the body nearly square and flat; depression round and about four inches in diameter, quite shallow.

85. (40709). Mortar of coa.r.s.e-grained sandstone, almost perfectly round, the cavity quite deep, and lined with red ochre or vermilion.

86. (40710). Mortar of a flat sandstone with irregular rim about four inches in diameter.

87. (40711). Paint mortar of a small round quartz boulder.

88. (40712). Mortar of fine-grained sandstone about six inches long by three wide; sides square. This mortar was in use by the Zunians for the purpose of grinding a pigment of yellowish impure clay, colored by the oxide of iron, with which they decorate their pottery, and which produces the brown and reddish-brown colors.

89. (40713). Small mortar of sandstone.

90. (40714). Mortar made from a flat water-worn quartz boulder with a circular depression about half an inch deep. The bottom of this mortar shows evidence of its having been used as a grinding stone previous to being converted into a mortar, or it may have been used for both purposes, as both the paint cavity and the rubbing side show recent use.

91. (40715). Paint mortar of basalt, used for grinding the yellow pigment for ornamenting pottery; about four inches in diameter, cavity about one inch deep, bottom ground flat.

92. (40716). Flat paint mortar, of quartz rock, almost round, about an inch thick, depression quite shallow; used for grinding a pigment of azurite or carbonate of copper, small nodules of which they collect at copper mines. This pigment is used in painting and decorating wooden images and G.o.ds.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 353 (40731) (?) Fig. 355 (42245) (?) Fig. 354 (42266) (?) Fig. 357 (40808) () Fig. 356 (41289) Fig. 358 (42272) () Figs. 353-358.--Stone Implements from Zuni.]

93. (40717). Mortar similar to the above, and used for the same purpose.

94. (40718). Paint mortar made from a large irregularly round ferruginous sandstone. Used in pulverizing a reddish pigment for decorating pottery.

95. (40719). Mortar of a globular shape, made from a coa.r.s.e-grained sandstone, used for grinding or mixing vermilion.

96. (40720). Paint mortar of sandstone. The whole mortar is only about an inch thick; made from a section of an old metate rubber.

97. (40722). Paint mortar of quartzite; blue pigment grinder. Size about four by three inches. This, like many of the flat mortars, has been first used as a rubbing stone and subsequently converted into a paint mortar.

98. (40723). Mortar made from a quartz boulder.

99. (40724). Sandstone mortar.

100. (40725). Paint mortar of sandstone, very flat.

101. (40726). Paint mortar, with oblong shallow depression; sandstone.

102. (40728). Square paint mortar; cavity about half an inch deep; sandstone impregnated with iron. Quartzitic pestle accompanying it.

103. (40729). Paint mortar of quartzite; almost square; depression almost worn through by use; quartz pebble pestle accompanying it.

104. (40730). Small round paint mortar of basalt, with white quartz pebble pestle.

105. (40731). Fig. 353. Paint mortar and pestle of quartz, with a k.n.o.b on the end, which serves as a handle. This mortar was used in grinding an azurite pigment.

106. (40732). Mortar shaped somewhat like a ladle; the projecting end is provided with a small groove out of which the paint is poured.

107. (40733). Small sandstone mortar.

108. (40864). Paint mortar of sandstone.

109. (40868). Paint mortar of basalt, almost square.

110. (40869). Flat, square sandstone paint mortar; black water-worn pebble for pestle.

111. (40907). Chili or red pepper mortar of very porous lava rock; oval bottom, shallow cavity, about four inches thick and eight in diameter.

These lava mortars may have been used for other purposes, but at the present time the Indians use them in crus.h.i.+ng the pods and seeds of red pepper, and occasionally for crus.h.i.+ng parched corn. They are quite common.

112. (40908). Food mortar of lava rock; square with flat bottom.

Mortars of this kind are used in crus.h.i.+ng grain and seeds.

113. (42272). Fig. 358. Paint mortar of very hard, fine-grained sandstone. The specimen is a very fair type of all the square paint mortars and pestles. The depression is often square instead of round.

In grinding pigments the Indians generally move the pestle backward and forward instead of around as is done by our druggists.

114. (41273). Small sandstone paint mortar, much like the preceding.

115. (40227). Small egg-shaped paint pestle of white quartz. The general name of these in Zuni is _ah-shoc-ton-ne_.

116. (42276). Flat sandstone, circular and about five inches in diameter; used as a quoit; originally a rubbing stone.

_MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS._

117. (39755). Eight specimens not very well defined. They are flint flakes, showing, by their shape, that they were designed for sc.r.a.pers and groovers, being flat or slightly concave on one side and oval on the other.

118. (41289). Fig. 356. This is a sandstone mould for shaping metal into such forms as suit the fancy of the Indians for bridle and other ornaments; one cavity is rectangular, about four inches long by one in width; the other about two inches in diameter. Silver, which has long been a metal of traffic among these tribes, is the one which is usually melted down for ornamental purposes. After it is taken from the mould it is beaten thin, then polished.

119. (41290). Is a portion of the same mould, with one cavity square and the other in the shape of a spear-head.

120, 121. (42266), Fig. 354, and (42267), are crucibles, which were used in connection with the moulds for melting silver and other metals.

Many other ornaments are made in the same manner.

122. (40808). Fig. 357. This is a large, rudely chipped spear-head of mica schist, obtained at Zuni, which was carried in the hand of one of the performers in a dance. It does not show any evidences of having been used in any other way. They called it _ah'-chi-an-teh-a-hla_.

123. (42245). Fig. 355. Handsomely-shaped and well-polished skinning knife of a remarkably fine-grained silicious slate. Above the shoulders on one side it is worn off to an oval surface, and is flat on the other.

124. (40915). Round sandstone, which is called a gaming stone; it is quite round, and bears the same name in Zuni as the pestle, _ah-ka-mon-ne_.

125. (40916). Quartz stone, flat and rounded at the ends as a sort of last to keep moccasins in shape while being sewed; called _ya'-lin-ne_.

126. (41239). String of alabaster beads, _tem-thla_.

127. (41240). Charm, representing the upper part of the body and head of a bird.