MATERIAL CULTURE
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Stone Tools
Artifacts confirm the importance of animal and plant food processing.
The most direct evidence of hunting (and potentially of armed conflict)
comes in the form of arrow points. Archaeologists generally lump
hunting points and weapon points together under the term “projectile
points.” Eight projectile points were recovered from El Macayo.
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| Sample of projectile
Points from El Macayo »Enlarge |
There was also a number of hide processing tools - scrapers and
drills - along with a bifacial knife. Stone tools such as these
were created by chipping the edges of the rock to form a working
blade with a desired angle and sharpness.
Archaeologists also collected manos and metates, grinding stones
that were used to process grain and other plant foods. Metates are
the large stones that rest on the ground surface; the smaller handstones
or manos (“hands”) are drawn across the metate
surface, crushing the grain and seeds between them. As the mano
is drawn back and forth, grain and seeds are reduced to a flour
consistency. The degree of fineness is a product of the amount of
grinding and the coarseness of the stone being used. Portions of
eighteen different metates were recovered from the living area at
El Macayo, and several were associated with a single house. Most
of these were either basin-shaped or flat slabs that would have
been used to grind hard-kernelled seeds and wild grains. Only one
trough style metate was found; this form would have been used to
process softer grains such as corn (maize). Most of the manos were
also forms that would have been used to grind more resistant seeds.
Thus the grinding tools support the patterns reflected in the pollen
and flotation data—that wild resources were a key element
in the local diet.
Another line of evidence that supports the importance of wild resources
comes from the contents of the ceramic vessels included in some
of the burials. These pots were tested for pollen and for any oils
that may have transferred from the contents into the clay body of
the vessel. The results indicated that various wild plants and maize
had been stored in the vessels—probably when they were interred
with the person.
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