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ASM Occasional Electronic Papers No. 1: Homol'ovi IV Chapter Nine:
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Axe and Maul
The nub of a battered, tipless 3/4 grooved axe was recovered from the fill of structure 301(see Figure 9.7). It is made from gray basalt, a material used in 85% of stone axes at Homol'ovi and probably traed from the Point of Pines region (melaniphy 2000). A larger whole specimen of a comparable material was recovered from a room shrine at the site of Homol'ovi II. The Homol'ovi IV axe, however, due to its extensive use and context of disposal, lacked any recognizable ritual function. Instead it appeared to have functioned as a chopping and pounding tool that was used until it was too short to resharpen.
The 3/4 groove design also links it, at least morphologically, to axes commonly found in the Mogollon Mountains to the south (Melaniphy 2000). The lack of volcanic materials in the immediate area of the site and the ubiquity of axes in the south suggest that some form of exchange may have brought it into the site.
A quartzite cobble maul was removed from the fill of structure 2 (figure 9.7). This artifact was chipped and frosted from use as a battering tool. It was designed with a full groove.
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Palettes
Four tabular flat stones possessed ground pigment stains (see Figure 9.8). Three had red hematite staining and one a rich yellow limonite residue. All had been burned. The term palette describes the function of pigment grinding rather than the morphology of these objects. They did not exhibit recognizably formalized attributes. They had neither raised borders defining the grinding areas, nor decorations of any kind. They were flat rocks used in an expedient fashion to grind pigments. It is not clear why they were burned. This may have been the result of ritual behavior or may have been a secondary use unrelated to the grinding. Palettes identified from the sites of Homol'ovi II and III have been equally informal tabular stones (Logan and Fratt 1993).
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Stone Bowl
A small, circular argillite bowl was recovered from the floor of structure 301 (Figure 9.9). The artifact is whole measuring 4.5 cm high, 6 cm in diameter, and approximately 0.5 cm thick at the rim. The argillite is of a fine quality and a qualitative assessment suggests its origin was the Verde or Prescott Valley to the southwest of the Homol'ovi region. Because it is a rare object of exotic material, recovered whole and still usable, its abandonment appears to be intentional. It may have been left as an offering at the time of the site's abandonment (LaMottta 1996; Karunaratne 1997).
Numerous objects of unknown use have been grounded (see Figure 9.9). The grinding is to shape the object, not as a result of use. Two quartz crystals (see Figure 9.9) were also recovered, one from Structure 301 and a second in the plaza deposits west of Structure 301. These crystals have been sourced to the Paysan area.
Figure 9.9 Stone bowl, shaped argillite, crystals, shaped stones, and siltstone |
Hoes
Three hoes were recovered from plaza fill (see Figure 9.8). One was a fine-grained Moenkopi sandstone and the other two derived from unidentifiable materials. A fourth artifact classified as a mano also contained a notch that may indicate a final use as a hoe. Hoes were artifacts large enough to use in sod busting, had notches on their sides to facilitate a hafted handle, and resembled artifacts most frequently found on the floodplain of the eastern side of the Little Colorado River (Lange 1989, 1998). The term hoe was chosen as a general descriptor because of their correlation with the best agricultural land. Our notion of hoes as tools used for weeding should not be imposed on these objects as they were probably used to break up the dirt for planting or possibly for digging trenches to divert water among plants.
Miscellaneous Hearth Refuse and Griddles
Miscellaneous ground stone debitage comprised approximately half of the assemblage. Nearly 50% of these artifacts had been burned. In 11 cases both burned and unburned pieces were removed from the same collection unit indicating that they had been burned elsewhere and then deposited with other unburned artifacts in secondary refuse deposits. A subset of artifacts within this category consists of relatively flat, tabular stones that have been variously burned or sooted. These have been described as "hearth refuse" (see Table 9.1) to distinguish them from other unburned and amorphous ground stone objects. My working hypothesis is that these burned pieces were the remains of either griddles, or hearth architecture, such as fire dogs, or slabs forming the hearth's walls.
Hearth architecture was distinguished from fire dogs by the presence of burning on one side or end of the artifact indicating it had been in a fixed position in relation to the source of burning. Such architecture had flat sides that were rougher than those of other burned materials, indicating that smoothness was not a significant performance characteristic.
In contrast griddle stones are tabular, more thoroughly sooted, and distinguished by their oily residues and smooth polished surfaces. In some cases these oils appear to have penetrated the sandstone matrices of the stone. Such artifacts have been tentatively classified as early examples of "piki" stones, a cooking stone type utilized in historic pueblos (see Figure 9.8; Adams 1979; Fratt 1991). A unique artifact having characteristics similar to a piki stone, but manufactured of clay has been classified as a comal, a flathead cooking technology developed in Mexico and diffused into the Hohokam region during the Classi Period, ca. A.D. 1250, or the founding of Homol'-ovi IV (see Figure 9.8).
Miscellaneous and Unknown
The majority of objects in this category are amorphous fragments of unknown origin or use. A small number, however, stand out for further description. Although parts of this discussion are speculative, and are offered to stimulate the development and testing of new interpretations of ground stone objects.
A pestle-like cylindrical artifact of vesicular basalt was recovered from the plaza fill (see Figure 9.8). This artifact is whole and measures 10 cm long and 2 cm in diameter. Although it superficially resembles a pestle, its ends are small and lack visible use-wear. Adams (1993) has noted similar objects in the assemblage from the Point of Pines sites. Burned fibers, encrusted on one stone from Point of Pines were identified by Lynn Teague (ASM) as Agave fibers. It's possible that this stone was used in processing fibers.
Several faceted stones (Figure 9.10) resemble stones used to polish decorated pottery. Similar stones are still used by Hopi potters (Adams 1979).
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Finally, one fragmentary object, which is a quarter of a circular flat stone, 8 cm in diameter, with a depression in the middle, exhibited a pattern of burning that stimulates the hypothesis that it may have functioned as a lamp. The depression was burned black and oily to the touch. The rest of the flat surface was sooted but lacked the rich burning of the depression. De Beaune and White (1993:111) have categorized similar informally burned and sooted stone objects from paleolithic sites as lamps. Their experimental research suggests that oil or fat burning lamps would have provided usable light sources in the dark European caves of the upper paleolithic (see also de Beaune 1987, 1993). Lamps have not been recognized in prehistoric puebloan assemblages but their use would seem natural. Most rooms lack windows and doors and storage rooms lack hearths.
Another curious object is triangular with a worn facet running along one edge (Figure 9.10). Adams (1994) has also found similar objects at Point of Pines and calls them faceted polishing stones. This artifact is made from a hard igneous material that could have withstood a lot of stone-on-stone grinding. Use-wear damage patterns on the stones at Point of Pines indicated contact with another smooth stone surface, prompting Adams (1994) to propose that these artifacts were used to sharpen axes or other hard stone tools. These two objects along with the axe described above suggest some sort of movement of objects, perhaps through informal exchange, with peoples in the Mogollon Rim area.
Stone Beads
Eleven stone beads (Figure 9.11) were recovered during the Homol'ovi IV excavations. Four are argillite (a-d), four are made of a gray stertite (e-h), and three are turquoise (i-l). One rectangular piece of turquoise 5mm on a side was not drilled (i). The argillite beads are all extremely small ranging from 1-2mm. The stertite beads are larger ranging from 2-4mm. The turquoise beads are largest ranging from 3-5mm. The argillite is probably from the same source as the bowl. The stertite is known to also occur in the Verde Valley. Sources of the turquoise were not determined.
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Proveniences for the beads are 3 surface, 2 from structure 301 fill, and 7 from the plaza inclujding one from Feature 6, a roasting pit on surface 4. Only 2 proveniences had multiple beads: 2 argillite and 1 turquoise from a plaza fill unit below structures 4 and 5 and 2 stertite beads from the fill of Structure 301. It is possible, especially for Structure 301, that these beads were part of a neclace. The other isolated beads seem unrelated.
The beads reinforce the persepective that Homol'ovi IV occupants had abundant and far-ranging exchange relationships. The diversity in argillite artifacts from the Verde Valley is especially notable.
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