Rare Anasazi harvest-camp metate. Upper Pecos Valley, NM, USA. - $109 - (Ribera, NM)

Very nice portable camp metate. Weighs 15.6 pounds and was probably made that way for easier carrying. Although portable metates were usually left on site, the harvesting of piñon nuts and buffalo-grass grains involved quite a bit of walking from one spot to another. Fall harvest camps often doubled as hunting bases.Yucca baskets or sacks made of skin were used to carry grass spikes and piñon nuts back to the pueblo, but grass grains and nuts were utilized for food on site during the wild harvest. Both foods were ground into a fine meal. The dough was formed into thin patties that were then cooked atop a flat stone. Even a slightly worn metate represents many, many harvests. Portable metates were also kept near corn fields for on-site use. Metates kept in pueblos were thicker and bigger; some huge, for communal use in the grinding of corn. Made from mesa quartzite, much harder than redbed sandstone. About 1-1/4 inch to 2 inches thick.

Posted in Ribera, NM, Collectibles
From ebay.com - 1 month ago