icon for Home page
icon for Kid's Home page
icon for Digital Collection
icon for Activities
icon for Turns Exhibit
icon for In the Classroom
icon for Chronologies
icon for My Collection

Online Collection

front
(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
Contact us for information about using this image.



label levels:

Northeastern Native Americans made and used this stone mortar 2,000-3000 years ago, before they began to cultivate corn. It is made out of steatite, which was also used for stone bowls and containers. A grinding stone was used in this mortar to rub and grind the hard nuts and seeds into a paste or flour, which could then be used for cooking. Because this mortar is made of stone, it was not easily portable and Native Americans would leave them in locations near to their nut harvest for easy use in the field. Mortars were sometimes made of hollowed logs but these would often decay.

 

top of page

Mortar

creator   Unidentified
date   -3000--2000
location   Unknown
height   5.5"
width   16.0"
diameter   10.5"
process/materials   steatite
item type   Household Goods/Food Processing Tools & Equipment
accession #   #1994.15.01


Look Closer icon My Collection icon Detailed info icon


ecard icon Send an e-Postcard of this object



See Also...

Mortar and Pestle

Mortar

Steatite Vessel

Turtle effigy pipe fragment

Mortar

Pitted stone


button for Side by Side Viewingbutton for Glossarybutton for Printing Helpbutton for How to Read Old Documents

 

Home | Online Collection | Things To Do | Turns Exhibit | Classroom | Chronologies | My Collection
About This Site | Site Index | Site Search | Feedback