Any experts here?

[DigEmAll]

I have found about sixty of these and have my theory, but wanted to get expert opinions.? They are found in southeast Arizona.? Some are in the shade of hugh rocks, some are in the middle of a wash, some on the sides of a wash.? They are basically all exactly the same and cover a small valley with a spring.

They are about six to eight inches in diameter and about forteen to sixteen inches deep, and all are perfectly round with conical shaped bottoms.


What exactly are these??

How did they make them??

What did they use them for?

[Gypsy Heart]

Do you think they could be from miners? When exploring for mineral deposits, prospectors commonly dug holes in the bedrock to determine whether mineralization indicated at the surface continued to greater depths. These relatively small holes are called prospects.

[PBK]

Compare to these bedrock metate photos:

http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/score_le.../Rockcamp2.jpg

http://www.indiana.edu/~archaeo/prat...j2003-5big.jpg

http://woodwardranch.tripod.com/metatesite.html

Also, this short online article might be of interest:

http://www.texfiles.com/features/themano.htm

[DigEmAll]

I know that they aren't from miners Gyp. They are too shallow and close together for prospects. I am positive that they are metates.

PBK those are EXACTLY what I have found. Thanks for the links to that great info!

My next question is this:

What does the other half (the mano) for these types of metates look like?

In other words, I know what the sugar bowl looks like, but what does the spoon that goes with it look like?

[Gunner]

something like this....

Walk around the site and check it out further. You may find a "spoon"

Gunner

[DigEmAll]

Gunner, I've got one of the dish and loaf bread set-ups. But I am almost certain that these bowls that are about 14 to 16 inches deep and about 8 inches across didn't use the loaf bread types. If I had to make a guess, I would say that they used a log about three inches in diameter and about two feet long. Like I say, that would only be a guess though! I just think that a rock would be a bit too heavy for tamping or spinning. I an almost positive that these were used in the spinning fashion because they are so near perfectly round and symetrical in shape. Someone out here has to know what the other part of these types looked like.

Those are really nice finds you have there Gunner! Where did you find those?

[EDDE]

well an oval shaped rock or a round shaped one... maybe some one already took them?

[Chris in BC]

bet you found them where water flowed once, not man made, try searching for the Niagra drills, same thing except up to 12 feet deep.

[DigEmAll]

I did the search and didn't get any results. Maybe you can locate the item to which you are refering and post a link on here. But, I can assure you that these are man made. Size varies only by an inch or two. They are also where water was, but not where it flowed, with the exception of about five that I found in the bottom of a wash. Keep in mind that I live in the desert flowing water is quite uncommon except during the monsoons which only last a couple weeks a year. All are where the shade would be during the summer when it's 110 out here. The majority are all along the face of the bluff where the hugh cold rocks and a breeze would act as a natural air conditioner. All except about 20 of the 80 (or more... I quit counting) are more than fifty feet in elevation above the valley floor. They are all around the valley edges. This is a valley that has a very flat bottom and would have been prime farming area. Even today it still grows a lot of grasses and such. Farming this area would have been very easy with a bit of work. This is why I think that they are matates for grinding wheat or corn or whatever.

[DigEmAll]

The holes are called molcahete, just like the little bowl grinders that you can buy these days for 20 bucks.  They were used to grind and pound grains and other foods.

I knew there was an answer out there!!!!

[norcalrockhunter]

The holes are called molcahete, just like the little bowl grinders that you can buy these days for 20 bucks. They were used to grind and pound grains and outher foods.

I knew there was an answer out there!!!!

I have several of these on my girlfriends, parents property in California, and seen many over the years, Bed rock mortals some we have found still have the pestles in them but that is a vary rare occurrence, rarely have we ever found points around them. Most of the one we find are in solid granite, The next time I'm up there I will be sure to take some pictures of them for you

[ghost surf]

All I could think of for these are some type of mineral testing spots by explorers or that of miners.I was thinking also something like they do with drillings of test spots?

[norcalrockhunter]

When you are test drilling the hole are much smaller in diameter and much deeper, as they do a core test when drilling, these for sure are not them, these are bed rock mortars, as mentioned before California has a ton of these in the Sierra's anywhere you find a creek or river and you have granite you will find these.