Hello,
I have found an interesting study in which the author elaborates on the relation between millstones (also termed metate) and handstones (also termed manos) size and their efficiency in food processing. Among other things, the study stresses that an increase in those tools size implies an increase in efficiency, i.e. a reduction of the time spent processing a given amount of material. The study is the following:
Mauldin R. The Relationship between Ground Stone and Agricultural Intensification in Western New Mexico. Kiva. 1993;58: 317–330.
Now, I was wondering if there is any (ethnographic, archaeological) study on the relation between the size of millstones and/or handstones and the size of the household in which they were used.
Thank you.
Gm
Gianmarco,
Interesting question. I see he now is at UTSA, a respected archaeology program.
I use a metate and mano to crush and grind grog for reproduction pottery. You can get too much on the metate, which interferes with the grinding process, causing both too fine and too course a grind at the same time. This would apply to the mortar and pestle, which are common in the Southeast. I could explain the uneven grind if you like. I would assume use for grinding maize to be similar. Not so much so for smaller cereal grains. Thus, I would think that there is a minimum and maximum optimal size for both a metate/mortar and mano/pestle. To carry that further, when the need reaches capacity they would either use multiple metates/mortars or spend more time processing.
I will look through my library to see if anybody else mentions this.
Gianmarco,
Correction: a mortar being concave like a bowl allows the larger grain particles to stay in the center.
Huckell (A Ground Stone Implement Quarry on the Lower Colorado River, Northwestern Arizona. 1986:9) notes that there were 331 metate preforms found at a quarry site in Arizona. Except for a 3 that were smaller than 31x36 cm and 2 that were larger than 90x100 cm, all fell within a range of 40 to 100 cm long and 25 to 60 cm wide. As you can see by his Figure 4 length vs. width chart, most lengths clustered between about 44 and 70 cm, while widths clustered from about 30 to 50 cm. He says on Page 49 that Mohave informants "suggested that it was not unusual for there to be more than one metate in a given household." Thus they divided the work.
Gianmarco,
The attached file shows metate dimensions recorded by Lauren Falvey (2014) and by Jenny Adams (nd). These, like Huckell (1986), show a trend in size and likely represents the optimal size for that culture, if not for metates in general.
Dear Gianmarco,
We have studied the relation between size of houses and presence of the millstones in neolithic villages in northern France, and there is a economical and social link. May be this is interesting for your research ? There are two articles: (HACHEM L., HAMON C. 2014 – Linear Pottery Culture Household Organisation. An Economic Model. PPS, Oxford University Press, p. 159-180) and the other one: (GOMART L. et al. 2015 – Household integration in Neolithic villages : A new model for the Linear Pottery Culture in west-central Europe. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 40, p. 230-249.)
All best
Lamys
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