Aboriginal milling-implement quarries in eastern California and western Arizona: A behavioral perspective

Milling implements used by aboriginal peoples of the California and Arizona deserts were obtained from a variety of sources, many of which were bedrock quarries. This study focuses on understanding how these quarry sites were utilized and how the quarry activities were related to aboriginal cultural patterns and the physical environment. Fieldwork at six different milling-implement quarries, ethnographic and ethnohistorical research, museum collections research, petrographic thin-section analyses, and experimental replication of stone pestles and grinding stones made it possible to identify the products of the quarries, to understand the organization of the production of these tools, and the distribution of the quarry products. The results are integrated within a general economic framework for mobile and sedentary groups.;The residential mobility of many desert groups promoted expediency in the procurement and production of milling implements. Portability of personal possessions was a necessity in the migratory lifestyle. Heavy milling tools were left where they were used. Mobility, short-term use, and the performance of a wide variety of processing tasks promoted minimal energy investment in procurement and production of milling tools. A wide range of tool forms and materials were used.;Sedentary dwellers along the Lower Colorado and Lower Gila rivers had a subsistence pattern relying on a few staple foods that were dependably replenished (primarily mesquite and maize). Mesquite pods and seeds and maize kernels required extensive processing for nutrition and palatability. Daily repetitive processing tasks promoted the development of efficient tools. Functional efficiency was achieved by tool form, the way the tools were used, and the characteristics of the materials from which the tools were made. Rough-textured, hard, and well-cemented sandstone and certain andesites were quarried and shaped by percussion reduction at quarry sites. Following transportation to residences (some at considerable distances from the quarries), final shaping (by pecking) took place. Milling implements were permanently installed for long-term use. The benefits derived from the quality of the processing tools made the energy invested in the production and transportation of the tools cost effective.