Prehistoric Native American Metate - Expert Needed!

[Old Pueblo]

This thing here has been sitting on my sister's front porch for years. She doesnt remember where she got it, but we believe it came from an old roommate, who was a maid, who used to bring a lot of decorative tribal stuff like this home from one of her elderly clients, and give it to my sister. I always assumed it was just decorative reproduction yard art or something, but then I found a Youtube video online that some guy in the Phoenix area posted, showing the Hohokam Indian artifacts hes found in the farmers fields around his home. One of his artifacts was a metate, he found in a field, that is basically identical to this one, same stone and shape and everything, but his was a little smaller or so. He also said that he had seen only one other like his, in a museum somewhere up there in his area. That said, can anyone confirm that this is the real deal for my sister and I, and not just some modern repro?



I also found that 1951 date nail in my sister's yard a couple of days ago. I missed it the last time I was up there. Thanks for looking

 

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[Old Pueblo]

And Im posting this here, because the "What is it" forum thing seems to get much more traffic than the NA Indian artifacts forum.

 

[Old Pueblo]

Just looked on Youtube, and it seems the video I saw with the metate like mine has been removed. It had been a few years since I last watched it, but hopefully someone here recognizes this thing.

 

[bradyboy]

Just asking -
the nail, can we see the rest of the nail?
Yes, it has a 51 marking on the head but why do you think it 1951?
could be a tree marking, phone pole and who knows what else
Brady

 

[Old Pueblo]

Just asking -
the nail, can we see the rest of the nail?
Yes, it has a 51 marking on the head but why do you think it 1951?
could be a tree marking, phone pole and who knows what else
Brady

I know its a date nail from the railroad because I pulled it from a railroad tie and I have many more just like it.

 

[Old Pueblo]

Heres some more photos of my nails, as requested. All of these are from the railroad, mostly Southern Pacific with a few of the older ones from smaller, local RRs that eventually became part of the Southern Pacific RR.



I put a name tag on the one so I dont forget where it came from.

 

[bradyboy]

I seem to learn something new here, every day - pretty interesting
what are they used for?
To date when the tie was installed?

 

[Old Pueblo]

Exactly, for record keeping purposes and so forth. The RRs had to change the ties out every so often for safety reasons, I guess.

 

[piegrande]

The women here in rural Mexico use molcajete and metate, but I have never seen anything that small and light. I suppose the Indians in Arizona needed something light for their travels. No one would cover much ground with the heavy ones they have here.

 

[AlabamaRelic]

The 3rd picture appears to show wear.
I have a a metate that was given to my great-aunt as a marriage gift when she married a Pima man in Arizona that is made from the same type stone. The one I have is 3 legged and very heavy.

 

[Old Pueblo]

I believe this one here, which actually belongs to my sister, is Hohokam, based on that youtube video I saw a long time ago, and the Hohokam people are said to be the ancestors of the Pima (O'odham). Thanks for responding

 

[unclemac]

the perfectly flat bottom would give me pause...as would the small light size. Notice how it is dish shaped too with no open end....maybe (if an artifact) an "actual" "paint pot" sort of thing...in any case i would use it as a back drop for some of my other artifacts.

 

[A2coins]

Cool relic hope you ID it I love that display you made I do the same thing!!! Im just a little short on display stuff LOL

 

[Old Pueblo]

I do think it could be a bowl type of thing, and not an actual metate. It was a long time ago when I saw it, but I believe the guy on youtube who has one just like mine, described his as a grinding stone, but either way, bowl or metate, they would have had to grind the center out somehow. It was a long time ago when I last watched that video, but I think the man's name is Cody Ross or something like that. I found a couple still images of his collection on youtube, like what you see before the video starts playing, but when I click on them they say the content is unavailable. Anyway, this guy had a ton of really nice museum quality stuff that he found in the fields up there and so forth. I always meant to contact him about it, but never did because I didnt have my sisters metate in my possession at the time.

 

[Crowfriend]

Type II