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chapter 15 Groundstone Artifacts in the Cerén Village Payson Sheets Introduction The term groundstone is used here in the broad sense (e.g. Hummer 1983; Sheets 1978, 1992b) to include artifacts made for grinding (e.g., manos, metates, and donut stones), polishing, and smoothing , as well as those for which grinding was used in their manufacture (e.g., celts, beads). Also included here are the hammerstones that were used in their manufacture. Thus a wider range of forms, functions, and materials is considered here than in the chipped stone chapter (Chapter 14). A total of seventy-three groundstone artifacts have been found to date in systemic contexts at Cerén. As with the chipped stone, there seems to be a standard set of groundstone tools in each household, consisting of a jade ax, mano and metate, some donut stones, a few lajas (naturally flat fracturing slabs of dense andesite), and some smoothing or abrading stones. It is striking how differentially distributed groundstone artifacts are within the site; more than half of them were found in Household 1, simply because they were being made there. The Groundstone Artifacts Groundstone artifacts are here summarized in two ways, first by looking at the basic set that each household contained (with the caveat of a very small sample), and then by examining how households differed and how those differences are interpreted . A sufficient number of household buildings have been excavated to at least begin to perceive a standard household set of groundstone implements. Each household had a jade or hard greenstone ax, a mano and metate, a few laja utility grinding or pounding stones, and a few donut stones and miscellaneous abrading/smoothing stones. The donut stones functioned as digging-stick weights and perforated mortars, and may have had other uses that are as yet unknown.Two of the household axes were stored elevated in the south ends of storehouses, probably on roof beams. The other ax was stored elevated at the south end of the kitchen in Household 2, which happened to be renovating its storehouse when the eruption struck. It is possible that its usual storage location was the storehouse when that building was not under renovation. The axes apparently were used unhafted, as no evidence of handles has been discovered and no haft wear has been noted to date. Because of the distance to the source of jade, and particularly because of the large amount of skilled labor in manufacture, an ax must have been the most expensive thing a Cerén household would have had to obtain by exchange; the material presumably derived from the Sierra de las Minas area of the middle Motagua River, 140 km northwest of Cerén. The sandstone whetstone in Household 2 probably was used for celt sharpening within that domestic group, but presumably they would have needed an abrasive such as crushed crystalline quartz. This household may have resharpened axes of other households, as the whetstone is the only one found to date at the site. If this speculation is correct, it identifies a service relationship of Household 2 to nearby households. The remainder of the standard groundstone package for 146 payson sheets table 15.1. Groundstone Artifacts in Systemic Contexts FS No. Item Dimensions (cm) Comments Location Context - min. metate  × . × . for grinding hematite Str.  in vessel , floor - hammerstone heavily used Str. , Area  floor bet.  lajas - hammerstone mod. use, pot rest Str.  in Pot  - hammerstone used, pot rest Str.  floor near Pot  -  metate . ×  . × . mod. use Str.  on horquetas -  hammerstone used Str.  on wood -  mano matches -  Str.  floor -  hammerstone used Str.  floor -  hammerstone used Str.  floor -  mano short one-handed Str.  floor - hammerstone used Str.  floor -  mano frag. use as pot rest Str.  floor - hammerstone was shaped laja Str.  floor; broke, then hs. - donut stone . × . × . no use-wear, mortar Str.  floor - pumice abrader Str.  floor - metate frag.  × . use as pot rest Str.  floor - metate frag. almost whole use as pot rest Str.  floor - donut stone undecorated, mod. usewear , mortar Str.  floor - donut stone undecorated, well used, mortar Str.  floor - metate light use Str.  on horquetas - metate frag. used as pot rest Str.  floor - metate frag. used as pot rest Str.  floor -  polish stone  ×  × . hard greenstone Str. , Area  floor, much used - metate frag.  ×  ×  broken Str.  floor, pot rest - donut stone  × . used, broken Str.  floor; was mortar - metate  × . × . upside down Strs. – unmounted, used - donut stone . × . grooved, decorated Str.  floor - donut stone  . × . unfinished, decorated Str.  floor - metate . ×  ×  slight use Str.  on...

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