Tag: Superstition Wilderness

Morteros, in a rock outcrop on the Hieroglyphic Trail, in the Superstition Wilderness unit of the Tonto National Forest in Arizona. This is a popular trail. I suspect hundreds of people pass by each year without noticing this otherwise nondescript shelf of stone. 

The Hohokam inhabitants of the area were skillful farmers and accomplished civil engineers, who grew crops of corn (maize), beans, and squash in this water-starved environment. The morteros shown here were used to pulverize and grind grains and seeds. The bowls they carved into this slab of soft volcanic rock are about seven inches in diameter (18 cm), and about 9 inches deep (23 cm). The “mano” stone at far left in the bottom photo is not an artifact, but a cobble that some earlier hiker left behind. Given the depth of the morteros, I think the pestles the Hohokam used here were probably fashioned of wood.  

Morteros, in a rock outcrop on the Hieroglyphic Trail, in the Superstition Wilderness unit of the Tonto National Forest in Arizona. This is a popular trail. I suspect hundreds of people pass by each year without noticing this otherwise nondescript shelf of stone. 

The Hohokam inhabitants of the area were skillful farmers and accomplished civil engineers, who grew crops of corn (maize), beans, and squash in this water-starved environment. The morteros shown here were used to pulverize and grind grains and seeds. The bowls they carved into this slab of soft volcanic rock are about seven inches in diameter (18 cm), and about 9 inches deep (23 cm). The “mano” stone at far left in the bottom photo is not an artifact, but a cobble that some earlier hiker left behind. Given the depth of the morteros, I think the pestles the Hohokam used here were probably fashioned of wood.