Small Disk Shaped Mortar

Medium to small disk shaped mortar, burned, with red pigment on surface. Made from a well consolidated gray sandstone, the mortar is round in plan, oval in cross section. Grinding surface is shallow and circular. Burned on the upper surface, the pigment is most evident within the grinding area and over about half of the burned area. This mortar was recovered from a Preclassic period pithouse located in a habitation area of the Pueblo Grande site. Pueblo Grande was a large village located at the headgates of a major canal system. Occupied as early as AD 500, the site reached its greatest extent during the Classic Period. Museum Accession: 1996.17