Three-Quarter grooved axe

Medium sized three-quarter grooved axe, manufactured from a dark greenish black basalt or diorite. The surface is generally covered with lighter pecking marks. There are also numerous scratches on both faces, oriented at an acute angle to the bit, which seem to be hallmarks of use; there are similar scratches and some battering on the poll end. The edge of the bit is nicked in places. This axe was recovered from the floor of a room on the platform mound at Pueblo Grande. 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.