Shaping Olla-Stone
date: label: Accession Date
content: 14 Feb 1895
name: label: Collector
content: William J. McGee
label: Donor Name
content: Bureau Of American Ethnology
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "FOR POTTERY MAKING. THESE STONES ARE CALLED OLLA STONES, AFTER THE TYPE OF WARE OF THE SAME NAME, WHICH ARE SHAPED WITH THEIR ASSISTANCE. THEY ARE COMMONLY THIN AND DISK-SHAPED, SOME WITH THE EDGES AND SIDES GROUND NEARLY FLAT; OTHERS ARE MERELY NATURAL PEBBLES WITH NO FASHIONING. BROKEN MEALING STONES OF NEARLY RECTANGULAR OUTLINE ARE USED AT TIMES. IN MATERIAL THESE STONES ARE USUALLY QUARTZITE, THOUGH ARGILLACEOUS AND VOLCANIC ROCKS ARE ALSO CONVERTED INTO OLLA STONES BY GRINDING TO THE DESIRED SHAPE. THE OLLA STONE, WHEN IN USE, IS HELD IN THE PALM OF THE LEFT HAND AGAINST THE INNER EDGE OF THE PLASTIC CLAY VESSEL BEING SHAPED. ITS FUNCTION IS TO SERVE AS A BUFFER FOR THE BLOWS OF THE WOODEN PADDLE STRUCK ON THE OUTER SURFACE OF THE CLAY."
label: Record Last Modified
content: 31 Jul 2020
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Not Given, Pima County, Arizona, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Papago (Tohono O'odham)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 029025
label: USNM Number
content: E174435-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Polishing Stone