Courtesy Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, MA

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Corn Mortar

Simple log mortars like this one were commonly made by Native Americans in the Northeast. The blackened interior on this example shows that mortars were hollowed out with the aid of fire. They were used for grinding or pulverizing corn, nuts and other hard seeds for food preparation. Although the pestle is missing from this example, it would have been either wooden or stone.

Date: circa 1700 - 1800 
Topic: Tools 
Materials: Sycamore
Dimensions: H: 19.75 in. (50.2 cm.), Diam: 14.75 (37.5 cm.) 
Accession #: 1.76.158


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