QUARRYING AND PRODUCTION OF MILLING IMPLEMENTS AT ANTELOPE HILL, ARIZONA

To process mesquite, maize, and other substances, aboriginal groups li ving in the Lower Colorado-Lower Gila rivers region of SW North Americ a used characteristic milling equipment: squared, flat-faced, convex-b ased metates (lower grindstones) with elongated manes (upper grindston es) and large wooden mortars with long, cylindrical stone pestles. And esite and sandstone bedrock outcrops where stone was quarried and mill ing implements produced have been located. The archaeological deposits at the quarries have not been masked by the debris of later quarrying for rotary mills or building blocks, and thus the quarry sites offer an opportunity to study the production of ancient forms of milling imp lements, and provide insights into the organization of an ancient ston e technology. Antelope Hill, a large arkosic sandstone quarry on the L ower Gila River in Arizona is presented as an example of a widespread phenomenon in the region. Analysis of quarry debris in the field and l aboratory, experimental replication, and ethnographic and historical d ata, combined, have resulted in an understanding of this aspect of abo riginal technology.