Lot 61B
Native American, Southwestern United States, Eastern Woodland Period, ca. 500 to 1500 CE. A lengthy petrified wood grinding tool known as a mano ("hand" in Spanish) or a pestle. The tool features slender terminals and a wide, slightly spiraling body that enabled greater amounts of material to be pulverized simultaneously. Size: 14.2" L x 2.3" W x 1.8" H (36.1 cm x 5.8 cm x 4.6 cm)
Fossilized trees from this time period come from the Chinle Formation of the southwestern USA, and the beautiful colors found in this formation - exemplified by the colors of this fossilized tree - give the Painted Desert of Arizona its name. Due to plate tectonics, this area was near the equator on the supercontinent Pangaea during the Late Triassic, which gave it a humid, sub-tropical climate. It was a floodplain below mountains to its south and a sea to its west; as a result, massive trees washed down from the mountains and came to rest in sediments that preserved them and fossilized them. The petrification process involves the rapid burial of the tree or pieces under sediment which prevents the usual decay. Flooding and volcanic activity are usually responsible for the layers of sand, silt, and ash needed to create the right types and amount of sediment. Mineralized water can then permeate through the wood, coating cell walls and filling the intercellular cavities which then fossilizes into stone. The detailed preservation of the wood, including knots, rings, and bark, are possible because the organic wood molecules become coated and surrounded with smaller silica molecules. Nine different species of tree have been identified in the fossilized deposits in the region; this example may be Araucarioxylon arizonicum, an extinct conifer tree (and the state fossil of Arizona). Fascinatingly, the Ancestral Puebloan people who lived in the region approximately 1000 years ago used petrified wood for making tools and even building houses!
Please note this item falls under the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act and is not eligible for international shipping. Native American, Alaska Native, & Native Hawaiian objects are only eligible to ship within the United States.
Provenance: private Reinsmoen collection, Clear Lake, Iowa, USA, acquired through descent from Robert Anderson, acquired prior to 2000
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#187172
- Condition: Nicks and abrasions, with old chips in scattered areas, and some surface roughness, otherwise in great condition. Nice size and heft.
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