Metate

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Metate and mano

Grinding slab showing metate type dimples on a rock outcropping. These were typically used to grind acorns.

A metate is a stone artifact used for processing grain and seeds. It consists of a large stone with a smooth depression worn into the upper surface. Plant materials are ground in this depression using a smooth hand-held stone, known as a mano. The mano is used with a horizontal grinding motion as opposed to the vertical crushing motion used in a mortar and pestle. The depression in a metate is also shallower and wider than that of a mortar.

Another type of metate may also be found in boulder outcroppings, called a grinding slab, where a group of indigenous people have used the natural stone surface for grinding meals, most typically acorns. Archaeologically this will leave several potted dimples on the face of the rock as evidence of such an activity long past.

See also ceremonial metate.