A typical specimen of intermediate size, used commonly as an ahst, but
susceptible of employment as a hupf, is illustrated (natural size) in
plates XXXV and XXXVI.[296] It is a hard, tough, hornblende-granite or
greenstone, with a few structure-lines brought out by weathering and
wave-wearing. Its weight is 4 pounds 10 ounces (2.10 kilograms); its
form and surface are entirely natural, save for slight battering shown
on the two principal faces and still less conspicuous bruises along one
edge (as imperfectly shown toward the left of plate XXXV). The specimen
was found in a jacal (illustrated in plate VI) on Rada Ballena, within
a few hours after abandonment, in the position in which it was hastily
left by the last users; it was smeared with blood and fat (which still
remain, as is shown in plate XXXV) and bits of flesh, and bore bloody
finger prints of two sizes—those of a man and those of a woman or large
child; beside it lay the hupf depicted in plate XLII. In its last use
the unwieldly cobble served as an ahst, but the markings on the edge
record use also as a hand implement.
[296] This, like the other illustrations of the series (except plate
LVI, which is a lithograph, partly process and partly handwork), are
photo-mechanical reproductions made directly from the objects; all are
natural size unless otherwise specified.
A functionally similar implement is illustrated in plate XXXVII (on
reduced scale; maximum length 8¼ inches=21.0 cm.). It is of tough
but slightly vesicular and pulverulent volcanic tuff, pinkish-buff
in color, and weighs 4 pounds 1 ounce (1.84 kilograms). The form and
surface are almost wholly natural, save for slight battering about
the larger end and severer battering, with the dislodgment of a
flake, about the thinner end; yet the faces are smeared with blood
and grease and flecked with turtle debris, and bear a few marks of
hupf blows, as is shown in the reproduction. This specimen was found
at a temporary camp of a small party on Punta Miguel, where it had
been used in breaking up a turtle—the camp having been abandoned so
precipitately that a considerable part of the quarry, with this hupf,
the ahst illustrated in plate LIV, the turtle-harpoon shown in figure
20, the half-made fire, and the fire-sticks used in kindling it, were
left behind. The specimen is a good example of the cobbles carried into
portions of the territory lacking the material (the camp at which it
was found was on the great sandspit forming the eastern barrier of Boca
Infierno, several miles from the nearest pebbly shore); it is of less
specific gravity than the average rocks of the region, and looks still
lighter by reason of its color and texture. Similar cobbles abound
along the eastern coast of Tiburon, being derived from the immense
volcanic masses of Sierra Kunkaak.
About the more permanent rancherias and on many abandoned sites
lie ahsts usually too heavy for convenient transportation. In the
habitable jacales such stones form regular household appurtenances,
without which the menage is deemed incomplete; though the implement
is commonly kicked about at random, often buried in debris (perhaps
to be completely lost, and brought to light only by geologic changes,
as demonstrated by the shell-heap of Punta Antigualla), and pressed
into service only in case of need. An exceptionally well-worn specimen
of the kind is illustrated in plate XXXVIII (scale one-half linear;
maximum width measured on base, 9¼ inches=23.5 cm.). The material is
a hard, ferruginous, almost jaspery quartzite, somewhat obscurely
laminated. It weighs 10 pounds 11 ounces (4.85 kilograms). It is a
natural slab, evidently from a talus rather than the shore, its native
locus being probably the western slope of Sierra Seri. The edges and
apex are formed by natural fractures; the most-used face (that shown
in the plate) is a natural structure plane; the obverse side is partly
a similar plane, partly irregular; while the base is an irregular
fracture, evidently due to accident after the specimen had been long in
use, though the fracture occurred years or decades ago, as indicated by
the weathering of the surfaces. The entire face of the slab is worn and
more or less polished by use as a metate, the wear culminating toward
the center of the base (evidently the center of the original slab),
where the hollowing reaches some three-sixteenths of an inch (5 mm.);
yet even in the depths of the incipient basin the polished surface
is broken by irregular pitting of a sort indicating occasional use
as an anvil. The edges are quite unworn, but the smoother portion of
the obverse is worn and polished like the face, though to a less
degree. The specimen was found at a recently occupied jacal, midway
between Punta Antigualla and Punta Ygnacio; it lay in the position
of use, though half concealed by a cholla thrown over it, with the
hupf shown in plate LVI; it was soaked with fat and smeared with the
debris and intestinal contents of a turtle, as partly shown in the
illustration.
[Illustration: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY