It seems certain that a sufficiently large number of people could not have been congregated here, under ordinary conditions, to warrant the forming of so many mortars for the purpose of grinding food.[23] The present writer accepts the theory that these rock depressions were used in pounding corn or other seeds, but their great number in localities where ruins are insignificant or wanting is suggestive. We constantly find arable land near them, indicating that communal grinding may have been practised, and suggesting a large population living in their immediate neighborhood, which may have left no other sign of their presence. MINOR ANTIQUITIES The artifacts picked up on the surface near ruins or excavated from village sites resemble so closely those from other regions of the Southwest that taken alone these do not necessarily indicate special culture areas. A few of the more common forms from the Mimbres are here figured for comparison, but, with the exception of the pottery, there is little individuality shown in the majority of these objects. Among other objects may be mentioned stone implements, mortars, idols, bone implements, shell ornaments, and pottery. STONE IMPLEMENTS The stone axes are not very different from those of the Rio Grande and the Gila, but it is to be noticed that they are not so numerous as in the latter region, and are probably inferior in workmanship, fine specimens indeed being rare. The majority of the axes (fig. 4) are single grooved, but a few have two grooves. In Dr. Swope’s collection, now in the Deming High School, there is a fairly good double-bladed axe. [Illustration: FIG. 4.—Stone axe. Length 8¾″.] [Illustration: FIG. 5.—Arrow polisher. Length 3¼″, breadth 2½″.] Miss Alnutt, of Deming, has a remarkable collection of arrowpoints gathered from many localities in the valley, and also a few fine spearpoints, conical pipes, and other objects taken from the sacred spring at Faywood Hot Spring. A beautiful arrow polisher found near Deming is shown in figure 5. The pipes from the Mimbres take the form of tubular cloud-blowers, specimens of which are shown in figure 6. Apparently these pipes were sometimes thrown into sacred springs, but others have been picked up on the surface of village sites or a few feet below the surface. [Illustration: FIG. 6.—Cloud blowers. Faywood Hot Springs. (Swope collection.) ½ nat. size.] Lateral and top views of one of the characteristic forms of small stone mortars with a handled projection on one side is shown in figure 7. This specimen is in the Swope collection in the Deming High School. In the same collection there are also two beautiful tubular pipes, or cloud-blowers, from the same spring. [Illustration: FIG. 7.—Handled mortar. (Swope collection.) Length 10¾″.]