The Seri Indians. (1898 N 17 / 1895-1896 (pages 1-344*))McGee, W J
History
The Seri Indians. (1898 N 17 / 1895-1896 (pages 1-344*))
McGee, W J
Seri Indians; Seri language; Yuman languages
A common variety of hupf is illustrated in plate XLIV. It is of
pinkish, slaty tuff of rather low specific gravity, somewhat vesicular
and pulverulent, though moderately hard and tough. It weighs 17 ounces
(0.48 kilogram). In form and surface it is essentially a waveworn
pebble, doubtless derived originally from the volcanic deposits of
Sierra Kunkaak. Its artificial markings are limited to slight battering
about the edges, especially at the thinner end (as shown in the edge
view); slight rubbing, striation, and semipolishing of the smoother
face (shown in the plate); a few grease spots and a stain showing
use in crushing sappy vegetal matter, also on this face; and an
inconspicuous fire-mark on the obverse. It was found in a recently
abandoned jacal near Campo Navidad. It is one of the three tuff
specimens among those collected, one of a dozen or two seen; perhaps 10
per cent of the implements observed in Seriland are of this material,
and it is significant that this ratio is several times larger than the
proportion of tuff pebbles to the entire paving of the beaches, so that
the material seems to be a preferred one. The preference was indeed
discovered at Costa Rica in 1894, where two or three of the more highly
prized hupfs were of this material, and where vague intimations were
obtained that it is especially favored for meal-making, doubtless by
reason of the association of color and texture—associations that mean
much to the primitive mind, perhaps in suggesting that the grinding
is easier when done by a soft implement. An economic reason for the
preference is easily found in the lower specific gravity, and hence the
greater portability of a hupf of ordinary size, of this material; but
there is nothing to indicate that this economic factor is weighed or
even apperceived by the Seri.
A typical pebble bearing slight marks of use is illustrated in plate
XLV. It is of fine-grained pinkish sandstone, probably tuffaceous,
and is fairly hard and quite tough; it weighs 1 pound 9 ounces (0.71
kilogram). It is wholly natural in form and surface save for slight
battering or pecking on the face illustrated, and for a few stains of
grease and abundant marks of fire. It was found in a fire still burning
(and abandoned within a half-hour, as indicated by other signs) two or
three miles inland from Punta Granita on the Seri trail toward Aguaje
Parilla, whither it had evidently been carried from the coast.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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