Stone tools were commonly used throughout the prehistoric Southwest and appear in nearly every area that was used by humans. Ancestral O’odham stone tools in particular reveal clues about their intimate relationship with and knowledge of the land in which they lived, worked, and played.
O’odham stone tools are generally divided into two main categories of manufacture: ground stone and flaked stone.
Ground stone tools, which include manos and metates, axes, and fishing weights, were manufactured through flaking, pecking, and shaping of dense stone materials.
Flaked stone tools are typically made by removing portions of rock through controlled flint knapping, or percussion force directed by hitting the edge of the stone at an angle with another harder rock. Shaping the new tool to its desired size and sharpness is usually done through pressure flaking with an antler tine of other pointed implement.
