The Roles of Bedrock Mortars in Rockshelters of Eastern Oklahoma

Abstract

Rockshelters form an important part of the archaeological landscape. Rockshelters served a number of purposes, and in pursuit of those purposes they could be altered or adjusted. A prominent example of these rockshelter alterations is the presence of bedrock mortars, which consist of grinding and pounding surfaces deliberately carved into bedrock floors or large, immobile boulders. The functions of these bedrock mortars have long been assumed to be purely economic, only used for processing food plants. However, recent research has broadened the scope of bedrock mortars to investigate larger connotations of their contributions to the archaeological record. This thesis compares the combined implications of rockshelters and bedrock mortars to assess possible uses in Eastern Oklahoma. Based on the characteristics recorded in existing site files and survey reports, I propose that bedrock mortars in the study area were small-scale, specialized features placed in Pennsylvanian sandstone that were designed to efficiently process local environmental resources, and that they were potentially places of small-scale interpersonal communication and cultural transmission, and most likely used by women. Evidence of these bedrock mortar rockshelters having intense symbological or spiritual associations is lacking, but not impossible. I also propose future directions of research, to raise awareness of their significance to the archaeological record, and to expand the study of these features into the Midwest.