Abstract
Knowing what factors influenced pre-hispanic people’s choice of raw materials for maize-grinding tools is important in increasing our understanding of intensified maize preparation and changes in patterns of social, economic, and political development. Analyzing data from several collections in three areas of Central Mexico, the Mezquital Valley in Hidalgo, the Apizaco region in Tlaxcala, and the Teotihuacan Valley, Mexico, I focused on three factors: durability, design of metate, and access to source material. In general, it is not clear that durability of basalt grinding tools from the Apizaco region or the Mezquital Valley can be measured by the combined attributes of stone density, porosity, and texture quality. The design or style of the metate was important when selecting raw material; stone for making Apizaco metates was chosen based on whether the tools were made with feet. The middle Teotihuacan Valley site of Tlachinolpan was not restricted to using solely nearby middle valley sources for making grinding tools. By the Late Formative/Terminal Formative Period, materials were being imported into the Teotihuacan Valley.