Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

PAATSINIKIIMAAN

Date Range From

10,000BCE

Date Range To

1880

Materials

GRANITE

No. Pieces

1

Height

7.5

Length

11.0

Width

8.5

Diameter

3.18

Description

INDIGENOUS LITHIC TOOL WITH A PRONOUNCED GROOVE WIDTH-WISE AND STAINED BY BROWN PAINT. THE LITHIC IS OVAL IN SHAPE. THE GROOVE IS SLIGHTLY OFFSET OF CENTER, TOWARDS THE END OF THE STONE WITH VISIBLE MARKS OF IMPACTION. THE IMPACT END HAS THREE SMALL LIGHT BROWN PAINT STAINS AND PITTED IMPRESSIONS WHERE THE CORTEX (OUTER-SURFACE OF THE ROCK) HAS BEEN SCRATCHED—APPEARING WHITENED IN THESE AREAS. THE GROOVE IS PITTED AND APPEARS DARKENED BY ORGANIC STAINING. THE OTHER TWO-THIRDS OF THE ROCK IS PREDOMINANTLY COVERED IN DARK BROWN PAINT. THE PAINTED END IS ALSO SPECKLED BY A SMALL CIRCULAR GROUPING OF BLUE PAINT. OVERALL: FAIR CONDITION.

Subjects

INDIGENOUS

Historical Association

ARCHAEOLOGY

History

ON MARCH 3, 2024, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN AND CURATOR CAMINA MANYCHIEF/AOTAANAAKII (SHIELD WOMAN), INTERVIEWED LINDA ZOMBORI REGARDING A STONE MAUL SHE FOUND ON HARRY KANE AND BOB RAINBOW’S PASTURELAND NEAR PICTURE BUTTE, ALBERTA. THE MAUL WAS WITHIN APPROXIMATELY A HALF MILE RADIUS FROM LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES: 49°50'55.3"N, 112°43'25.4"W. LINDA RECOLLECTED STUMBLING UPON THE MAUL IN “1959, OR ’60, AT THE RIVER BOTTOM, AT KANE AND RAINBOW’S PASTURELAND… THREE MILES EAST, TWO MILES SOUTH OF PICTURE BUTTE.” LINDA SAID “MY [FUTURE] HUSBAND [NICK ZOMBORI] WORKED FOR KANE AND RAINBOW’S…FEEDLOT/FARM OPERATION…HE WASN’T MY HUSBAND THEN, BUT… [AS] HIS TWO SISTERS WERE MY FRIENDS… I WENT ALONG FOR THE RIDE MAINLY, BECAUSE I HADN’T RIDDEN HORSES FOR A FEW YEARS… WE WERE JUST CHECKING [ON] THE SPRING CALVES DOWN ON THE RIVER BOTTOM.” IN REGARDS TO FINDING THE MAUL, LINDA EXPLAINED THAT “HORSES CAN [NORMALLY] WALK ALONG ON THE SIDE…[OF] A STEEP COULEE HILL…WITHOUT ANY TROUBLE… [SO] HALF-WAY DOWN THE SLOPE… [WHEN] THE HORSE [I WAS RIDING] KICKED IT… [I WAS PROMPTED]…TO SEE WHAT IT [WAS]…” LINDA ELABORATED ON WHY SHE COLLECTED THE MAUL, “I…FIGURED IT MUST BE AN ARTIFACT OF SOME SORT…I’M A REAL READER, SO… [WILL] PICK UP…ANYTHING… THAT HAS TO DO WITH HISTORY… I HAD SEEN SOME… PICTURES…SORT OF LIKE [THE DONATED MAUL]… AND THEY’VE HAD…A BINDING ON IT, AND A TREE BRANCH TO HOLD THEM, AND[AN UNKNOWN SOURCE] SAID THAT IT WAS USED FOR POUNDING… GRASSES, AND WHATEVER BACK THEN.” CONCERNING THE PAINT WHICH STAINS THE STONE MAUL, LINDA EXPLAINED “I’VE TAKEN IT WITH ME [TO] QUITE A FEW PLACES – TO ONTARIO, WHERE WE LIVED, AND BACK TO CALGARY, AND NOW BACK TO LETHBRIDGE… IT JUST SAT ON THE SHELF, EXCEPT FOR WHEN WE MOVED TO ONTARIO, AND I LOST IT. THAT’S WHEN IT GOT THAT…[PAINT] ON IT… [AS] MY HUSBAND [NICK] WAS ALWAYS IN THE GARAGE DOING STUFF…” LINDA ADVISED THAT “…A PERSON SHOULD KNOW THAT THEY SHOULD TURN THINGS IN LIKE…[THE STONE MAUL]. THEY SHOULDN’T HOARD [IT]… TO THEMSELVES.” ON JANUARY 29, 2025, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED CURATOR & BLACKFOOT COMMUNITY MEMBER CAMINA MANYCHIEF / AOTAANAAKII (SHIELD WOMAN) TO LEARN A GENERAL HISTORY ON STONE MAULS AND TOOLS. REGARDING THE CREATION OF STONE MAULS, CAMINA REMARKED THAT “…IT IS A TOOL OF SORTS… WHEN… [LINDA] BROUGHT… [THE MAUL] IN, I IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZED IT IS A STONE TOOL BECAUSE OF THE GROOVE MARKING THAT GOES ALL THE WAY AROUND IT… IT PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN ACTUALLY GROUND IN BY HAND, USING…ANOTHER ROCK, AND POSSIBLY EVEN… A SANDSTONE TO MAKE THAT GROOVE IN THERE…THAT GROOVE IS WHERE THE HANDLE, THE ACTUAL WOOD HANDLE IS GOING TO SIT… WHAT I’VE BEEN TOLD IS CHOKECHERRY WAS TYPICALLY THE TYPE OF WOOD WE WANTED TO USE FOR OUR HANDLES, BECAUSE THEY WERE VERY STRONG…YOU WOULD CUT THE CHOKECHERRY BRANCH TWICE THE LENGTH THAT YOU WANT THE HANDLE TO BE, AND THEN YOU LET THE BRANCH DRY, AND THEN, ONCE IT’S DRY, THEN YOU’RE GOING TO SPLIT IT DOWN THE CENTER. AND THE HALF-SIDE IS THEN WHAT IS GOING TO WRAP AROUND THE ROCK, AND THEN, AT THE BOTTOM PART, WHEN THOSE TWO HALVES COME TOGETHER, IT’S A COMPLETE CIRCLE. SO… YOU’RE GOING TO USE THE RAWHIDE TO THEN TIE AT THE BASE, AND TO TIE IT TO THE ROCK. WHEN YOU’RE TYING IT ON… THE RAWHIDE [IS] WET… AND THEN YOU LEAVE IT. WHEN IT DRIES IT’S GOING TO TIGHTEN UP AND PULL EVERYTHING TOGETHER…USUALLY THE HANDLES AND THE RAWHIDE ARE NOT SURVIVING IN THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD, AND WHAT THEY ONLY FIND IS THE ROCK WITH THE GROOVE IN IT.” CAMINA DESCRIBES THE VISIBLE DIFFERENCES OF NATURALLY ALTERED OR PEOPLE-ALTERED STONE: “A LOT OF THE TIMES WITH WATER IT IS SOFTER. IT LOOKS.. MORE… NATURAL, WHERE THIS ONE [LINDA’S DONATED MAUL] YOU CAN SEE PARTS OF IT ALMOST SEEM PITTED, AND IT’S GOT…A ROUGHER FEEL TO IT. BUT ALSO, A LOT OF TIMES WHEN THINGS HAPPEN NATURALLY, THEY’RE NOT NECESSARILY SYMMETRICAL. AND SO, THIS ONE, [IS PEOPLE-ALTERED] BECAUSE IT LOOKS…VERY INTENTIONAL… WHERE THIS…GROOVE GOES ALL THE WAY AROUND THE ROCK.” ON THE FUNCTIONALITY OF STONE MAULS AND QUESTIONS CAMINA HAS FREQUENTLY BEEN ASKED ABOUT THEM: “IT’S BEEN INTERESTING, IN THE PAST FIVE OR SO YEARS, JUST WITH, I THINK… PEOPLE’S BROADER UNDERSTANDING OF…GENDERS, I WOULD GET ASKED A LOT… ‘IS THIS A MAN’S TOOL?’ ‘IS THIS A WOMAN’S TOOL?’…MY RESPONSE HAS BEEN, ‘IT’S A SURVIVAL TOOL.’…IT DOESN’T MATTER IF IT’S A MAN OR A WOMAN. A MAN OR A WOMAN CAN MAKE THIS TOOL. A MAN OR A WOMAN CAN USE THIS TOOL. HOW THEY ARE USING THE TOOL CAN DEPEND…[FOR] FEMALES, TYPICALLY IT IS FOR… FOOD PROCESSING [AND] FOOD MAKING…[BUT] NOT NECESSARILY. MEN OR WOMEN CAN BE USING IT FOR…GRINDING DOWN MEDICINES. MEN CAN BE USING IT FOR WARFARE, BUT WOMEN CAN ALSO USE IT FOR WARFARE…THAT’S WHY I SAY IT’S A SURVIVAL TOOL. IT DOESN’T MATTER IF IT’S A MAN OR A WOMAN. IT’S MORE ABOUT THE SITUATION THAT INDIVIDUAL FINDS THEMSELVES IN… A WOMAN CAN BE SITTING THERE USING THIS TO MAKE PEMMICAN. AND THEN, THEIR CAMP GETS ATTACKED, SHE’S GOING TO USE IT TO DEFEND HERSELF ALSO.” REGARDING THE LOCATION WHERE LINDA FOUND AND COLLECTED THE STONE MAUL, CAMINA COMMENTED, “THAT WHERE SHE TALKED ABOUT FINDING IT ON THE LANDSCAPE SEEMS LIKE A GOOD CAMP SPOT [WHERE]…IT COULD HAVE BEEN INTENTIONALLY LEFT BEHIND… [BY] THE OWNER MEANING TO COME BACK AND USE IT UP AGAIN, OR IT COULD HAVE BEEN… AS THEY’RE TRAVELLING, AND PACKING UP, IT FELL OFF THE TRAVOIS, AND NO ONE REALLY NOTICED…ONE OF THE THINGS ABOUT STONE TOOLS IS, WHEN YOU MOVE FROM CAMP TO CAMP, YOU’RE NOT NECESSARILY GOING TO PACK 15 POUNDS OF ROCKS WITH YOU WHEN YOU KNOW, WHEN I GET TO MY OTHER CAMP, THERE’S GOING TO BE ROCKS THERE FOR ME TO USE.” CAMINA COMMENTED ON THE CONTINUED UTILITY OF THE STONE MAUL WHICH LINDA DONATED, “THIS ONE I THOUGHT WAS INTERESTING BECAUSE WHEN…[LINDA] BROUGHT IT IN, RIGHT AWAY YOU NOTICE THE PAINT THAT WAS ON THE ONE SIDE, AND SHE HAD TALKED ABOUT HOW THEY HAD HAD IT IN THEIR HOME, AND THEN THEY HAD MOVED TO ANOTHER PLACE, AND THAT IT JUST SAT PROBABLY IN THE GARAGE, AND SHE’S ASSUMING THAT HER HUSBAND PICKED IT UP TO OPEN UP A PAINT CAN, WHICH…I FIND AMUSING BECAUSE IT’S LIKE, ‘WELL, IT’S A TOOL. HE USED IT THE WAY IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE USED’, AND NOW THE PAINT JUST ADDS TO THE STORY OF THE TOOL’S LIFE. SO, YEAH, LIKELY LAST USED AS A TOOL SOMETIME IN THE LATE 1900s.” ON NOVEMBER 5, 2025, CAMINA SHARED THROUGH CONSULTING GRETA MANY BEARS, AN INDIGENOUS ELDER, THAT THE BLACKFOOT NAME FOR STONE MAUL(S) AND/OR HAMMERSTONE(S) IS PAATSINIKIIMAAN. THE DENOTATION OF PAATSINIKIIMAAN MEANS THE UTILY OF THE TOOL, BEYOND ONLY BEING MADE OF STONE. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND TO VIEW THE INTERVIEW TRANSCIPTS, SEE THE DONATIONS PERMANENT FILE.

Catalogue Number

P20230016000

Acquisition Date

2023-06

Collection

Museum

Less detail