570 household goods: The Americas THE AMERICAS BY KIRK H BEETZ The ancient Americans of the far north learned how to adapt their frigid environment to their needs For instance, they built their beds out of frozen ground, laying animals skins on the bed to provide comfort They made cradles out of wood and them from sturdy wooden poles in their homes Later Arctic peoples used a mesh of branches covered with animal skins for their floors, and some of the ancient Arctic American peoples probably did, too Their household tools tended to be focused on what they needed to prepare food This meant that they had scraping tools made out of bone, wood, or stone for removing fat and flesh from animal hides Their eating utensils, such as spoons, tended to be made out of bone In North America south of the Arctic and north of Mexico, many cultures rose and fell, and archaeological studies of their remains have only begun to form a picture of their lives Stone mortars and pestles have been found at many sites Some large stone outcrops have dish-shaped impressions caused by people grinding into them, but there are also mortars and pestles small enough to be used in homes, including ones barely bigger than a hand that could have been carried by nomads Given how small they are, they were more likely used for grinding ingredients for medicines than food Many ancient North Americans probably made spoons and scoops out of bone The extent of the use of wood in making home utensils is not known but probably was extensive wherever wood was available This can be inferred from the wide use of wood for building homes, which suggests that wood would have been used for other household purposes Ceramics were used broadly for making pots, bowls, plates, and cups Woven baskets were probably used to store grain and for other household purposes, but pottery would have been favored for carrying liquids and for cooking Furniture was sparse, and most people slept on mats or blankets on dirt floors A multitude of cultures developed in ancient Mexico and Central America, but only a few are at all well known The earliest Americans were hunter-gatherers who used wood and bone for tools In Guatemala stone tools dated to 8760 b.c.e include scrapers and blades, probably for preparing meat for cooking The most famous of the ancient Mesoamericans are the Olmec and the Maya Little is known of the everyday habits of the Olmec, though their household goods were probably similar to those of the Maya, whom they seem to have influenced The Maya did not use much furniture They slept on mats on dirt floors unless they were of the nobility, in which case their floors may have been stone The mats were made of woven reeds When they were not sleeping, Mayans usually used their sleeping mats as seats In some homes, raised earth may have been covered with sleeping mats and used as seats Chairs were made of wood and wicker and may have had backs, but they were probably used only by nobility and royalty The homes of important people might have contained stone benches Archaeologists imagine that those who sat on the stone benches were family patriarchs conducting important business with family or outsiders Baskets have been found in homes Chests of wickerwork may have been used for storing clothing or valuables Low wooden tables may have been used in some homes They would have been small and portable, because the Maya might sit to eat almost anywhere Food preparation involved stone goods such as grinding stones It is possible that every home had a grinding stone and a cylindrical stone grinder, used primarily to process maize Nuts may have been cracked on small, stone hand mills Mayans used stone tools extensively in their preparation of food, using them for chopping vegetables, cutting meat, and scraping pulp from gourds Food would have been cooked in ceramic pots, with wooden utensils that had been made with obsidian cutting tools Food was either boiled in ceramic pots or grilled over open fires The majority of household goods recovered from Mesoamerican archaeological sites have been ceramic, varying from coarse bowls for soaking maize to artfully shaped plates for holding food during meals Bottles, jars, bowls, cups, and plates were used regularly The bottles held liquids, usually drinks Maize beer was often poured from bottles into plain cylindrical cups that fit easily in the hand By about 400 b.c.e Mayans used jugs with spouts The populating of South America probably occurred in waves, with perhaps the first human inhabitants being people who moved along the coast of modern Argentina in small boats Others migrated into the Andes, and more is known about the ancient Andean peoples, partly because the climate is cold and dry, meaning that goods made of wood, reeds, and cloth decay much more slowly than they in other parts of South America These peoples began as hunter-gatherers but learned to cultivate maize and many varieties of sweet potatoes Ceramic bottles appeared first on the coast and then moved inland By about 1200 b.c.e bottles varied considerably in shape, from balls to cubes to ornate shapes of animals or even houses The stirrup bottle seems to have been important as a religious object as well as popular for its design Ancient South Americans believed the stirrup represented their connection with their ancestors The stirrup bottle derives its name from its handle, which arches far out in the shape of a stirrup from the main part of the bottle Sometimes the bottles had two such handles, and the stirrup-shaped handle design often shows up on jugs and bowls The principal drink of the ancient Andeans was probably maize beer Their housewares include many examples of fermentation jars, bottles for pouring beer, and cups intended to be used for drinking beer in particular Their bottles began as boxy shapes with spouts in the 1200s b.c.e and became ever more intricately shaped and colorful By the 200s b.c.e the Andeans were using bottles in which the spout projected out of the stirrup, so that the liquid flowed through the handle and out the spout Another form during