540 household goods: The Americas The Americas by Elizabeth Morán Throughout the Americas household goods were made to suit the specific needs of the culture from materials readily available in the environment Cooking implements were made from wood, stone, fired clay, woven baskets, and even dried gourds Furniture typically was fashioned from wood but could very easily have been made from stone and other materials, such as animal hides and cotton In the Caribbean home furnishings were spare, and cooking implements were basic and made from clay, stone, and wood Such cultures as the Taíno (ca 1200–ca 1500) created stools called duhos, which were initially used by shamans and eventually appropriated by caciques, or chiefs These stools were ritual in use and were seen as thrones of power In the common dwellings people sat on the bare floor of the home or on simple woven mats made from palm leaves Cotton hammocks were used as beds In the North American Southwest early cultures, such as the Hohokam (ca 500.–ca 1400), created adobe or caliche (dried clay) architecture, yet these dwellings would have had very little or no furniture Floors of homes often were left bare or were partially covered with animal hides or furs Sometimes a raised wooden bench would stand in for a bed, although most often people slept on the clean floors, wrapped in hides and furs for warmth The heart of the home was the hearth, where family groups gathered for everyday activities, Stone cup, Mixteca/Pueblo style, Mexico, ca 900–1521 (Courtesy, National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution [catalog number 204073]) such as cooking, eating, and socializing Cooking tools were left near the hearth, since they were in constant use and were associated with the fire Like the furnishings, cooking and serving utensils were made from readily available materials, such as stone and wood The Iroquois and other eastern Woodlands peoples used the bark of elm trees to make vessels for cooking and storage Basket weaving was an important skill throughout the Americas, and baskets were used to hold, serve, and store foods Using a technique called twining, women on the northwest coast made baskets so tight that they could hold water Baskets were also used to trap live animals, such as eels In Mesoamerica the hearth was also a central location for cooking and other activities Painted manuscripts created by indigenous Aztec artists during the 16th century shed light on the many ways in which cooking implements were created and used One manuscript, the Codex Mendoza, illustrates a mother instructing her 13-year-old daughter in the art of cooking; Spanish glosses, or brief explanations, have been added to assist the European reader with interpretation Some of the items depicted with the mother and daughter are a metate (stone grinder), an olla (double-handled jar), a comal (griddle), and a small tripod bowl containing a grinder This bowl, called a molcajete in contemporary Spanish (or molcaxitl, as the Aztec referred to it), had deep incisions on the inside for grinding substances The molcajete, among many other Aztec cooking utensils, is still used in Mexico today Other painted manuscripts illustrate large tripod vessels, baskets, and a small grinder referred to as a mano, used in grinding herbs These cooking and serving utensils were homemade, locally made, or available at the markets, or they came into the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán as part of an organized tribute system For both Mesoamerica and South America, where groups developed from village cultures to organized states, cooking implements varied according to class associations Elite classes required more than basic cooking implements made from the natural environment; ceramics became highly decorative and elaborate and were in high demand by the ruling class Classic Period Mayan (ca 250–ca 900) ceramics were created for both ritual and everyday use Painted pottery gives a glimpse into the kinds of household furniture that existed in the homes of the Mayan elite Many vessels depict ruling class members sitting on elevated seats with large cushions supporting the sitter’s back Some ceramics show individuals sitting on benches While it can be surmised that these types of furnishings existed for the upper classes, the homes of commoners would have had much simpler furnishings, such as woven mats for seating It is also possible that these types of furnishings were linked with ritual rather than household