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The Kawaiisu Culture
Food Preparation
Although some greens, seeds and berries were eaten fresh, many of the gathered foodstuffs required preparation
by pounding and grinding. Bedrock mortars, grinding sticks, pestles, and hand grinders were the essential
appliances for food processing. Obsidian knives were used for cutting meat. From twined or coiled baskets
to the stone tools used for mashing and pounding, the working tools of the Kawaiisu were all made by hand.
While some foods were eaten raw, others were boiled, parched with hot coals on a flat tray or roasted
in a pit oven over hot ashes. Deer meat was made into jerky and used as a trade item. Some foods were
dried and molded into cakes for storage.
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Kawaiisu Culture
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