metate
noun
a flat stone that has a shallow depression in the upper surface for holding maize or other grains to be ground with a mano.
metates
-
pluralof metate.plural
The grammatical form denoting more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Some archaeologists believe the metates may have been used not just as thrones, but also as seats for carrying the bundled and decorated bodies of the dead to their final resting place.
From National Geographic
The metates also display many puzzling pseudo-glyphs on them that have yet to be studied and deciphered.
From National Geographic
In a corner stood the frame for the grinding-slabs, or metates, and in it the three plates of lava on which the Indian crushes and pulverizes his maize were placed in the convenient slanting position.
From The Delight Makers by Adolph Francis Alphonse Bandelier
Rubbers for metates of the usual form, mostly of basalt, well worn, and most of them broken. 115-131.
The metates of Chiriqui present a great diversity of form and possibly represent distinct peoples or different grades of culture.
From Ancient art of the province of Chiriqui, Colombia Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1884-1885, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1888, pages 3-188 by William Henry Holmes
