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Cooking Stones

Cooking Stone (sometimes called “boiling stone”):  These were small, worked stones or fired ceramic “stones” used to boil liquids.  The stone or stones were heated in a fire.  When hot, the stone or stones were placed into a vessel which contained the water and the food to be cooked.  This was an effective way of cooking foods in vessels which could not be directly placed on a fire -- e.g., water-tight baskets, wooden vessels, or skin vessels.  Upon cooling, the stones were removed and placed back onto the fire to reheat.  This was the primary method of boiling/simmering liquids in the absence of pottery or metal cooking vessels which could be directly heated on a fire.   These stones are common to Poverty Point, a large Archaic site in northeastern Louisiana.