Food Pounders, reruorpenu.

Food pounders were used for mashing foods such as taro and breadfruit in the bowls described above. In Rarotonga, a flat-topped table with very short legs was used to pound taro upon. They are circular or rectangular with rounded corners and were called papahia. No mention of them was made in Aitutaki. Pounders were also used to crush leaves, bark or roots in the preparation of dyes and medicine. They were made of wood, bone and stone.

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Wooden Pounders. These were generally made of tamanu. They are long, round in section and are not so flared at the bottom as the stone pounders. The handle end is surmounted by a knob. The example shown in Fig. 53 is 11½ inches long and 2½ inches in diameter across the bottom, which was quite flat.

Bone Pounders. Pounders were said to have been made of whalebone, ivi tohora., but no specimens were seen.

Stone Pounders. These will be described under the heading of Stonework.