Large, flat, grinding slabs were found covering several of the graves at Loma Sandia. These may have been placed to protect the body or perhaps they were offerings. Large grinding slabs would have been considered valuable artifacts because thin hard pieces of sandstone were hard to find and required considerable effort to transport on foot. The drawing on the left shows a grinding slab found over the grave of a woman, which also contained a mano, conch shell columella, and several untrimmed chert flakes. Both sides of the slab were double-faceted, that is, there were two use-worn depressions on each face of the slab. Interestingly, at Loma Sandia most of the graves associated with grinding slabs were those of adult males (although sex could not be determined for a number of individuals). Drawing on right by Cathy Dodt-Ellis.