Villagers pounding rice

ASU Libraries undertakes research and accepts public comments that enhance the information we hold about images in our collections. If you can identify a landmark or person please send details to: digitalrepository@asu.edu. Thank you for helping describe and caption this important historical image.In Cambodia, hulling or husking rice is done with a device consisting of two baskets. The interior of the smaller basket is coated with clay, in which vertically fixed bamboo strips jut out about one centimeter. The upper basket is pierced near its center with a hole through which the rice is poured. The rice, pushed outward by the rotating movement is husked by passing between the jutting bamboo strips. After hulling, the rice is winnowed and pounded. This operation is necessary for polishing rice and separating it from dirt and the husks that remain after hulling. It is typically done with a wooden or stone mortar. Twenty-five to fifty liters of rice are put in the mortar, and then the rice is ground with a large wooden pestle, usually operated by hand. The rice must be winnowed one last time before it becomes edible. This process has largely now been replaced by mechanization, but the grinding stones are sometimes still used for grinding rice flour for making noodles and cakes.Source for information about the object depicted in the image: Thorel, Clovis. "Agriculture and Ethnobotany of the Mekong Basin," The Mekong Exploration Commission Report (1866-1868) Volume 4. Bangkok: White Lotus, 2001.To request permission to publish please complete the form located at the Department of Archives and Special Collections web site: http://hdl.handle.net/2286/7f5bakntwx1