Editing Digging stick (section)

=== Americas ===
In [[Mexico]] and the [[Mesoamerican region]], the digging stick was the most important agricultural tool throughout the region.<ref>[http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/index.php?one=azt&two=art&tab=two&typ=reg&id=377 Study the Digging Stick] Mexicolore.</ref><ref>[http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/index.php?one=azt&two=art&id=320&typ=reg Uictli] Mexicolore.</ref>

The ''coa'' stick normally flares out into a triangle at the end and is used for cultivating [[maize]]. It is still used for agriculture in some indigenous communities, with some newer 20th-century versions having the addition of a little metal tip.{{cn|date=July 2021}}

Other digging sticks, according to Native Americans of the Columbia Plateau, have been used since time immemorial to gather edible roots like balsamroot, bitterroot, camas, and varieties of biscuitroot. Typical digging sticks were and are still about 2 to 3 feet in length, usually slightly arched, with the bottom tip shaved off at an angle. A 5 to 8 inch cross-piece made of antler, bone, or wood was fitted perpendicularly over the top of the stick, allowing the use of two hands to drive the tool into the ground. Since contact with the Europeans in the 19th century, Native Americans have also adapted the use of a metal in making digging sticks.{{cn|date=July 2021}}