Grinding-stone implements in the eastern African Pastoral Neolithic

Abstract

ABSTRACTGrinding-stone tools are a poorly utilised source of archaeological information in eastern Africa. Their presence is noted in multiple contexts, including both domestic and funerary, yet the inferences drawn from them are often limited. This short review paper presents existing information on grinding-stone tools (and stone bowls) from Pastoral Neolithic (PN) contexts in eastern Africa. Data on the diverse grinding-stone tool assemblages of the Pastoral Neolithic have been compiled with a focus on details of morphology and spatial, temporal and contextual distribution. Summarising what is known (and, perhaps more importantly, what is not known) about grinding-stones in the Pastoral Neolithic, this paper serves as a reminder that the function of grinding-stone tools was neither singular nor their significance simplistic.