Abstract
The quandong or native peach (Santalum acuminatum R.Br.) has been recognised as an important and tasty food resource among Aboriginal Australians in arid and semi-arid areas of southern Australia. It is valued for its fruit that is consumed raw or dried, and for its kernel, which is eaten raw or ground into paste for medicinal and skin care purposes. This paper reports on a study of ground stone implements within the Murray Darling Basin that has identified quandong stones as a distinct type of implement made specifically for the efficient cracking of quandong nuts. Data are presented on 1,327 ground stone implements from collections in 12 different locations in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB), an area almost completely devoid of stone sources. Given the paucity of stone, multi-purpose use of implements is widely documented. Although it was common to find pits present in mortars and other ground stone tools demonstrating multiple functions, including use as anvils, a class of single purpose stones with multiple pits and distinctive form was identified. Most of these were found in areas known for groves of quandong and four were analysed for use-wear and residues along with two other ground stone items from the MDB. The results support their identification as specialised anvil stones for cracking quandong nuts.
Highlights
Nuts from a wide range of species have formed an important human food resource for millennia across the world
We have demonstrated that pits in some ground stone implements are associated with the cracking of quandong nuts in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB)
While this activity may take place in conjunction with other functions, such as stone knapping on a range of multi-purpose tools, we have provided evidence for pits associated with specialised implements that are used for processing quandongs when in season, both as food source and to produce a salve for medical and skin care purposes
Summary
Nuts from a wide range of species have formed an important human food resource for millennia across the world. An additional item 4881, a broken mortar with a shallow facet on each face but no pits, was included (S1 Table and S1 Fig) providing an opportunity to compare use-wear and residues on an artefact not identified as a quandong stone. Quandong stones naturally smooth surface of stream-rolled cobbles (S2 Table) and each face is designed for a distinct activity: nut cracking and kernel grinding that result in different patterns of use-wear. Wear traces on quandong stone WW015, such as the formation of use facets–undulating micro-topography with striations and polish on both upper and lower zones–suggest the crushing and grinding of soft plant parts including large seeds and nut kernels typical of diffuse resting percussion in Sophie de Beaune’s conceptual framework [12,41]. The polish pattern on the mortar surface and rims indicates the crushing and grinding of large, soft seeds such as quandong kernels
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