Ground Stone Artifacts Research Articles

A 47,000 year archaeological and palaeoenvironmental record from Juukan 2 rockshelter on the western Hamersley Plateau of the Pilbara region, Western Australia

Archaeological and palaeoenvironmental investigations at Juukan 2 rockshelter have yielded new information on the ancient Aboriginal occupation of the Pilbara uplands in northwest Australia. Using multiple lines of evidence, including lithic, faunal, pollen, ancient DNA, radiocarbon dating, optically stimulated luminescence, and Bayesian chronological modelling, we show that Aboriginal people occupied the western Hamersley Plateau as early as 47,000 years ago (47 ka). Late Pleistocene populations utilised a diverse range of tool technologies, including bone points, grindstones, and flaked stone artefacts. Palaeoclimatic conditions at Juukan 2 rockshelter varied greatly over the past 47 ka, with repeated site visits by people, including during the peak hyper-arid phase of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) c. 21 ± 2 ka. Ancient starch analyses of the ground stone artefacts show the processing of Ipomoea (Bush Potato) from around 42 ka to the present day. Pronounced increases in the discard of stone artefacts and bone in the last 3500 years are interpreted to be the result of increased frequency of site use. A braided hair fragment dated to this period has demonstrated genetic links between the earlier rockshelter occupants and contemporary Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura peoples, who have maintained strong cultural connections to the area.

Starch Granule Yields from Open-Air Metates Unaffected by Environmental Contamination

Abstract The morphological characteristics of starch granules preserved on ancient ground stone tools can reveal which plant species were processed and consumed and even infer tool function. Bedrock metates are commonly associated with the processing of localized seasonal resources, providing potential evidence for past human lifeways, including foods collected and processed, social gatherings, settlement patterns, land investment, and territorial behavior. In contrast to ground stone artifacts preserved in a buried context that have been studied extensively, limited starch research has been conducted on the potential for environmental contamination of open-air bedrock mortars and metates exposed to natural erosional elements. This project examines the residue samples of bedrock metates from three archaeological sites in southern Oregon in the United States to compare the starch yields of extraneous material cleaned from the grinding surface to those extracted from interstitial matrices deeper within the bedrock. Significantly greater number of starch granules were recovered from deep within the cracks and crevices than from the surface. Our study suggests that environmental contamination can be managed if separate surface and control samples are collected and analyzed in conjunction with the interstitial samples. Examining the potential for environmental contamination on exposed grinding surfaces is crucial for confidence in starch granule results and improving our understanding of human dietary behavior.

Using X‐ray fluorescence to examine ancient Maya granite ground stone in Belize

AbstractWhile ubiquitous among ancient Maya sites in Mesoamerica, archaeological analysts frequently overlook the interpretive potential of ground stone tools. The ancient Maya often made these heavy, bulky tools of coarse‐grained, heterogeneous materials that are difficult to chemically source, unlike obsidian. This paper describes an application of handheld, energy‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) to provenance ground stone artifacts (tools and architectural blocks) composed of granite: a nonhomogenous, phaneritic stone. We present a multicomponent methodology that independently tested whole‐rock, thin‐sectioned, and powdered samples by petrographic microscope, conventional, lab‐based XRF, and portable XRF units, which yielded comparable results. After establishing distinct geochemical signatures for the three geographically restricted granite plutons in Belize, we devised a field‐based XRF application on a whole rock that could replicate the compositional readings of lab‐based XRF on powdered materials with sufficient accuracy and reliability. We applied this multishot XRF technique to granite ground stone items from a range of ancient Maya sites throughout Belize; we discuss two specific case studies herein. Our results underscore the widespread potential of multishot XRF applications for determining the provenance of coarse‐grained, heterogeneous rock materials. These results can help push the boundaries from one‐dimensional, functional explanations of ground stone items to their social and ideological dimensions, alongside deeper understandings of granite resource management.

An Introduction to the Study of (Late) Prehistoric Ground Stone Artefacts in the Western Part of Jebel Sabaloka in Central Sudan / Úvod do studia pravěkých broušených kamenných artefaktů ze západní části pohoří Sabaloka ve středním Súdánu

This study is devoted to stone artefacts made from raw materials that are valued for their hardness, tenacity, and texture. They were often ground, and some tools from this category were themselves used for grinding. In addition to shaping artefacts, they were employed in processing of food, crushing minerals and ores, or as parts of digging sticks. Changes in their functional composition generally signal significant subsistence, economic and social changes. As our research focuses on the Sahel region, which has undergone complex formative processes connected with climate change and radical transformation of living conditions, it is necessary to test diverse approaches to utilizing the information potential of finds from this region. The studied artefacts come from Mesolithic (~9000–5000 cal BC) and Early Neolithic (~5000–3800 cal BC) settlements in the western part of Jebel Sabaloka in central Sudan. We focus on two assemblages from surface collection at the sites of Sphinx (Mesolithic) and Fox Hill (Mesolithic and Early Neolithic). We first provide a critical review of core studies of ground stone artefacts from the region and propose a unified basic terminology. Subsequently, we present a new classification and description system and highlight certain variables which are important to track at the sites. Among other things, our conclusions indicate that although changes occur in the settlement system and domesticated animals appear in the study region in the fifth millennium BC, these changes are reflected neither in the quantity nor in any substantial way in the morphometric characteristics of ground stone artefacts as was the case, for instance, in the Near East.

Direct analysis of ground stone artefacts; a study of the use of Early Bronze Age stone Battle-Axes and Axe-Hammers

Most interpretations of ground stone artefacts are still based on their form and depositional contexts and lack scientific functional assessments, such as use-wear analysis and experimental archaeology. For instance, previous interpretations of perforated stone battle-axes and axe-hammers have been influenced by their form and similarity to the battle-axes of the Single Grave Culture in Scandinavia and have assumed the British battle-axes were purely ceremonial while the rougher axe-hammers were too large and crude to be either ceremonial or functional. Studies of typology, manufacturing processes and identification of petrological sources have failed to resolve the use of these implements. This paper presents the methodological approach used to revisit artefact function in the first large-scale application of use-wear analysis on Early Bronze Age battle-axes and axe-hammers from Northern Britain and the Isle of Man, 2200–500 BCE. The data supports a reassessment of the role of these objects, indicating they were versatile and multi-functional tools while expanding traceological research data for bladed ground stone artefacts. Moreover, it enhances the field of use-wear analysis on bladed ground and polished stone artefacts, of which only a small fraction have been analysed in this manner. As such, this research demonstrates the academic potential of applying use-wear analysis and experimental archaeology to the study of ground stone artefacts, which has thus far received less attention than knapped and flaked industries.

Processing it all: Starch residues on Jomon Period ground stone from southern Hokkaido, Japan

For the Jomon Period, ground stone technology related to processing activities, such as handstones and querns, are commonly associated with plant foods. In many cases, these tools are considered to be an indicator for the consumption of tree nuts. In this study, ground stone artifacts from 15 sites across southern Hokkaido were analyzed for starchy residues to examine the relationship between grinding tools and economic plant taxa in Jomon daily practices. Overall, 24 of the 76 artifacts examined here had observable starch grains, meaning a large percentage of tools did not appear to have been in contact with starchy plants. The starch types commonly found in underground storage organs (USOs) were the most prominent component of the observed grains, indicating the use of yams, lilies, and other roots or tubers. The evidence for Poaceae grasses, legumes, and nuts is less clear, but present alongside the USO starch granules. These results suggest that grinding implements were not limited to processing plant foods, and would not have been restricted to specific resources, such as nuts.

Some Remarks on Social and Symbolic Significance of the Early Neolithic Longhouses Based on the Applications and Spatial Distribution of Ground Stone Type Tools. The Case of the Linear Pottery Sites from Lesser Poland

This article attempts to present some aspects of the spatial reconstruction, modes of use, and social relations in the longhouse settlements of the Linear Pottery culture (LBK) by means of a contextual distributional analysis of ground stone artefacts. Three LBK settlement complexes from Lesser Poland (southern Poland) were selected for analysis based on a considerable number of finds of ground stone tools yielded by the excavations. Accurate determination of the intended use of a stone object, as indicated by the traces of use on its surface, was of central importance. Based on the above data, the author has distinguished two types of household sectors in LBK settlements with longhouses, namely domestic and communal. It is argued that the inhabitants of a given longhouse used the domestic sector for their purposes, while the latter served the community. Significant differences in the proportions of ground stones were found between settlements and between the settlement phases of a village. This leads the author to consider whether there might have been specialized settlements for a particular microregion in addition to the function served by a single longhouse. Each settlement would have specialized in different household tasks.

Direct Evidence for Geophyte Exploitation in the Wyoming Basin

In the Wyoming Basin, archaeological sites dating from the Early Archaic to Late Prehistoric are often found associated with or adjacent to dense populations of Cymopterus bulbosus (springparsley), a nutritious geophyte that would have been an important food source for prehistoric humans living in the region. Experimental data have shown that the caloric return rates of C. bulbosus were enough to support seasonal exploitation by foragers, yet there has been no direct evidence for the use of this geophyte from the archaeological record. In this study, we examine starch granules from 10 ground stone tools excavated from two stratified, multicomponent archaeological sites in the Wyoming Basin to determine if C. bulbosus was collected and consumed in the past. Taproots of C. bulbosus were collected from two populations in the immediate vicinity of the archaeological sites in order to develop a modern starch reference. Identification of Cymopterus starch granules is based on a systematic study of those reference granules. The presence of Cymopterus starch on the ground stone artifacts suggests that prehistoric foragers were collecting and consuming these geophytes. These findings support previous hypotheses about geophyte use in southern Wyoming and therefore have implications for increasing human populations as well as settlement and subsistence decisions.

A Preliminary Petrologic and Provenance Analysis of Groundstone Artifacts from the Northern Channel Islands and Coastal Southern Alta California

ABSTRACT The Chumash of the southern Central Coast of Alta California have long been recognized for their complex sociopolitical systems and extensive exchange networks. This study employs petrologic geoarchaeological methods to examine groundstone bowl and mortar fragments from Chumash archaeological sites along the Northern Channel Islands and the Oxnard Plain region of the southern Central Coast. Through comparison of macroscopic and microscopic descriptions, our purpose is to establish the rock units from which the artifacts were likely produced to determine whether these tools were locally manufactured, or if non-local, the possible distances over which these artifacts were transported. The results of our preliminary study suggest that during the early late Holocene, the local Chumash obtained their groundstone mortars via both local production and intraregional exchange, with some finished tools found at least 80 km distant from probable raw material sources.

A functional study of denticulate sickles and knives, ground stone tools from the early Neolithic Peiligang culture, China

Usewear analyses were undertaken on polyvinyl siloxane (PVS) peels from 23 Peiligang (9000–7000 cal BP) ground stone artefacts, including 20 with the denticulated cutting edges typical of implements called ‘denticulate sickles’ and three with cutting edges that lack denticulations, typical of implements called ‘knives’. The denticulate sickles were recovered from three Peiligang sites including Jiahu, Shigu and Egou. The three knives were recovered from Jiahu. Patterns of polish and other usewear on denticulate sickles suggest that they were used for harvesting Poaceae grasses (n = 5), cutting Typha cattails (n = 1) or stripping tree branches to recover fruits or nuts (n = 6). Five denticulate sickles were probably multi-functional tools, with traces of use suggesting combinations of these tasks. One of the knives has possible remnants of worn teeth and traces of use indicating harvesting Typha cattails. The function of three denticulate sickles and two knives is uncertain. Our evidence supports the hypothesis that denticulate sickles were multi-purpose tools, rather than specialised implements for harvesting cereals.

Holocene grinding stones at Madjedbebe reveal the processing of starchy plant taxa and animal tissue

The functional study of ground stone artefacts and the analysis of charred plant remains together demonstrate that plant foods played a significant role in the diets of Aboriginal Australians through all occupation phases at the Pleistocene-aged archaeological site of Madjedbebe. Here we report studies of three sandstone grinding stones from the Holocene levels of the site, one associated with a radiocarbon age of 690 cal. BP, and the others with an age of 8320 cal. BP. The functional analyses involved technological studies combined with brightfield microscopy, starch grain analysis, biochemical testing and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS). All three tools had usewear consistent with plant processing, with two having abrasive smoothing and polish characteristics typical of seed-grinding. Significant quantities of starch were recovered from each artefact and demonstrate the early Holocene processing of waterlily (Nymphaea violacea) and possibly kapok bush root (Cochlospermum fraseri), cheeky yam (Amorphopallus galbra) and long yam (Dioscorea transversa). In addition to starchy plant foods, one of the tools was used for processing animal tissue, as indicated by biochemical testing and GC–MS analysis, inferring a multi-functional use.

Kostënki 9: The chronology and lithic assemblage of a Gravettian site in Russia

Kostënki 9 is a small Gravettian site in the Kostënki-Borshchëvo area of Russia, known for a highly homogeneous assemblage of ventrally truncated backed bladelets, as well as the presence of ground stone artefacts. The site was mainly excavated during the twentieth century but in recent years small-scale work has begun again at the site. Until now no radiocarbon dates have been available for the site, although it has been assumed to be broadly contemporary with Borshchëvo 5/I and Kostënki 4 due to similarities in their assemblages. Here we present the first radiocarbon dates for the site, which confirm that the site is roughly the same age as Borshchëvo 5/I and Kostënki 4, and older than the Kostënki-Avdeevo Culture sites in the region. We also present an overview of the lithic assemblage (both knapped and ground stone) based on recent studies. The truncated backed bladelets found at the site are highly comparable to similar artefacts of approximately the same age found at a series of sites in Central Europe, including Jaksice II, Trenčianske Bohuslavice, Petřkovice I and Milovice I. This is a key point of material culture similarity that requires further work but which hints at long-distance social and cultural links across Eastern and Central Europe slightly pre-dating the well-known connections that have been established based on the shared presence of shouldered points. Similarities in material culture across this region are further attested by analogies among personal ornaments – waisted double-headed beads – found at the Kostënki sites and at Grub/Kranawetberg in Austria.

Early ground axe technology in Wallacea: The first excavations on Obi Island.

The first excavations on Obi Island, north-east Wallacea, reveal three phases of occupation beginning in the terminal Pleistocene. Ground shell artefacts appear at the end of the terminal Pleistocene, the earliest examples in Wallacea. In the subsequent early Holocene occupation phase, ground stone axe flakes appear, which are again the earliest examples in Wallacea. Ground axes were likely instrumental to subsistence in Obi’s dense tropical forest. From ~8000 BP there was a hiatus lasting several millennia, perhaps because increased precipitation and forest density made the sites inhospitable. The site was reoccupied in the Metal Age, with this third phase including quadrangular ground stone artefacts, as well as pottery and pigs; reflecting Austronesian influences. Greater connectivity at this time is also indicated by an Oliva shell bead tradition that occurs in southern Wallacea and an exotic obsidian artefact. The emergence of ground axes on Obi is an independent example of a broader pattern of intensification at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in Wallacea and New Guinea, evincing human innovation in response to rapid environmental change.

Functional studies of flaked and ground stone artefacts reveal starchy tree nut and root exploitation in mid-Holocene highland New Guinea

Ground stone technology for processing starchy plant foods has its origins in the late Pleistocene, with subsequent intensification and transformation of this technology coinciding with the global emergence of agriculture in the early Holocene. On the island of New Guinea, agriculture first emerges in the highland Wahgi Valley, potentially from c. 9 kya, and clearly evident by 6.5 kya. Approximately 400 km further east in the highland Ivane Valley, long-term occupation sequences span the Holocene and late Pleistocene, but there is currently no direct evidence for wetland agriculture. Here, we report rare evidence for ground stone implements from a secure mid-Holocene archaeological context in the Ivane Valley. The Joe’s Garden site has flaked and ground stone artefacts with significant starch assemblages dating to approximately 4.4 kya. We present the first empirical evidence for the function of stone bowls from a New Guinea highland setting. Usewear and residues indicate the grinding and pounding of endemic starch-rich plant foods. Geometric morphometric analysis of starch grains shows that at least two taxa were processed: Castanopsis acuminatissima (nut) and Pueraria lobata (tuber). This regional example adds to our understanding of the trajectories of diverse plant food exploitation and ground stone technology development witnessed globally in the Holocene.

A 1,200-year-old ground-stone object from South Western Torres Strait (northeast Australia) and its implications for historicising ethnographically known social networks

Ground-stone objects such as stone-headed clubs (gabagab) and axes/adzes held key positions in ethnographically known social networks encompassing Torres Strait and southern central New Guinea. However, the antiquity of ground-stone artefacts in this region is poorly understood given the small number of ground-stone objects found in dated archaeological contexts. We report on the discovery of a 1,200-year-old fragment of a ground-stone implement recovered from an archaeological excavation at a Kaurareg campsite on the south coast of Muralag in southwest Torres Strait. We discuss this find relative to the dataset of dated ground-stone objects available for the region and consider implications for understanding socio-demography, identity markers, and the development of social networks in Torres Strait. Abbreviations: var.: variation; PNG: Papua New Guinea

AKMENINIAI GLUDINTI KIRVIAI LIETUVOJE. TIPOLOGIJOS IR TERMINOLOGIJOS PROBLEMOS / GROUND STONE AXES IN LITHUANIA. PROBLEMS OF TYPOLOGY AND TERMINOLOGY

During 1974–1978, the Lithuanian Institute of History published four volumes of the Lietuvos archeologijos atlasas (Atlas of Lithuanian Archaeology). The atlas’s first book, which was edited by Dr habil. Rimutė Rimantienė, was devoted to Stone and Bronze Age sites and stray finds from this period (Atlasas 1974). The separate article of this book (Bagušienė, Rimantienė 1974) encompassed all of the ground stone artefacts that had been mapped and were preserved at that time in Lithuanian museums. The work listed 2560 ground stone artefacts from 1420 find spots and created distribution maps, an index of the main types, and a typology scheme, which Lithuanian archaeologists and museologists have used for almost half a century. The typological scheme of ground stone artefacts created by Ona Bagušienė and Rimutė Rimantienė is seen not as an unalterable constant, but as a dynamic, modifiable classification structure. The article presents insights and thoughts that arose in creating a ground stone artefact database for SW Lithuania (Užnemunė). And examines the most abundant ground artefact ypological group, perforated stone axes. Keywords: perforated ground stone axes, typology, terminology.

Grinding Tools at the Third Intermediate Period Tell el-Retaba

Tell el-Retaba, an archaeological site situated in Wadi Tumilat in the eastern Nile Delta, some 35 km west of the modern city of Ismailia, has been excavated by the Polish- Slovak Archaeological Mission, directed by Dr. hab. Sławomir Rzepka, since 2007. Long-lasting archaeological excavations of the Third Intermediate Period settlement have yielded hundreds of ground stone artefacts, among them implements used for grinding activities. The diversity of these tools’ forms and the material they are made of may imply their having been employed for various purposes and to treat a wide range of substances. This article presents a preliminary analysis of the grinding stone implements and their possible uses.

Grinding Tools at the Third Intermediate Period Tell el-Retaba

Tell el-Retaba, an archaeological site situated in Wadi Tumilat in the eastern Nile Delta, some 35 km west of the modern city of Ismailia, has been excavated by the Polish- Slovak Archaeological Mission, directed by Dr. hab. Sławomir Rzepka, since 2007. Long-lasting archaeological excavations of the Third Intermediate Period settlement have yielded hundreds of ground stone artefacts, among them implements used for grinding activities. The diversity of these tools’ forms and the material they are made of may imply their having been employed for various purposes and to treat a wide range of substances. This article presents a preliminary analysis of the grinding stone implements and their possible uses.

Grinding Tools at the Third Intermediate Period Tell el-Retaba

Tell el-Retaba, an archaeological site situated in Wadi Tumilat in the eastern Nile Delta, some 35 km west of the modern city of Ismailia, has been excavated by the Polish- Slovak Archaeological Mission, directed by Dr. hab. Slawomir Rzepka, since 2007. Long-lasting archaeological excavations of the Third Intermediate Period settlement have yielded hundreds of ground stone artefacts, among them implements used for grinding activities. The diversity of these tools’ forms and the material they are made of may imply their having been employed for various purposes and to treat a wide range of substances. This article presents a preliminary analysis of the grinding stone implements and their possible uses.

Ochre, Ground Stone, and Wrapping the Dead in the Late Epipalaeolithic (Natufian) Levant: Revealing the Funerary Practices at Shubayqa 1, Jordan

ABSTRACTThe appearance of rich and diverse funerary practices is one of the hallmarks of the Late Epipalaeolithic Natufian in the Levant. Numerous burials at a number of sites excavated mostly in the Mediterranean zone of the southern Levant have fed into the interpretation of the Natufian as a sedentary society of complex hunter-gatherers. Here, we report on the human remains recovered from Shubayqa 1, a well-dated early to late Natufian site in northeast Jordan. The majority of the minimum of 23 individuals that are represented are perinates and infants, which represents an atypical population profile. Ground stone artifacts and traces of colorants are associated with some of these individuals, providing a rare insight into funerary treatment of subadults in Natufian contexts. We interpret the Shubayqa 1 evidence in the light of current and ongoing debates concerning Natufian burial practices and the issue of social complexity.