Ground Stone Implements Research Articles

Working at home. Reconstructing activities within the LBK household through the systemic use-wear analysis of flint industries, bone and antler tools and ground stone implements

The systematic analysis of use-wear traces on flint, ground stone and bone tools, has rarely been carried out at Early Neolithic sites in continental Europe. Hence, it is a powerful means of identifying possible economic differences. As part of the ongoing HOMES project, we are investigating the importance and nature of acquisition strategies (hunting, harvesting), food preparation techniques (butchery, grain milling) and the processing of other resources (plant fibres) in a large set of LBK households in the Aisne Valley (France). After re-examining and integrating new results on the flint industry (366 tools), bone and antler tools (414 tools) and ground stone tools (114 tools), the aim here is to examine whether the processing of soft flint plants, hides and wood remains the dominant activity and how it coexists with more marginal activities such as the processing of soft minerals and textile fibres. The absence of certain activities is scrutinised in relation to their location within and outside the domestic and village space. Discrete functional characteristics are tracked to improve our understanding of the observed differences between the domestic units: segmentation of production processes, differences in the use of each type of raw material, intensity of use. In this way, we can test the hypothesis of autonomous or interdependent households in terms of production and consumption and investigate the economic structure of LBK villagers.

65,000-years of continuous grinding stone use at Madjedbebe, Northern Australia

Grinding stones and ground stone implements are important technological innovations in later human evolution, allowing the exploitation and use of new plant foods, novel tools (e.g., bone points and edge ground axes) and ground pigments. Excavations at the site of Madjedbebe recovered Australia’s (if not one of the world’s) largest and longest records of Pleistocene grinding stones, which span the past 65 thousand years (ka). Microscopic and chemical analyses show that the Madjedbebe grinding stone assemblage displays the earliest known evidence for seed grinding and intensive plant use, the earliest known production and use of edge-ground stone hatchets (aka axes), and the earliest intensive use of ground ochre pigments in Sahul (the Pleistocene landmass of Australia and New Guinea). The Madjedbebe grinding stone assemblage reveals economic, technological and symbolic innovations exemplary of the phenotypic plasticity of Homo sapiens dispersing out of Africa and into Sahul.

Tool-use experiments to determine the function of an incised ground stone artefact with potential symbolic significance

Ground stone implements are found across most Australian landscapes and are often regarded as Aboriginal tools that were used for processing or modifying other items such as plant foods, plant fibres, resins, bone points, pigments and ground-stone axes and knives. Less common are ground stones modified for non-utilitarian, symbolic purposes; for example, polished and carved stone ornaments; ritual implements such as cylcons and tjuringa sacred stones; and unused, well-crafted ground-stone axes. In this paper, we report on the function and potential significance of an unusual ground stone artefact from a site near Bannockburn, southwestern Australia. A set of regularly spaced, shallow grooves has been cut into the surface of each side of the stone. Use-wear, residues and experimental replica tools indicate that the grooves were probably made with a stone flake and then used to shape or sharpen wooden implements such as spear points or the edges of boomerangs or other weapons. The microscopic wear outside the grooves indicates contact with soft wood or other plant material, possibly a soft plant fibre bag. We suggest that the Bannockburn artefact primarily functioned as a woodworking tool, but the even spacing of the incisions suggests that they were intentionally placed, perhaps to convey a special meaning, perhaps as a tally system or other form of communication.

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.

Quandong stones: A specialised Australian nut-cracking tool.

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.

Recognizing Ritual Action and Intent in Communal Mourning Features on the Southern California Coast

AbstractRecent excavations at two sites located along the coastal margin of the Los Angeles basin revealed three features created as a result of communal mourning ritual during the Intermediate Period (ca. 3000–1000 cal B.P.). Detailed analysis of constituents, structure, and context indicates that formation of these dense concentrations of ground stone implements, unmodified cobbles, other artifacts, and cremated human remains involved deliberate equipment production, sequential implement fragmentation and treatment including burning and pigmentation of items, and secondary interment of incomplete objects and bodies in pits within locales often used for this purpose over many generations. The large size and evident manipulation of objects as part of communal mourning ritual indicates that actions would have been readily visible to a gathered assembly. Thus, while the meaning and significance of these practices remains to be thoroughly explored, the data suggest that communal mourning ritual may have played a significant role in community-building and the maintenance of identity within a region with a dynamic population history.

AŞIKLI HÖYÜK SÜRTMETAŞ BULUNTU TOPLULUĞU

The Pre-Pottety Neolithic settlement of Asikli Hoyuk stands as one of the most important early sites, with its architectural and artifactual assemblages. The present study covers the ground stone implements recovered at Asikli Hoyuk excavations, now stored in Aksaray Archaeological Museum. The stones used in the manufacturing of the ground stone assemblage have also been studied with concern on locating their sources. A search has been carried out to find analogous material, both from sites in and outside of Turkey. In making final assessment, the available data from ethno archaeology has also been used.

Residue Analysis and Palaeodiet in Arid Australia

A study of residues and usewear on 49 provenanced and dated whole or fragmentary groundstone implements excavated from Puntutjarpa Rockshelter in Australia's Western Desert suggest that plant processing and seed grinding were important components of Aboriginal diet well before the Mid to Late Holocene. The analysis revealed the presence of starch grains in varying concentrations on the surfaces of all but four of the 49 artefacts dating back to approximately 10,000 years ago. Eight of the specimens also contained traces of blood residue and five contained ochre, indicating multiple use of some grindstones for processing either both plant and animal products or both plant products and pigment. Three of the four specimens on which no traces of starch were recorded were too large to fit under the metallurgical microscope and it is likely that starch residues are also present on them. Ochre was macroscopically visible on one of the three specimens. Ochre was the only residue on the remaining artefact. Â This study of specimens excavated from Puntutjarpa Rockshelter located near the Warburton Ranges, Western Australia (Gould 1977) is part of ongoing archaeological research into the palaeodiet of Aboriginal people in arid Australia. Approximately 20% of the total site deposit by volume was excavated at Puntutjarpa, making it one of the few sites in arid Australia to produce a large sample of artefact and faunal remains. Limited excavations using metre squares (the so-called telephone booth method) are useful for strato-chronological purposes but cannot be expected to produce significant samples of cultural remains.The Puntutjarpa excavations are sufficiently large to provide an adequate spatial sample of artefacts to represent the range of on-site activities.

From Marshland to Desert: The Late Prehistoric Environment of Boca de Potrerillos, Nuevo León, Mexico

Despite the paucity of archaeological research in the Sierra Madre Oriental ecotone of northeastern Mexico, a patterned distribution of large open campsites replete with petroglyphs is suggested by a recent rock art survey sponsored by the Mexican government. Pilot research at Boca de Potrerillos, one of the largest and best preserved examples of this site type, demonstrates that the intermontane desert of today was once a combination of grassland and wetland. Hundreds of hearths are now exposed on the surface of a desiccated alluvial plain and thousands of petroglyphs have been incised into sandstone boulders fringing the occupational area. Radiocarbon assay of charcoal derived from buried hearths dates the intact subsurface living surfaces to the period between 1350 and 650 years ago. Pollen and phytolith samples from buried strata and ground stone implements describe a mesic environment and provide a list of potential economic plants processed at the site. The presence of both aquatic and terrestrial snails supports the paleoenvironmental reconstruction of wetlands, replete with emergent vegetation, flanked by rocky slopes. Archival research suggests that a drying trend is mirrored in the agricultural history of the valley but the extreme degradation effected in the last four decades is attributable to modern exploitation of the aquifer.

The West Island Site (41MXI65)

This paper describes a set of artifacts collected from the West Island site, a poorly known Titus phase cemetery in Ellison Creek Reservoir. The site is on a small knoll adjacent to a small spring branch that flows into the now-inundated Ellison Creek, a tributary of Big Cypress Creek. The site knoll is now no more than one foot (30 em) above the normal pool elevation of Ellison Creek Reservoir, and it is usually totally submerged. Up to five feet (1.52 meters) of white sand caps the knoll, and overlies the clay subsoil. Due to continued submergence, the knoll is being eroded by the reservoir, anq. consequently many stone tools and pieces of lithic debris are present along the water's edge. Dart points and arrowpoints have been found at the site, along with some pottery sherds, but no grounds tone implements. Small amounts of charcoal were found around the top of the knoll in pockets of modern mussel shell and gravels, but its association with the site deposits is unknown. No middens are known to be present on the knoll. The West Island site has been previously dug by private collectors sometime before 1965. Turner had examined some of the site collections, and reported that, ceramic vessels of the types Avery Engraved, Bailey Engraved, Bullard Brushed, Cowhide Stamped, Harleton Appliqued, Hodges Engraved, Karnack Brushed-Incised, Maydelle Incised, Ripley Engraved, Simms Engraved, Taylor Engraved, and Wilder Engraved were present in an unknown number of burials. These types of decorated ceramics are characteristic of the Titus phase, which dates from about 1400 to the 1600s.

A Study in Sourcing Hohokam Basalt Ground Stone Implements

ABSTRACTGround stone implements were important tools for the Hohokam because they relied heavily on plant foods in their diet. Current data suggest that in the Phoenix Basin vesicular basalt materials were favored for the rectangular mano and trough metates common at most Hohokam sites. The distribution of basaltic materials is relatively limited' however, and specific outcrops were exploited as quarries. Experiments with low-power reflected light and BSE-EDX microscopic sourcing techniques indicate that several regional basalt sources exist, and that these sources may be identifiable in ground stone assemblages. The composition of various source materials at different sites has the potential to provide insights into Hohokam ground stone production and trade.

Aztec craft production and specialization: Archaeological evidence from the city‐state of Otumba, Mexico

Abstract Recent (1987–9) archaeological research within the Aztec city‐state of Otumba located in the northeastern Basin of Mexico has provided data relevant to a consideration of the role of craft specialization in the evolution of city‐states between the fall of Tula (c. AD 1150) and the arrival of the Spaniards (AD 1519). Designed to evaluate alternative models of such evolution the investigations have confirmed the presence of extensive archaeological evidence for craft specialization in the city‐state centre of Otumba. Items manufactured at the site include obsidian cores, prismatic blades, and bifaces, ornaments of obsidian and rare stones, figurines, ceramic censers, spindle whorls (and their moulds), fibres, and groundstone implements. Craft specialization at rural dependencies was more restricted. The results of the project shed important light on the intricacies of the Aztec economic system.

On the Occurrence of Ground Stone Implements of Australian Type in Tasmania

On the Occurrence of Ground Stone Implements of Australian Type in Tasmania