Grinding-stone implements in the eastern African Pastoral Neolithic

Abstract

Grinding-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. RÉSUMÉ Les outils de broyage en pierre représentent une source d'informations archéologiques insuffisamment exploitée en Afrique orientale. Leur présence est notée dans de multiples contextes, tant domestiques que funéraires, mais les déductions tirées de ces objets sont souvent limitées. Cet article passe en revue les informations existantes sur les outils de broyage et les bols en pierre provenant de contextes du Néolithique Pastoral (PN, à savoir Pastoral Neolithic, en anglais) en Afrique orientale. Les données sur les divers assemblages sont présentées en mettant l'accent sur les détails de la morphologie des objets et sur leur distribution spatiale, temporelle et contextuelle. Résumant ce que l'on sait (et peut-être plus important encore, ce que l'on ne sait pas) concernant les outils de broyage dans le Néolithique Pastoral, cet article rappelle que la fonction de ces outils n'était ni singulière ni leur signification simpliste.

Grinding-stone features from the Pastoral Neolithic at Luxmanda, Tanzania

“…In many cases these are marked by ochre stains, whereas no obvious traces were seen at Luxmanda. The Luxmanda artefacts also tend to be larger and thicker than many of those reported as slabs (Shoemaker & Davies 2019: tab. 2), are spatially concentrated in a way not previously reported from habitation sites, and are not—based on testing thus far—associated with burials.…”

“…Nixon-Darcus & D'Andrea 2017; Lucarini & Radini 2019). Shoemaker and Davies’s (2019) comprehensive review of Pastoral Neolithic grinding stones in eastern Africa demonstrates their potential to illuminate culinary, crafting and mortuary traditions. At least ten Pastoral Neolithic sites (six of them funerary) report lower grinding stones.…”

Hunting and the Social Lives of Southern Africa’s First Farmers

“…1300 BC-AD 700) of the Pastoral Neolithic (PN), this period was characterized by mobile herders with distinctive ceramic and lithic repertoires who depended mainly on cattle, sheep, and goats (Ashley and Grillo 2015;Goldstein 2021;Marshall et al 2011). Although they also hunted, there is little direct evidence of cultivation at PN sites (but see Prendergast et al 2021, Shoemaker et al 2019. Scholars have argued that specialized pastoralism developed in eastern Africa as a response to fluctuating rainfall patterns, grassland productivity, and hunter-gatherer relations throughout the mid and later Holocene (Marshall 1990;Marshall and Hildebrand 2002).…”

Multimodal- Stylistic Representation of Comparison in Airtel Nigeria 4G Visual Commercials

“…To use the grinding stone, one has to kneel and /or bend forward, holding the upper millstone which is smaller, with both hands and work it forward and backwards, grinding the food item placed on the large stone. Shoemaker & Davies (2019) give archaeological information in Eastern Africa on the grinding stone tool(as shown in the first picture from the left in figure 3). They describe the hand stones as having one or more working surfaces characterised by flattened facets with evidence of crushing and polishing.…”