Long-term trends in Natufian subsistence: a use-wear analysis of ground stone tools

Dubreuil, Laure

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2004.04.003

Cited by 143 publications

(130 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…This is evident in the Gulo Makedo region of northern Ethiopia where research has demonstrated that the surface of grindingstones can be indicative of both the type and quantity of grain being processed (Nixon-Darcus and D'Andrea 2017). As has been noted elsewhere, variations in the size of grinding-stone tools are linked to changes in the capacity and efficiency of grinding activities (Dubreuil 2004;Hard et al 1996;Mauldin 1993). At the pre-Aksumite site of Mezber in Gulo Makedo, the flat-handstones with the largest use-surface areas were found to date to the occupation period characterized by the grandest architecture, when inhabitants may have been producing flour "beyond the needs of the immediate household" (Nixon-Darcus and D'Andrea 2017, p. 219).…”

Section: Grinding-stones In the African Archaeological Recordmentioning

confidence: 75%

“…Experiments in use-wear analyses also have the potential to move beyond inferred understandings of function based on form (Adams 2014a, b;Adams et al 2009;Dubreuil 2004;Dubreuil et al 2015;Mauldin 1993;Nixon-Darcus and D'Andrea 2017;Pritchard-Parker and Reid 1993;Pritchard-Parker and Torres 1998;Wright 1993). Unfortunately, the coarseness of the lithic material that grinding-stones are often made from makes microscopic use-wear analysis challenging (Rowan and Ebeling 2008, p. 7).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Back to the Grindstone? The Archaeological Potential of Grinding-Stone Studies in Africa with Reference to Contemporary Grinding Practices in Marakwet, Northwest Kenya

2017

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This article presents observations on grinding-stone implements and their uses in ElgeyoMarakwet County, northwest Kenya. Tool use in Marakwet is contextualized with a select overview of literature on grinding-stones in Africa. Grinding-stones in Marakwet are incorporated not only into quotidian but also into more performative and ritual aspects of life. These tools have distinct local traditions laden with social as well as functional importance. It is argued that regionally and temporally specific studies of grindingstone tool assemblages can be informative on the processing of various substances. Despite being common occurrences, grinding-stone tools are an underdiscussed component of many African archaeological assemblages. Yet the significance of grinding-stones must be reevaluated, as they hold the potential to inform on landscapes of past food and material processing.Résumé Cet article présente des observations ethnoarchéologiques sur les outils de pierre meulière et leur utilisation dans le comté d'Elgeyo-Marakwet, au nordouest du Kenya. En s'appuyant notamment sur des exemples issus de la période néolithique pastorale en Afrique de l'Est, il contextualise l'utilisation d'outils à Marakwet en termes d'études sélectionnées portent sur les pierres de meulage en Afrique. Nous soutenons que les études spécifiques à la région portent sur les assemblages d'outils de pierre meulière peuvent aider à avancer nos connaissances sur le traitement de diverses substances. Par ailleurs nous constatons que la pierre meulière fait partie non seulement de la vie quotidienne, mais aussi des aspects performatifs et rituels de la vie à Marakwet. Les outils de pierre meulière font partie des traditions locales distinctes, chargées d'importance sociale et fonctionnelle. Malgré le fait qu'ils soient banals, les outils de pierre meulière sont des composants significatif et pourtant peu discutés de nombreux assemblages archéologiques africains. Nous avançons que la signification de la pierre meulière doive-t-être réévaluée, car elle est essentielle pour mieux comprendre les circonstances de l'alimentation et du traitement des matériaux dans le passé.

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Section: Grinding-stones In the African Archaeological Recordmentioning

confidence: 75%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Back to the Grindstone? The Archaeological Potential of Grinding-Stone Studies in Africa with Reference to Contemporary Grinding Practices in Marakwet, Northwest Kenya

2017

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“…In parallel, Levantine Natufian ground stone tools were occasionally subjected to use-wear analyses (Dubreuil 2002;2004;Dubreuil & Grosman 2009;Savage 2014). These analyses yielded valuable results in terms of analytical procedures and revealing aspects of human activities.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As such, they have been the subject of much research concerning various aspects such as typological and morphological variability, technology of production, functional studies and raw material provenance determination, thereby contributing greatly to our understanding of Natufian economic and social activities (e.g., Perrot 1966;Belfer-Cohen 1988;Wright 1991;Samzun 1994;Weinstein-Evron et al 1995;1999;2001;Dubreuil 2004;Hardy-Smith & Edwards 2004;Eitam 2008;Dubreuil & Grosman 2009;Nadel & Lengyel 2009;Valla 2009;Nadel & Rosenberg 2010;Rosenberg & Nadel 2011;Rosenberg et al 2012;Valla 2012;Edwards 2013;Edwards & Webb 2013;Hayden et al 2013;Rosenberg 2013;Rosenberg & Nadel 2014;Nadel et al 2015).…”

Section: Natufian Ground Stone Tool Assemblagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The function of Early Natufian grooved basalt artefacts from el-Wad Terrace, Mount Carmel, Israel: Preliminary results of a use-wear analysis

Groman-Yaroslavski

Rosenberg

Yeshurun

et al. 2016

JLS

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Abstract:Grooved items are usually regarded as tools used for modifying other implements made of bone, stone, plants or wood, whether referred to as shaft straighteners, smoothers, polishers or sharpening tools. They were also attributed to various symbolic meanings in Neolithic and Chalcolithic sites in the southern Levant and they were also associated with bead manufacturing process in the Neolithic. Grooved basalts found on Early Natufian (ca. 14,000 BP) living floors at el-Wad Terrace, Mount Carmel, Israel, were the subject of microscopic use-wear analysis. Here we present the preliminary results of the research, introducing our functional reconstruction based on experiments. The most outstanding result is that traces on the perimeters, attributed to shaping of the artefact, are different from the traces inside the groove which are related to the use of the artefact. We conclude that the groove is a part of the instrument, shaped before its use in order to work the abraded materials. Traces indicate that the shaping of the perimeters was done by abrasion against a very hard rock, probably using water to enhance the smoothing of the stone. Traces inside the groove indicate, as was previously assumed for these artefacts, that the groove was used as a shaft straightener. However, traces also indicate that the groove was used to abrade different types of materials which might not be related to the preparation of shafts including reeds, wood, and especially minerals such as ochre. Our preliminary results indicate the multi-functional nature of these items shedding light on their production, use and discard history.

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“…(2016) Mangas et al 2006;Rodríguez-Rodríguez et al 2006a;2006b;Rodríguez-Rodríguez 2010). The technological analysis of the grinding stones was carried out following the methodological procedures established by Alonso (1999: 233-236;2015), Dubreuil (2004), Adams et al (2009) andBofill (2014: 447). The analysis of the extraction and fashioning techniques in quarries also implied undertaking morpho-technical analyses of the tools, notably the stone picks, specifically adapted to work coarse and hard volcanic rock (Galván et al 1987;Galván & Hernández 1996;Rodríguez-Rodríguez 1993a;1993b;1998;2009a;2009b;Rodríguez-Rodríguez & Francisco Ortega 2012;Naranjo 2013: 54;Naranjo Mayor & Rodríguez-Rodríguez 2015).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The quarry and workshop of Barranco Cardones (Gran Canaria, Canary Islands): Basalt quern production using stone tools

Naranjo-Mayor

Francisco-Ortega

Rodríguez

2016

JLS

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Abstract:Querns for grinding cereals were essential in the everyday life of the Pre-European population of the Island of Gran Canaria as their agriculture was based mainly on barley and wheat, cereals processed for the most part in the form of roasted flour. Rotary querns and other grinding stones, nonetheless, have rarely been the object of research in the Canary Islands and the study of their operational sequence of production has only recently been initiated. Volcanic tuff (compact lapilli) was the most commonly quarried rock. Other raw materials such as basalt, and to a lesser extension tephrite, were also worked. Since metal tools were not known in the Canary Islands in Pre-European contexts, all of the stages of extraction and fashioning had to be carried out with stone tools. This paper analyses the operational sequence, that is, the different phases of the extraction and fashioning techniques of basalt rotary querns based on the recent finds of two quarries located near the coast (Cardones and Cebolla) and a quern manufacturing workshop (Cave 36, Arucas Municipality) in a ravine about 600 m inland. Traditionally it was thought that the Pre-European population of Gran Canaria fashioned their querns from naturally detached volcanic surface blocks collected in ravines or along the coast. This supposition was based on the idea that the early Canarians were not capable of extracting blocks from bedrock with stone tools. This notion, however, has been proven wrong by the circular extraction negatives on the quarry faces and by finds of stone fashioning tools in the workshop.

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Long-term trends in Natufian subsistence: a use-wear analysis of ground stone tools

Cited by 143 publications

References 30 publications

Back to the Grindstone? The Archaeological Potential of Grinding-Stone Studies in Africa with Reference to Contemporary Grinding Practices in Marakwet, Northwest Kenya

Back to the Grindstone? The Archaeological Potential of Grinding-Stone Studies in Africa with Reference to Contemporary Grinding Practices in Marakwet, Northwest Kenya

The function of Early Natufian grooved basalt artefacts from el-Wad Terrace, Mount Carmel, Israel: Preliminary results of a use-wear analysis

The quarry and workshop of Barranco Cardones (Gran Canaria, Canary Islands): Basalt quern production using stone tools

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