The ground stone components of drills in the ancient Near East: Sockets, flywheels, cobble weights, and drill bits

Abstract

Abstract:Three types of drills are known from antiquity: the bow drill, the pump drill and the crank drill. Each type often included ground stone components -sockets, weights and flywheels. However, these components are inconspicuous; on their own they are almost never associated with drills. The result is that the drill is nearly invisible in many assemblages, particularly those of the proto-historic and historic periods, from the Chalcolithic through to late antiquity. In this article I focus on the identification of the possible ground stone components of each of these drill types. The means by which these components were attached or applied to the drill shaft is examined and the way that they related to the rotary motion of drills is laid out. I briefly discuss the historical development of each type, referencing more detailed studies, where available. This study should be seen as a prelude to a more comprehensive study that will test hypotheses by means of experiment and catalogue more completely and precisely the ground stone components of drills that have been unidentified or misidentified in archaeological contexts.

Drilling stone vessels in third-millennium BC Iran: new evidence from Hajjiabad-Varamin, Jiroft (Kerman Province)

“…By the second millennium BC, the calcite vessel-manufacturing workshop of Al-Shaykh Sacid-Wadi Zabayda in Middle Egypt used an impressive array of different silicified limestone drill heads attested among more than 1000 finds. Classified into five groups (figure-of-eight, boat-shaped, vertically oblong, discoidal with flat underside, and bits with a shallow hollow), these drill heads hint at specialised functions in the local mass-production industry (Ilan 2016: fig. 11; after Willems et al 2009: fig.…”

“…27, top right) from the same area as Hajjiabad-Varamin. This object could be a tool rather than an unfinished vessel—possibly a drill capstone or socket (Ilan 2016: 4) used to exert pressure on some type of drill. Another convincing parallel for this piece is known from Egypt (Willems et al 2009: fig.…”

“…Finally, thick, biconical stone discs with traces of pecking are common finds in the craft-activity area and more widely across Hajjiabad-Varamin. Their function is unknown; some may have been used as flywheels for drills (see Ilan 2016: fig. 5).…”

Discos líticoshoradados en contextos arqueológicos aborígenes de Cuba. Aproximación a su función social desde la etnografía y la arqueología

“…Específicamente la forma discoidal, el pulimento de superficies y la presencia de sectores con huellas de desgaste, fisuras, macro y microdestrucciones en bordes, orientó una fase del trabajo hacia la arqueometría, con el objetivo de observar e identificar los posibles recursos botánicos recuperables en sedimentos adheridos a los instrumentos. Por otra parte, la existencia de perforación central intencional con huellas de percusión directa y desbastado por uso de perforadores en guijarros discoidales, remite con bastante certidumbre a los discos volantes descritos en la literatura especializada, que fueron utilizados como peso rotatorio ensamblado a cuerda y varilla con una punta aguzada para taladrar y generar fuego por fricción mecánica (Hough, 1888;Martin, 1934;Watson, 1939;Ilan, 2016). Esta última función ya había sido propuesta por investigadores cubanos desde inicios de la década del 90, del pasado siglo, bajo la denominación de "estabilizadores" o "contrapeso de perforadores" (Febles y Godo, 1990;Febles y Rives, 1993).…”

Introduction. Leave no stone unturned: Perspectives on ground stone artefact research

“…In addition, specific studies dealing with particular segments of the ground stone tool repertoire, some with specific function or functions, are becoming more common (e.g., Takaoǧlu 2006;Basgall 2008;Beaumont & Bednarik 2015;Nadel & Rosenberg 2015;Reich 2015;Bekker & Garfinkel 2016;Breglia et al 2016;Ilan 2016;Larocca 2016;Thiébaux et al 2016;Usacheva 2016). Studies based on historical sources (see, for example, Lang 2016) and ethnographic observations (e.g., Cane 1989;Hamon & Le Gall 2013;Robitaille 2016) are also significant and important contributions in recent years.…”