New Approaches to Old Stones: Recent Studies of Ground Stone Artifacts

by Rowan,Yorke M.

• ISBN13: 9781845530440
• ISBN10: 1845530446
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2014-08-19
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This volume expands archaeological understandings of the past by using a neglected database - ground stone artifacts - to stretch the boundaries of our comprehension of the ancient world. Ground stone artifacts, long recognized as part of the essential domestic tool kit for food production and other activities, have received little methodical attention in the archaeological community until relatively recently. A trend of increasing focus on ground stone artifacts in the archaeological literature over the past two decades, particularly in the New World, indicates the need to integrate such analyses with larger theoretical and methodological issues. The editors bring together for the first time a detailed, comprehensive view of the variety of approaches to the archaeological analyses of these artifacts melding together archaeological data and innovative analyses of the most recent research.

Author Biography

Yorke M. Rowan is Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame. Jennie R. Ebeling is Assistant Professor of Archaeology at the University of Evansville, Indiana.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors	p. viii
List of Figures	p. xi
List of Tables	p. xv
Introduction: The Potential of Ground Stone Studies	p. 1
Production and Exchange
Geological Constraints on Ground Stone Production and Consumption in the Southern Levant	p. 19
Discovery of a Medieval Islamic Industry for Steatite Cooking Vessels in Egypt's Eastern Desert	p. 41
Beyond the Mohs Scale: Raw Material Choice and the Production of Stone Vases in a Late Minoan Context	p. 66
Stones on Stone: Assessing the Use of Handstones as Tools to Process Stone Artifacts at PPNB Ba'ja in Southern Jordan	p. 82
A Chip Off the Old Millstone: Grinding Stone Production and Distribution in the Early Bronze Age of the Negev	p. 99
The Exchange of Ground Stone Tools and Vessels during the Early Bronze Age in the Southern Levant	p. 116
Craft Production and the Organization of Ground Stone Technologies	p. 130
Maize-Grinding Tools in Prehispanic Central Mexico	p. 144
Interpreting Function, Primary vs. Secondary Use
Grinding Stones and Seeds of Change: Starch and Phytoliths as Evidence of Plant Food Processing	p. 159
Identifying Lightly Used Polishing Stones: Experiments and Implications	p. 173
Wear Patterns on Ground Stone Implements from Tel Yin'am	p. 182
Variation in the Organization of Prehistoric Milling Technologies of the Northern Mojave Desert, North America	p. 196
Beyond the Broken	p. 213
Ground Stone Tools, Refuse Structure, and the Life Histories of Residential Buildings at Ayn Ab&ubar; Nukhayla, Southern Jordan	p. 230
The Changing Face of Ground Stone Studies in the American Great Basin	p. 258
Symbols of Luxury and Ritual Equipment
Basalt Bowls in Early Bronze IA Shaft Tombs at Bab edh-Dhra': Production, Placement and Symbolism	p. 277
Stone Alabastra in Western Anatolia	p. 285
Carving Luxury: Late Classic White Stone Vase Traditions in Mesoamerica	p. 298
Stone Vessel Production Caves on the Eastern Slope of Mount Scopus, Jerusalem	p. 320
Beyond Provenance Analysis: The Movement of Basaltic Artefacts through a Social Landscape	p. 343
New Insights from Old Stones
New Insights from Old Stones: A Survey of Ground Stone Studies	p. 361
Index	p. 371
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