A preliminary analysis of basal grindstones from the Carnarvon Range, Little Sandy Desert

22nd January 2014

Peter Veth and Sue O’Connor

Introduction*

Australian prehistorians have devised morphological categories for grindstones in order to separate those assumed to be of a generalised function from those used more specifically for grinding seeds (cf. Cane 1984; Smith 1985, 1986). This division is a functional one, with grindstones, or ‘amorphous grindstones’, being multipurpose tools used to grind not only plants but also other materials such as animals and minerals. In contrast, seed-grinding implements are described as being more specialised tools. Their primary, if not exclusive, function is to process edible seeds. Amorphous grindstones are characterised as having a flat grinding surface, while formal grindstones used in the wet milling process have one or two deeper grooves.

*Note that an abstract was not included with this paper, and so the introductory paragraph has been included here instead of the abstract.

Authors: Veth, P. and S. O'Connor
Title: A preliminary analysis of basal grindstones from the Carnarvon Range, Little Sandy Desert
Date: December 1996
Volume: 43
Pages: 20–22
Type: Article
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