Neither wheat, nor barley: An appraisal of the functional variability of the grinding and pounding stones from Hasankeyf Höyük, a Neolithic hunter-fisher-gatherer site on the upper Tigris

Abstract

Many researchers have suggested that grinding and pounding stones should be regarded as multi-functional tools. However, studies centered on the Neolithic of Southwest Asia often view such implements as related to cereal processing. This is most likely because the emergence and spread of agriculture, especially of cereal, is one of the most investigated topics in Southwest Asian Archaeology. In this context, sickle blades and grinding and pounding stones, are generally considered as evidence of cereal harvesting and processing.

Hasankeyf Höyük is a Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) site located in the Upper Tigris Basin in Southeastern Turkey. Hunter-fisher-gatherer villagers settled at the site, where a rich number of grinding and pounding tools have been found, yet cereals were rarely uncovered at the site. The main purpose of this study is to assess the function of the grinding and pounding tools through use-wear analysis.

First, we describe our experimental reference collection of tools made of local limestone. Second, a comparison of the experimental tools use-wear with that of the artifacts reveals that the grinding and pounding tools from the site were multi-functional and used especially for processing oily materials such as meat, fish, nutlets and nuts. Our results indicate that grinding and pounding stones in the Tigris Valley during PPNA should not necessarily be discussed in the context of founder crop use.