Overview

Ground stone artefacts were widely used in food production in prehistory. However, the archaeological community has widely neglected the dataset of ground stone artefacts until now. 'New Approaches to Old Stones' offers a theoretical and methodological analysis of the archaeological data pertaining to ground stone tools. The essays draw on a range of case studies - from the Levant, Egypt, Crete, Anatolia, Mexico and North America - to examine ground stone technologies. From medieval Islamic stone cooking vessels and late Minoan stone vases, to the use of stone in ritual and as a symbol of luxury, 'New Approaches to Old Stones' offers a radical reassessment of the impact of ground-stone artefacts on technological change, production and exchange.

Full Product Details

Author:   Yorke M. Rowan ,  Jennie R. Ebeling
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.590kg
ISBN:  

9781138664319

ISBN 10:   1138664316
Pages:   396
Publication Date:   21 January 2016
Audience:   College/higher education ,  General/trade ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

1: Introduction: The Potential of Ground Stone Studies; I: Production and Exchange; 2: Geological Constraints on Ground Stone Production and Consumption in the Southern Levant; 3: Discovery of a Medieval Islamic Industry for Steatite Cooking Vessels in Egypt's Eastern Desert; 4: Beyond the Mohs Scale: Raw Material Choice and the Production of Stone Vases in a Late Minoan Context; 5: Stones on Stone: Assessing the Use of Handstones as Tools to Process Stone Artifacts at PPNB Ba'ja in Southern Jordan; 6: A Chip Off the Old Millstone: Grinding Stone Production and Distribution in the Early Bronze Age of the Negev; 7: The Exchange of Ground Stone Tools and Vessels during the Early Bronze Age in the Southern Levant; 8: Craft Production and the Organization of Ground Stone Technologies; 9: Maize-Grinding Tools in Prehispanic Central Mexico; II: Interpreting Function, Primary vs. Secondary Use; 10: Grinding Stones and Seeds of Change: Starch and Phytoliths as Evidence of Plant Food Processing; 11: Identifying Lightly Used Polishing Stones: Experiments and Implications; 12: Wear Patterns on Ground Stone Implements from Tel Yin'am; 13: Variation in the Organization of Prehistoric Milling Technologies of the Northern Mojave Desert, North America; 14: Beyond the Broken; 15: Ground Stone Tools, Refuse Structure, and the Life Histories of Residential Buildings at Ayn Ab? Nukhayla, Southern Jordan; 16: The Changing Face of Ground Stone Studies in the American Great Basin; III: Symbols of Luxury and Ritual Equipment; 17: Basalt Bowls in EB IA Shaft Tombs at Bab edh-Dhra': Production, Placement and Symbolism; 18: Stone Alabastra in Western Anatolia; 19: Carving Luxury: Late Classic White Stone Vase Traditions in Mesoamerica; 20: Stone Vessel Production Caves on the Eastern Slope of Mount Scopus, Jerusalem; 21: Beyond Provenance Analysis: The Movement of Basaltic Artifacts through a Social Landscape; IV: New Insights from Old Stones; 22: New Insights from Old Stones: A Survey of Ground Stone Studies

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Author Information

Yorke M. Rowan is Research Associate in the Archaeology of the Southern Levant with the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. Jennie R. Ebeling is Associate Professor of Archaeology at the University of Evansville, Indiana.

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