Mineral Grinder
Plant preparation
Upper Palaeolithic
Between 44,000 and 14,000 years
A more or less spherical block of stone, generally the size of a fist, used in particular to crush plant or mineral substances on a grindstone.
J. Leclerc et J. Tarrête A. Leroi-Gourhan, Dictionnaire de la préhistoire. P.U.F, Paris, 1994
Commentary :
The Upper Palaeolithic sees the appearance of hard stone grinding tools, on habitation sites.
These oblong pebbles serve as pestles, which, in combination with rudimentary mortars, are used to grind plants.
This equipment is evidence of profound economic changes, in the subsistence practices of hunters.
The mineral grinder reflects the expansion of the diet, to complement meat-based animal resources.
It not only provides evidence for the new place occupied by gathering and plants but also a new organisation of activities both within the group and amongst families of hunters.