The ground stone industry of the Mursi of Maki, Ethiopia: Ethnoarchaeological research on milling and crushing equipment (technique and function)
Keywords:
ethnography, ground stone tools, morphometry, use-wear, Mursi, Ethiopia
Abstract
New ethnoarchaeological evidence is currently contributing to a better understanding of the techniques and functions related to the use of stone tools for grinding and milling. This paper explores how the Mursi people in Maki, Ethiopia use handstones in different ways and how they also use different types of handstones for preparation of a variety of foods. Rather than a pestle and mortar, the Mursi have technically adjusted their tools (querns and handstones) and use them for milling as well as crushing. For example, by using querns for the preparation of grain Mursi women have adapted their techniques and may also use a different handstone (depending on the type of grain they have selected or the final product they wish to prepare). Somehandstones are reserved only for crushing grain, others are only for milling, and some have a double function (i.e. they are used for both milling and grinding). (The term “grinding” is used here in terms of the transformation of flour products, while the term “crushing” is used in terms of the transformation of material into pieces.) Is there a connection between the dimensions and the functions of each tool? Can the morphometric characteristics of handstones be related to different types of use? This paper presents new and unpublished ethnographic information showing such a correlation in terms of the Mursi people.
References
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Mauldin, R. P. 1993, The relationship between ground-stone and agricultural intensification in Western New Mexico. Kiva, 58: 317-330. doi:10.1080/00231940.1993.11758212
Risch, R. 2002, Recursos naturales, medios de producción y explotación social. Un análisis económico de la industria lítica de Fuente Alamo (Almería), 2250-1400 antes de nuestra era. Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz am Rhein. p. 237-278. (in Spanish) (“Natural resources, means of production and social exploitation. An economic analysis of the lithic industry in Fuente Alamo (Almería), 2250-1400 BCE”)
Rodríguez, J. R. 2013, La molienda en Mesoamérica, formas, funciones, usos y manufactura de los instrumentos. Un estudio etnoarqueológico en México. Unpublished Ph.D thesis, Universitat de Barcelona, 573 p. (in Spanish) (“Milling in Mesoamerica, forms, functions, uses and manifacture of the instruments. An ethnoarchaeological study in Mexico”)
Roux, V. 1986, Le Matériel de Broyage. Etude Ethnoarchéologique à Tichitt (R.I.) Mauritanie. Mémoire Vol. 58. Edition Recherches sur les Civilisations, Paris, 111 p. (in French) (“The grinding equipment. Ethnoarchaeological Study in Tichitt (R.I ) Mauritania”)
Salazar, J., Robitaille, J., & Díez, A., 2012, La industria lítica mursi en el valle del Mago (Etiopía). Archivo de Prehistoria Levantina, 29: 379-396. (in Spanish) (The Mursi lithic industry in the valley of Mago, Ethiopia)
Searcy, M. T. 2011, The Life-Giving Stone: Ethnoarchaeology of Maya Metates. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. 192 p.
Sigaut, F. 1991, Un couteau ne sert pas à couper mais en coupant. Structure, fonctionnement et fonction dans l'analyse des objets. In: 25 ans d’Etudes Technologiques en Préhistoire. ERA 28 du CRA du CNRS, Bilan et Perspectives, Actes des XIèmes Rencontres Internationales d’Archéologie et d’Histoire d’Antibes, 18-19-20 octobre 1990, Juan-les-Pins, éditions APDCA, p. 21-34. (in French) (“A knife is not used to cut but for cutting. Structure, operation and function in the analysis of objects”)
Turton, D. 1973, The Social Organisation of the Mursi, a Pastoral Tribe of the Lower Omo Valley, Southwestern Ethiopia. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of London, London, 425 p.
Wright, K. 1994, Ground-stone tools and hunter-gatherer subsistence in Southwest Asia: implications for the transition to farming. American Antiquity, 59: 238-262. doi:10.2307/281929
Wright, K. 2000, The social origins of cooking and dining in early villages of western Asia. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 66: 89-121. doi:10.1017/S0079497X0000178X
Adams, J.L., Delgado, S., Dubreuil, L., Hamon, C., Plisson, H., & Risch, R. 2009, Functional analysis of macro-lithic arthefacts: a focus on working surfaces. In: Non-flint Raw Material Use in Prehistory. Vol. II, (Sternke, F., Eigelang, L., & Costa, L-J., Eds.), BAR International Series Vol. 1939, Archaeopress, Oxford: p. 43-66.
Baudais, D., & Lundström-Baudais, K. 2002, Enquête ethnoarchéologique dans un village du nord-ouest du Népal: les instruments de mouture et de broyage. In: Moudre et Broyer, l’Interprétation Fonctionnelle des Outils de Mouture et de Broyage dans la Préhistoire et l’Antiquité. Tome I: Méthodes, (Procopiou, H. & Treuil, R., Eds.), Actes de la Table Ronde Internationale de Clermont-Ferrand, 30 nov.-2 déc. 1995. Comité des Travaux Historiques et Scientifiques, Paris: p. 155-180. (in French) (“Ethnoarchaeological investigation in a village in northwest Nepal: Milling and grinding tools”)
Beaune, S. de. 2000, Pour une Archéologie du Geste. Broyer, Moudre, Piler, des Premiers Chasseurs aux Premiers Agriculteurs. C.N.R.S., Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Paris, 235 p. (in French) (“For an archaeology of the gesture. Grinding, milling, crushing, from the first hunters to the first farmers”)
David, N. 1998, The ethnoarcheology of grinding at Sukur, Adamawa state, Nigeria. African Review, 1(1): 13-63.
Delgado-Raack, S. 2008, Prácticas económicas y gestión social de recursos (macro)líticos en la Prehistoria reciente (III-I milenios aC) del Mediterráneo Occidental. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, 694 p. (in Spanish) (“Economic practices and social resource management of (macro)lythic in recent prehistory (3rd-1st millennia BC) of the Western Mediterranean”)
Delgado-Raack, S. & Risch, R. 2009, Towards a systematic analysis of grain processing technologies. In: Recent functional studies on non-flint stone tools: methodological improvements and archaeological inferences, (de Araújo Igreja, M., Clemente Conte, I. Eds.), Proceedings of the Workshop. LAMPEA 23-25 May 2008, Laboratoire Méditerranéen de Préhistoire Europe-Afrique, Lisboa: p. 1-20.
Dubreuil, L. 2002, Etude Fonctionnelle des Outils de Broyage Natoufiens: Nouvelles Perspectives sur l'Emergence de l'Agriculture au Proche-Orient. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Préhistoire et géologie du quaternaire, Université de Bordeaux I, Bordeaux, 471 p. (in French) (“Functional study of Natufian grinding tools: New perspectives on the emergence of agriculture in the Near East”)
Fullagar, R., & Field, J. 1997, Pleistocene seed-grinding implements from the Australian arid zone. Antiquity, 71: 300-307. doi:10.2307/2694147
Gelbert, A. 2002, Evolution du matériel de broyage de la communauté Dii de Djaba (Nord Cameroun) durant les deux derniers siècles: études ethnoarchéologique et archéologique. In: Actes du Colloque Méga-Tchad: Ressources Vivrières et Choix Alimentaires dans le Bassin du Lac Tchad. 20-22 novembre 2002, Université de Genève, IRD Éditions, Institut de recherche pour le développement et Prodig Édition, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris: p. 319-347. (in French) (“Evolution of the grinding tools of the Dii community Djaba (North Cameroon) during the last two centuries: archaeological and ethno-archaeological studies”)
González, J. E., & Ibáñez, J. J. 2002, The use of pebbles in Eastern Vizcaya between 12000 and 10000 B.P. In: Moudre et Broyer, l’Interprétation Fonctionnelle des Outils de Mouture et de Broyage dans la Préhistoire et l’Antiquité. Tome I: Méthodes, (Procopiou, H. & Treuil, R., Eds.), Actes de la Table Ronde internationale de Clermont-Ferrand, 30 nov.-2 déc. 1995. Comité des Travaux Historiques et Scientifiques (CTHS), Paris: p. 69-80.
Hayden, B. 1987, Lithic Studies Among the Contemporary Highland Maya. University of Arizona Press, Arizona, 387 p.
Hamon, C., & Plisson, H. 2008, Which analytical framework for the functional analysis of grinding stones? The blind test contribution. In: Prehistoric Technology 40 Yearslater: Functional Studies and the Russian Legacy, (Longo, L., & Skakum, N., Eds.), Museo Civico di Verona & Università degli Studi di Verona, Verona. BAR International Series Vol. 1783, Archaeopress, Oxford: p. 29-38.
Hoersfall, G.A. 1987, Design theory and grinding stones. In Lithic Studies Among the Contemporary Highland Maya, (Hayden, B. Ed.), University of Arizona Press, Arizona: p. 323‐377.
Leroi-Gourhan, A. 1971, Évolution et Techniques: L’Homme et la Matière. Éditions Albin Michel, Paris, 348 p. (in French) (“Evolution and techniques. The man and the matter”)
Mauldin, R. P. 1993, The relationship between ground-stone and agricultural intensification in Western New Mexico. Kiva, 58: 317-330. doi:10.1080/00231940.1993.11758212
Risch, R. 2002, Recursos naturales, medios de producción y explotación social. Un análisis económico de la industria lítica de Fuente Alamo (Almería), 2250-1400 antes de nuestra era. Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz am Rhein. p. 237-278. (in Spanish) (“Natural resources, means of production and social exploitation. An economic analysis of the lithic industry in Fuente Alamo (Almería), 2250-1400 BCE”)
Rodríguez, J. R. 2013, La molienda en Mesoamérica, formas, funciones, usos y manufactura de los instrumentos. Un estudio etnoarqueológico en México. Unpublished Ph.D thesis, Universitat de Barcelona, 573 p. (in Spanish) (“Milling in Mesoamerica, forms, functions, uses and manifacture of the instruments. An ethnoarchaeological study in Mexico”)
Roux, V. 1986, Le Matériel de Broyage. Etude Ethnoarchéologique à Tichitt (R.I.) Mauritanie. Mémoire Vol. 58. Edition Recherches sur les Civilisations, Paris, 111 p. (in French) (“The grinding equipment. Ethnoarchaeological Study in Tichitt (R.I ) Mauritania”)
Salazar, J., Robitaille, J., & Díez, A., 2012, La industria lítica mursi en el valle del Mago (Etiopía). Archivo de Prehistoria Levantina, 29: 379-396. (in Spanish) (The Mursi lithic industry in the valley of Mago, Ethiopia)
Searcy, M. T. 2011, The Life-Giving Stone: Ethnoarchaeology of Maya Metates. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. 192 p.
Sigaut, F. 1991, Un couteau ne sert pas à couper mais en coupant. Structure, fonctionnement et fonction dans l'analyse des objets. In: 25 ans d’Etudes Technologiques en Préhistoire. ERA 28 du CRA du CNRS, Bilan et Perspectives, Actes des XIèmes Rencontres Internationales d’Archéologie et d’Histoire d’Antibes, 18-19-20 octobre 1990, Juan-les-Pins, éditions APDCA, p. 21-34. (in French) (“A knife is not used to cut but for cutting. Structure, operation and function in the analysis of objects”)
Turton, D. 1973, The Social Organisation of the Mursi, a Pastoral Tribe of the Lower Omo Valley, Southwestern Ethiopia. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of London, London, 425 p.
Wright, K. 1994, Ground-stone tools and hunter-gatherer subsistence in Southwest Asia: implications for the transition to farming. American Antiquity, 59: 238-262. doi:10.2307/281929
Wright, K. 2000, The social origins of cooking and dining in early villages of western Asia. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 66: 89-121. doi:10.1017/S0079497X0000178X
Published
31-Oct-2016
How to Cite
Robitaille, J. (2016). The ground stone industry of the Mursi of Maki, Ethiopia: Ethnoarchaeological research on milling and crushing equipment (technique and function). Journal of Lithic Studies, 3(3), 429-456. https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.v3i3.1680
Issue
Section
Presented at the 1st Meeting of the Association for Ground Stone Tools Research
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