Ground Stones in Ritual Contexts in the Central China Neolithic: Use-wear Analysis and Residue Analysis of Artifacts in Burials

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Burial practices provide important evidence for understanding the social and symbolic connections between the dead and the living. The presentation of artifacts in burials and their functions can provide crucial information of meanings in ritual practices. In this study, I apply use-wear analysis and residue analysis to a sample of grinding stones, sickles, and stone adzes from the early Neolithic burials of the Peiligang site (8000 BP) in North China. The results show that grinding stones were multi-functional tools, used for grinding hard materials and for processing multiple types of plants. Grinding stones recovered from residential refuse pits were used extensively for grinding panicoideae grass, acorns, and tubers. Grinding stones from burials were less extensively used and are more intact, preserving all four feet. Stone sickles are mostly related to harvesting activities, and stone adzes are associated with soil working. Combined with evidence from previous residue analyses of pottery from burials, that show that red rice alcohol was served, this research suggests that tools related specifically to acquisition and processing of plants may have had special symbolic and ritual significance in this early Neolithic context.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38113.0