Description of grinding patches found on granite bedrock near Cue, in central Western Australia, and a discussion of their significance
Document Type
Journal Article
Publisher
Royal Society of Western Australia Inc.
Faculty
Faculty of Computing, Health and Science
School
School of Natural Sciences
RAS ID
4075
Abstract
Patches of exposed granite bedrock around Cue, in central Western Australia, that have been smoothed by being used for grinding are described and compared with portable grindstones recorded in the same region. Patches had rarely been reported from this area before, although they have long been recognised in the Pilbara. The extension into the southern half of Western Australia of a type of evidence for past human behaviour rarely identified there is significant. Two much- debated questions are also considered, but left unresolved due to insufficient data: whether there is a morphological difference between grindstones used to wet mill grass seeds and those used for dry grinding hard seeds and whether the juxtaposition of grinding, generally considered to have been women’s work, with rock carvings, usually assumed to have been made by men, is socio-culturally significant.
Access Rights
free_to_read
Comments
Webb, R. E. (2007). Description of grinding patches found on granite bedrock near Cue, in central Western Australia, and a discussion of their significance. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, 90(3), 115-25. Available here