The structured deposition of querns : the contexts of use and deposition of querns in the south-west of England from the Neolithic to the Iron Age
It is now widely assumed that many artefacts found in the prehistoric archaeological record were not casually discarded as unwanted material but were deposited in features and contexts with structure and meaning. This appears to include saddle and rotary querns for they are often found whole and apparently still usable or, conversely, deliberately broken. Analysis of the structured deposition of querns in the south-west of England shows that they were deposited in features on both domestic and non-domestic sites. Furthermore, the location and state of the querns, together with the artefacts found in association with them, indicates that they were deposited with different levels and layers of meaning, even within the same type of feature. The deposition of querns appears to have pervaded all aspects of prehistoric life and death suggesting that they played a role above, but nevertheless related to, their prime task of milling. An exploration of the object biography of querns demonstrates the importance of what are often considered to be mundane tools to subsistence communities. Each quern has its own unique life history, its meaning and value determined by the reasons that gave cause for its manufacture, the
Watts, Susan Rosina
Quernstone Rotary quern Saddle quern Structured deposition Object biography South-west England Neolithic Bronze Age Iron Age
The structured deposition of querns : the contexts of use and deposition of querns in the south-west of England from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. It is now widely assumed that many artefacts found in the prehistoric archaeological record were not casually discarded as unwanted material but were deposited in features and contexts with structure and meaning. This appears to include saddle and rotary querns for they are often found whole and apparently still usable or, conversely, deliberately broken. Analysis of the structured deposition of querns in the south-west of England shows that they were deposited in features on both domestic and non-domestic sites. Furthermore, the location and state of the querns, together with the artefacts found in association with them, indicates that they were deposited with different levels and layers of meaning, even within the same type of feature. The deposition of querns appears to have pervaded all aspects of prehistoric life and death suggesting that they played a role above, but nevertheless related to, their prime task of milling. An exploration of the object biography of querns demonstrates the importance of what are often considered to be mundane tools to subsistence communities. Each quern has its own unique life history, its meaning and value determined by the reasons that gave cause for its manufacture, the
structure deposition quern context use_deposition south_west_england widely_assume many artefact find prehistoric archaeological_record casually discard unwanted material deposit feature contexts structure meaning appear include quern often find whole apparently still usable conversely deliberately break analysis structure deposition south_west_england show deposit feature domestic non domestic_site furthermore location state quern together artefacts find association indicate deposit different_level layer meaning even within type feature deposition quern appear aspect prehistoric life_death suggest played role nevertheless relate prime task exploration object_biography demonstrate_importance often_consider mundane tool subsistence community quern unique life_history mean_value determine reason give cause manufacture