Weiner,J. & Schalich,J., On Potential Bandkeramik Millstone Quarries in the Rhineland. In:...

Stone Age - Mining Age

Bochum 2006

Herausgeber:

Gabriele Körlin & Gerd Weisgerber

Montanhistorische ZeitschriftDER ANSCHNITT. Beiheft 19= Veröffentlichungen aus dem Deutschen Bergbau-Museum Bochum, Nr. 148

CoverGrimes Graves, GB; View into shaft during excavation (Photograph J. Lech)Petit Spienes, B (Photograph G. Weisgerber)Reconstrution Hov, DK (Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum)

Gedruckt mit Unterstützung

der Landesregierung Nordrhein-Westfalen

der Gerda Henkel Stiftung, Düsseldorf

des Deutschen Bergbau-Museums Bochum

RedaktionGabriele KörlinGerd Weisgerber

LayoutAngelika Friedrich, DBM Bochum

DruckDruckmeister Essen

Deutsche Bibliothek – CIP-Einheitsaufnahme

Stone Age – Mining Age. Hrsg.: Gabriele Körlin, Gerd Weisgerber (Hrsg.) – Bochum: Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum, 2006 (Veröffentlichungen aus dem Deutschen Bergbau-Museum Bochum; Nr. 148) (Der Anschnitt: Beiheft 19)

ISBN 3-937203-27-3ISBN 978-3-937203-27-0

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Table of ContentWelcome Ministerialrat Prof. Dr. Hans-Günter Horn 8

Welcome Prof. Dr. Rainer Slotta 9

Preface 11

Programme of the Conference and the Excursion „VIII International Flint Symposium“ 13

Halina Królik, Romuald Schild, A. Jacek Tomaszewski & Elżbieta Ciepielewska Who was who? Raw material and techno-stuctural patterning of Masovian occupants of the Rydno complex 17

Viola T. DobosiLovas (Hungary) ochre mine reconsidered 29

Flint mining

Pierre Allard & Laurence Burnez-LanotteSurplus production in the Belgian Linearbandkeramik: blade debitage at Verlaine “Petit Paradis” (Verlaine, Hesbaye, Belgium) 37

Martyn BarberThe place of flint mines within the Early Neolithic of Southern England 55

Ivan Cheben & Ľudmila IllášováLimnosilicite Outcrops in Central Slovakia 61

Hélène Collet, François Hubert, Claude Robert & Jean-Pierre JorisThe flint mines of Petit-Spiennes (province of Hainaut, Belgium): an update 67

P.J. (Sjeuf) Felder Mining in the prehistoric flint mines at Rijckholt – St. Geertruid (The Netherlands) 73

David FieldProcurement and extraction of flint in Wessex, England 77

Gert GoldenbergNeolithic exploitation and manufacturing of flint in the Monti Lessini, Verona, Italy 83

Avi Gopher & Ran BarkaiFlint extraction sites and workshops in prehistoric Galilee, Israel 91

Sophie Grégoire, Deborah Barsky & Louise Byrne The Caune de l’Arago (Tautavel, France): An example of Middle Pleistocene flint exploitation 99

Michael J. KaiserFeuersteinbergbau und Rohmaterialverteilung im Markgräfler Land (SW-Deutschland) 115

Alexander KolesnikNeolithic – Chalcolithic Flint Exploitation in Donbas (South-East of the Ukraine) 129

Roberto Maggi, Nadia Campana & Fabio NegrinoThe Copper Age jasper quarry of Valle Lagorara within the longer history of the valley (Italy) 135

Javier Mangado LlachFlint sources and petrographical identification in the Late Magdalenian and Epipalaeolithic levels from Parco Cave (Spanish Eastern Pyrenees) 145

Fabio Negrino, Sergio Martini, Caterina Ottomano & Angiolo Del LucchesePalaeolithic evidence for quarrying activity at “I Ciotti” (Mortola Superiore, Ventimiglia, Imperia, Italy) 153

Martin OlivaThe Krumlovský les (Southern Moravia) exploitation area: mining techniques, chronology, symbolic meaning 163

Marco Peresani Flint caches and raw material economy in the Late Upper Palaeolithic and Early Mesolithic of the Eastern Italian Alps 173

Michael M. RindNew excavations in the Neolithic chert mine of Arnhofen, Stadt Abensberg, Lkr. Kelheim, Lower Bavaria 183

Ulrike SommerThe Linearbandkeramik Settlement of Hanau-Klein Auheim (Hesse) – a Specialised Mining Settlement? 187

Elisabetta Starnini & Paolo BiagiExcavations at the Harappan Flint Quarry 862 on the Rohri Hills (Sindh, Pakistan) 195

Jürgen Weiner & Jörg SchalichOn Potential Bandkeramik Millstone Quarries in the Rhineland 203

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J. Ned Woodall & Giorgio ChelidonioGunflint workshop traces in the Lessini Mountains (Verona, Italy): Flintknappers and smugglers at the end of the Venetian Republic 213

Flint Distribution and Technology

Jehanne Affolter & Ebbe H. NielsenThe use of siliceous rocks in the Late Palaeolithic of the Swiss Plateau 227

Michael Baales Some special aspects of Final Palaeolithic Silex Economy in the Central Rhineland (Western Germany) 239

Jan Albert BakkerThe Buren Axe and the Cigar Chisel: striking export products from the West European flint mines – associations and distribution along their northern fringe 247

Katarzyna Barska, Witold Migal, Wiktor Obuchowski & Marek ZalewskiFlint processing in North-Eastern Poland and Western Belarus. An Outline 277

J.R. Beuker & E. DrenthScandinavian type flint daggers from the province of Drenthe, the Netherlands 285

Giovanni Boschian & Barbara ZamagniThe area distribution of the artefacts in the flint workshop of the San Bartolomeo Rock-shelter (Abruzzo, Central-Italy) 301

François Briois, Fabio Negrino, Jacques Pelegrin & Elisabetta StarniniFlint exploitation and blade production during the Harappan period (Bronze Age): testing the evidence from the Rohri Hills flint mines (Sindh-Pakistan) throughout an experimental approach 307

Janusz BudziszewskiFlint economy in Chalcolithic societies of East-Central Europe 315

Wolfgang Burkert & Harald FlossLithic exploitation areas in the Upper Palaeolithic of West and Southwest Germany – A Comparative Study 329

Giorgio Chelidonio & Alessia ZieloThe Lower-Middle Palaeolithic flint workshops of the Cà Palui area (Verona, Italy) 345

Lucyna DomańskaMined flint distribution on the Polish Lowland during the early Neolithic(A case study of Kuiavia region) 359

Jan Fiedorczuk † When a burin or end-scraper was needed. A problem of some specific flint processing behaviour 363

Ivan GatsovResearch into chipped stone assemblages in North-West Turkey 369

Alexander F. GorelikFlint acquisition and processing in the Rogalik- Peredelskoye area (south-eastern Ukraine) 381

Anders Högberg A technological study of flake debitage attributes from the production of Neolithic Square-Sectioned Axes from Scania South Sweden 387

Bo KnarrströmEarly Mesolithic flint economy in Northern Scania. A South Swedish settlement area without natural flint deposits 395

Lars Larsson Flint and fire – destruction of wealth 403

Jacek Lech & Ian Longworth The Grimes Graves flint mine site in the light of two Late Neolithic workshop assemblages: a second approach 413

Laure-Anne Millet-RichardSettlements and flint workshops in the Grand Pressigny region: hypotheses about the knappers of livres de beurre 423

Caroline RicheThe Vassieux-en-Vercors flint workshop: raw material exploitation and distribution of products from the sources 433

Alan SavilleFlint technology associated with extraction sites in north-east Scotland 449

Katalin Simán Tradition, laziness – curiosity, innovation 455

Claus SkriverButchering a wild-pig. Some microwear results 465

Zofia SulgostowskaDistribution of flints during the Late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic in the Oder, Dnestr and Daugava Basins 469

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Mickle G. Zhilin Flint distribution and exchange in the Mesolithic of the East European Forest Zone 475

Geology, Petrography+Geochemistry of Raw Materials of the Stone Age

Katalin T. BiróSources of Hungarian petroarchaeological information on the internet 483

Céline Bressy, Gérard Poupeau & Pierre BintzGeochemical characterisation in flint sourcing. Application to the Chartreuse and Vercors massifs (Western Alps, France) 489

Sylvie Cousseran, Arnaud Pecher & Pierre BintzCirculation of archaeological quartz artefacts in the Western Alps New evidences from fluid inclusions data 499

Inge DiethelmPetrographical composition and provenance of Neolithic “Black stone” artefacts in the collection of the “Museum der Kulturen” in Basel and in archaeological excavations near the shoreline of Lake Neuchâtel Switzerland 509

Wolfgang HeuschenDie Magdalénien-Fundplätze Gönnersdorf und Andernach: Steinartefakte aus “Paläozoischem Quarzit”? 513

Witold MigalAbout the variability of reduction sequences of the Globular Amphorae Culture 523

José Ramos Muñoz, Salvador Domínguez-Bella & Vicente Castañeda Fernández Siliceous materials of the hunter-gatherer settlements from the Atlantic Band of Cádiz (SW Spain) in the Upper Pleistocene 531

Alfred F. PawlikThe Lithic industry of the Pharaonic site Kom al-Ahmar in Middle Egypt and its relationship to the flint mines of the Wadi al-Sheikh 545

Maciej Pawlikowski & Michał Wasilewski Mineralogical and Petrological Characterization of Raw Materials from the Nižný Hrabovec Palaeolithic Site in Eastern Slovakia 563

Antonín PřichystalUnusual raw materials chipped during prehistory in the Bohemian Massif (Czech Republic, Central Europe) 567

P.C.M. Rademakers †Correlation flint layers Neolithic mines at Ryckholt-St. Geertruid (Southern Limburg) and the Late Maastrichtian Lanaye Members by means of Hystrichosphaeridae 573

Daniel RichterThermoluminescence dating of heated silex – Method and application 577

Karol Szymczak, Mukhiddin Khudzhanazarov & Ryszard MichniakThe Neolithic of the Kyzyl-kums, Uzbekistan. Flint raw material from the site of Ayakagytma 587

Colour Plates 593

List of contributors 599

Veröffentlichungen aus dem Deutschen Bergbau-Museum Bochum 605

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Stone Age - Mining Age – Der Anschnitt, Beiheft 19, 2006

Jürgen Weiner & Jörg Schalich

On Potential Bandkeramik Millstone Quarries in the Rhineland

The earliest fully developed Neolithic culture of Central Europe, the so-called Linearbandkeramik culture (LBK), dates between c. 5600 and c. 5000/4900 BC. The LBK evolved in southern Central Europe and subsequently spread into regions with principally first grade soil from the Ukraine to the Paris Basin and from northern Poland to western Hungary (Gronenborn 1999). One of the favoured and well known LBK settlement areas lies within the Lower Rhine Basin (Niederrheinische Bucht) (Fig. 1), the region considered here (Lüning 1991). It is mainly congruent with the Rhenish Loess Belt, a more or less triangularly shaped area between the river Rhine in the east, the cities of Bonn

in the south, Neuss in the north, and finally Aachen in the west. Here around 120 LBK settlements are known to date (Richter 1997).

LBK Stone Tools and Raw Material Types LBK stone tools were exclusively made from flint or flint-like stone as well as rock. Besides flint tools, there are two groups of artefacts which were exclusively worked from very special types of rock.

Abstract

In the Lower Rhine Basin the characteristic Linear Band-keramik (LBK) push-pull querns were almost exclusively pro-duced from a hard, tough Carboniferous sandstone, so-called Eschweiler Kohlensandstein (EKS). Primary deposits of EKS are found in the foothills of the northern Eifel, but – due to fluvial erosion – EKS has been deposited secondarily within the gravels of the rivers Inde and Rur. During the 1970s the assumption arose that LBK quern-makers made use of those secondary EKS deposits. While not doubting the occasional use of EKS from the gravel beds, the authors are convinced that the overwhelming majority of EKS should have been procured from real quarries at the primary deposits. The au-thors´ reasoning is mainly based on 1. geological observations combined with considerations on physical/mechanical proper-ties of water worn EKS, 2. a tentative projection of the overall amount of EKS needed during LBK times, resulting in a steady LBK demand of EKS, and 3. the unlikeliness of meeting this demand from secondary deposits. Furthermore, quarrying EKS should have continued through the Middle into the Late Neolithic.

Keywords: Linear Bandkeramik culture, Neolithic, millstones, querns, quarries, prehistoric mining, Eschweiler Kohlensand-stein, Upper Carboniferous formation.

Fig. 1: The Lower Rhine Basin and adjacent areas. Redrawn by K. Drechsel, Rhein. Amt für Bodendenkmalpflege, Bonn, from a map by J. Schalich, Aachen.

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Group one comprises one of the most important – if not the most important – LBK tool type, adze blades, often errone-ously called “adzes” not only by amateur archaeologists, but also by professionals. The majority of adze blades was manufactured from non-local tough metamorphic rock commonly denominated “amphibolite” (e.g. Bakels 1978, 105ff.).

Group two comprises objects like polishers, „grinding bowls“, arrowshaft-straighteners, pounders, hammer-stones, and the remains of by far the biggest LBK stone artefacts, the typical push-pull querns (Fig. 2). The used raw material is almost exclusively of local/regional origin and generally belongs to rough, grainy varieties of differ-ent kinds of rock, mainly of the sandstone family (Zimmer-mann 1988, 608ff.). Additionally the farmers of LBK used some minerals for other purposes.

LBK MiningTraces of LBK mining are quite rare. Hence remains of flint mining are still missing from e.g. the area of primary flint sources in Dutch and Belgium Limburg as well as from secondary gravel deposits in the western part of the Rhine-land. Despite this fact there is, admittedly scarce, evidence of LBK flint extraction from the mines of Tomaszów, Wi-erzbica „Zele“ and Swieciechów in Poland or Sümeg in Hungary, respectively (Lech 1990, 51).

Furthermore there is the famous haematite mine at Rydno in the Holy Cross Mountains (Poland) which was worked from the Late Palaeolithic through the Mesolithic and dur-ing the LBK (Schild & Królik 1981). Just recently traces of late LBK hematite mining near Bad Sulzburg in the Black Forest (southern Germany) have been found. The mining remains there, by the way, reveal a transitional stage be-tween open air mining and real underground mining (Gold-enberg & Maass 1999).

In spite of these obviously limited examples, there cannot be any doubt about the ability of LBK farmers to procure different raw materials by mining. And given any particular need, it stands to reason that, besides flint and hematite, further lithic sources yielding other types of stone could and should have been extracted by mining, too.

LBK QuernsIt is generally accepted (Zimmermann 1988, 724) that in their functional state, LBK querns are always made up of two typically shaped elements (here: millstones) forming individual sets: The bottom part, a bigger heavy stone with rectangular to oval outline, around 40 cm long, around 30 cm wide and up to c. 15 cm thick or even thicker (Fig. 3), and the runner (‘handstone’), a smaller, lighter stone often of so-called loaf-shape, around 35 cm long, c. 15 cm wide and around 9 cm thick (Fig. 4).

Querns from LBK settlements on the Aldenhoven Plateau (Aldenhovener Platte)

In the loess lowlands, halfway between the cities of Aachen and Cologne, one finds the Aldenhoven Plateau, famous for extensive excavations of LBK settlements that were endangered by brown coal (lignite) opencast mining dur-ing the early 1970s. A. Zimmermann has undertaken an extensive study of the stone artefacts – among them the remains of querns – from Langweiler 8, the biggest LBK settlement on the Aldenhoven Plateau. Here, out of a total of 313 millstones, 311 (96.4%) are made of a hard, coarse-grained quartzitic sandstone, so-called Eschweiler Kohlen-sandstein (EKS), and only two (0.6%) are made of other rocks (Zimmermann 1988, 724). J.W.

Fig. 2: Working with an LBK push-pull quern. From Keefer 1993, 87.

Fig. 3: Complete bottom stones from the LBK settlement Müdders-heim (Rhineland). From Schietzel 1965, pl. 27.

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Morphology and Geology of the western Lower Rhine BasinDue to its general appearance and structure, the quartz-itic sandstone of querns from Rhenisch LBK settlements corresponds to the sandstone from the Aachen and Esch-weiler Upper Carbonifereous formation (EKS). Usable deposits of this rock occur on the northern slopes of the Rhenisch Massif bordering the western Lower Rhine Basin between Aachen and Langerwehe near Düren, the local river system belonging to the catchment area of the river Maas (Fig.1 and 5).

This area comprises the Venn borderland at the feet of the High Venn Mountains including the Stolberg valley. Inclining to the north-west down to the Lower Rhine Basin from 300 m to less than 200 m, the land-use is either agriculture or forest-ry. The area is characterised by deep cut, steep sloped val-leys of the rivers Inde, Vicht and Wehe as well as surrounding plateaux and ridges. The direction of the valleys is due to the rapid change of Palaeozoic bedrock types as well as certain different tectonic movements within the northern border of the High Venn. A vast amount of man-holes, pits, mines, quarries and related features indicates the long history of ore and coal mining, and rock quarrying, respectively.

Fig. 4: Complete runners from the LBK settlement Langweiler 8. From Langweiler 8 1988, pl. 102.

Fig. 5: EKS deposits south of the Aldenhoven Plateau. Redrawn by K. Drechsel, Rhein. Amt für Bodendenkmalpflege, Bonn, from Rode 1961.

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From a geological point of view, the region is formed by a succession of Palaeozoic rock types, ranging from the Lower Devon to the Upper Carboniferous (Fig. 6). These are part of the old Variscian mountains which were folded upwards more than 280 million years ago, and subse-quently eroded to their present day shape of a rump plain. East of and around Eschweiler and Stolberg, the Upper Carboniferous forms more than 1,800 m of different layers of the Namur and Westfal in the Inde Depression. They consist mainly of dark clay and silt stones with incorporated sandstones and conglomerates, the upper layers depicting an increasing amount of hard coal seams.

Concerning the different types of Upper Carboniferous sandstones, those showing a clayey matrix have not been used for the production of LBK millstones. Judging from the spectrum of original millstones from LBK sites, it becomes obvious that their raw material represents quartzitic sand-stones which, compared with other sandstones, are very hard and show a high strength. According to the result of a research by the Aachen Polytech around 342,000 m3 of usable deposits of quartzitic sandstone still occur in the Eschweiler region.

This type of rock has already been used for the production of millstones during the Neolithic. Later it was regionally used as paving material and for house-building. Recently it was utilised not only in the fire-proof industry, but also in connection with metallurgical processes.

In the field sandstone deposits are easily recognised as aridity-sensitive areas. Additionally they are accessible along streets, roads, railway tracks, slopes and in old quar-ries and countless old pits. In these places the quartzitic sandstones occur in singular thinner to thicker layers, or layer packages from 1 m up to several meters. As a rule they consist of well-rounded quartz grains of medium size (0.2 mm-0.63 mm diameter) which are cemented by dia-genetically produced SiO2, hence the hardness and brit-tleness of the rock. The content of SiO2 varies between 92% and 98%, and there are additional traces of mica, zirconium and sometimes an admixture of hard coal or clay particles. A weak porosity as well as the occurrence of lenticular hollows with a diameter of up to 1 cm is char-acteristic. The dominating colour ranges from whitish to light grey with a casual hue of beige. Dark grey colouring due to imbedded coal is rare.

Quite characteristic is the intensive fissuring of the quartz-itic sandstones. This is the reason why the rock could already be extracted during prehistory, employing rather primitive methods. Due to this fissuring, it is not possible to obtain bigger lumps but only blocks of 50 cm to 60 cm length and c. 30 cm to 40 cm width.

Among the original millstones there are occasional exam-ples of material resembling the fine grained Upper Car-boniferous conglomerates. This type of rock can be found within either the lower or upper layers of the quartzitic

Fig. 6: Geology of the High Venn vorland and the western Lower Rhine Basin. Redrawn by K. Drechsel, Rhein. Amt für Bodendenkmal-pflege, Bonn, from Schalich 1989.

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sandstones, and the so-called Gedau Conglomerate may be up to 25 m thick. Due to their intensive silification these clastic rocks are called conglomerate quartzite, too. Their dominating components are pebbles of quartz and light-coloured lydite. Additionally they depict dark lydites (so-called phtanites) as well as lumps of quartzite, clay and hard coal. Concerning the rock’s fine-grained variant, the diameter of these accessories ranges between c. 5 mm and 7 mm.

The sandstones in question as well as the conglomerates also occur in high proportion as a component of the near-surface Pleistocene solifluction rubble (Fig. 7). Further-more they are found as rounded gravels which either were shaped and deposited in the littoral zone of the Miocene sea, or in the Late Pleistocene river Inde (Weichselian).

The solifluction rubble seems hardly usable for quern pro-duction because as a rule the rock was damaged not only during its loosening from the primary deposits, but also during the subsequent transport. Hence the material de-picts among traces of fissures additional initial cracks or hair-line cracks, respectively. Furthermore these compo-nents with diameters of 40-45 cm are too small to be used as roughouts. The same applies to the gravels of up to head-size which, besides, appear only occasionally within the lower terrace of the river Inde as well as the slopy areas of the region.

One cannot generally exclude the incidental use of this kind of loose rock for the production of Neolithic querns. But as opposed to the secondarily deposited stone, the original examples rather indicate proper mining of the primary rock deposits along the easily accessible slopes in the valleys as well as on hilltops. J.Sch. (translation J. W.)

Current Hypothesis of LBK Millstone ProcurementIn 1978 C.C. Bakels published her basic study on certain LBK settlements, among them those from the southern-most loess region of Dutch Limburg. Concerning the millstones from these settlements, the author states that „Many artefacts still show remains of a surface which has not been changed by man. The rounded shapes and natu-rally flattened surfaces show that the original rocks were transported by a river,“ and she concludes that „The most probable place of origin is therefore the bed of the [river] Maas. According to P.W. Bosch the types of rock which were used indeed occur in the river bed in large numbers, and also in the form of big blocks.“ (Bakels 1978, 114).

Subsequently, in the 1988 publication of Langweiler 8, A. Zimmermann describes traces of wear-smoothed, rounded surface patches – found on c. 12% of the millstones from this settlement (Zimmermann 1988, 728). In relation to this feature, the author explicitly mentions the difficulty to reach an unequivocal decision whether these traces are natural or remains of probably artificially produced polishing (Zim-mermann 1988, 616). On this basis, and together with the fact that primary deposits of EKS forming the foothills of the bordering Eifel upland occur only c. 10 km south and southwest of the LBK settlements on the Aldenhoven Plateau, A. Zimmermann does not generally rule out the probability of LBK people having procured this raw material from the primary bedrock.

But referring to Bakels´ earlier statement, A. Zimmermann mentions that „It was possible to obtain the same raw material from gravels there [in Dutch Limburg] as here [in Germany]“ (Zimmermann 1988, 728). Further supported by a geological description of gravels of the river Inde, ac-cording to which these not only „contain this raw material”, but also „deliver pieces which are large enough to allow the production of millstones“, the author finally concludes that the raw pieces for the quern production might as well have been collected from exposed gravel beds of the river Inde (Zimmermann 1988, 616).

Objections to the Current Hypothesis

Geological reasonsIt goes without saying that the gravels of the river Inde con-tain pieces of EKS (as well as the gravels of the river Maas contain „Devonian and Upper Carboniferous sandstones“; Bakels 1978, 114). Concerning the gravels of the river Inde, the geological description delivered above by J. Schalich reveals that their maximum dimensions only occasionally reach head-size. The most severe impediment, however, is that these pieces are heavily stressed by water trans-port and depict internal flaws, rendering even hypotheti-

Fig. 7: Profile from a quarry at Eschweiler-Nothberg: The upper-most layer is made of Pleistocene solifluction loam containing mostly angular rubble of sandstone and conglomerate. The layer below represents sandy remains of the Tertiary Miocene sea, containing littoral gravels of regional conglomerate at the base. The lowermost layer consists of Upper Carboniferous claystone and conglomerate quartzite. Foto: J. Schalich.

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cal bigger pieces unsuitable for the extraction of millstone roughouts. The same holds true for pieces from the Pleis-tocene solifluction rubble. Of course this latter feature is not restricted to the gravels of the river Inde but is a common trait, concerning if not all then certainly most types of rock that were subdued to various stresses during all types of geological transport. Quite obviously there must be a cor-relation between the hardness of rock and the occurrence of internal flaws. An example is delivered by F. Hürlimann’s description of the querns of the Neolithic settlement Storen-Wildsberg (CH). There, the raw material, i.e. Verrucano, was exclusively obtained from moraine gravel beds. But Verrucano is an incredibly hard rock which could very well withstand the high stresses of glacial transport without de-veloping internal flaws (Hürlimann 1965, 72ff.).

Nevertheless, one example of how important flawlessness is regarded in connection with recent Maya quern produc-tion in Guatemala is delivered by B. Hayden who states that „Blocks had to be of manageable and workable size, they had to be devoid of any [italics Hayden] internal flaws, and they had to be sufficiently versicular...In the riverbed it is difficult to find blocks that meet all of these criteria, and the accessible riverbed sources become depleted within a few months after the high waters recede. After Ramon and I searched the riverbeds for a metate block of suitable size...we found only two blocks...both of which were inter-nally flawed and useless. We decided, therefore, to procure a rough block using chisels at the bedrock quarry [italics mine]...“ (Hayden 1987, 22ff.). In perfect correspondence with this description stands the one by D. Gronenborn on recent quern production in north-east Nigeria. Here the raw material, i.e. the bedrock, is eroded by a small valley, and one could assume that the rock is represented in the val-ley’s gravel bed, too. Nevertheless, the rock is exclusively procured from the solid bedrock, and only hammerstones of quartz needed for the first rough preparation are gath-ered from the gravel bed (Gronenborn 1995, 45ff.). In the valley of the Lower Colorado River “widely spaced isolated large boulders, were used as raw material for making mill-ing implements” (Schneider 1994, 104) but there are bed-rock quarries, too. As “the densities of production loci... at the bedrock quarries is at least 100-200 times greater” (Schneider 1994, 104) than that at the isolated boulder quarries, it becomes obvious that undisturbed bedrock was the primary raw material source.

Thus the argument by both Bakels and Zimmermann, sup-ported by certain geological reports, according to which the gravel beds from the rivers Maas and Inde contain not only blocks in sufficient numbers, but also in suitable sizes, are merely quantitative, omitting the important qualitative aspect of flawlessness.

Economical reasons Using the data of five LBK settlements from a completely excavated stretch of the Merzbach valley on the Alden-

hoven Plateau, J. Lüning calculated the average number of houses amounting to 3.4/settlement (Lüning 1991, 38 note 33). Using further data from the „core area“ on the Alden-hoven Plateau with a size of 85 km2, the author calculated the area’s average number of LBK settlements resulting in 0.8/km2.

Concerning the potential LBK settlement area in the Lower Rhine Basin, i.e. the whole Rhenish Loess Belt with a size of 1,622 km2, a calculation of the area’s potential number of LBK settlements (Older Rhenish LBK - Youngest Rhen-ish LBK) would result in 1,298 settlements.1 The average number of 3.4 houses/settlement would consequently yield 4,413 potential houses, i.e. families.2

On the potential number of EKS millstonesOf course it is tempting to find out the potential number of querns needed for one LBK family and for all families, respectively. Trying this, one is confronted with several dif-ferent restraints. For example, we do not know whether the families had only one or more querns at their disposal (Zim-mermann 1988, 741; Sommer 1998, 206). But the most severe restraint is that we do not have any serious clue concerning the life-span of LBK querns. U. Holter mentions 1-2 years for a runner and 5-6 years for a bottom stone of the Mahria nomads from the northern Darfur in Sudan, but she states that some bottom stones were up to 10 years in use or even older, and there were some older runners still in use, too (Holter 1990, 362f.). U. Sommer assumes 20 years for a bottom stone and 15 years for a runner of LBK origin (Sommer 1998, 207). Due to the primary per-manent wear and the secondary constant resharpening of both bottom stones and runners, I believe the latter data too optimistic. As the Darfur runners are smaller than LBK ones, I assume a life-span for LBK runners with three years and for LBK bottom stones with six years.

On this basis, and on an assumed life-span of c. 30 years for LBK houses, grown-up female members of an LBK fam-ily needed five bottom stones and ten runners during the houses´ life-span.3 Consequently all 4,413 families would have needed 22,065 bottom stones and 44,130 runners.

On the potential weight of extracted EKS millstone roughoutsTrying to gather at least some rough idea concerning the overall weight of the LBK querns´ components, one is again faced with certain difficulties. The biggest restraint is that most of the millstones found are only fragments. And though there are complete bottom stones as well as runners, they are not always properly described, result-ing in the lack of sufficient data from original finds. The

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most promising data, therefore, come from the publica-tion of the LBK settlement Langweiler 8, which includes a whole chapter on querns and offers quantitative infor-mation concerning the weight of millstones (Zimmermann 1988, 723ff.).

One table lists six examples of what are called „complete millstones“ which, in fact, are labelled „runners“. Their average weight can be calculated with c. 3.9 kg (Zimmer-mann 1988, 735, Fig. 645). But whereas the weight of five pieces ranges between 1,805 g and 4,940 g, one piece shows a quite outstanding weight of 6,650 g. Accordingly the length of the remaining five pieces ranges between c. 27 cm and 36 cm, while this special piece shows a length of 40 cm.

So it could well be that this artefact is, in fact, a bottom stone which is further supported by its outline that tends to have more rectangular ends than the pointed ends of the remaining classic runners (Zimmermann 1988, 734).4

Hence omitting this example, a calculation of the mean weight of the remaining five runners results in c. 3.3 kg. Seven examples of what are called „millstone roughouts“ are listed on another table. Calculating their average weight results in c. 3.7 kg (Zimmermann 1988, 729, Fig. 641). From the description it does not become clear, whether these artefacts might represent roughouts for runners, or for bottom stones or both. Again it is interesting to note that from this group of seven individual pieces, five show a weight ranging from 2,221 g to 3,760 g, whereas two pieces show outstanding weights of 5,190 g and 6,670 g, respectively. Accordingly the length of the remaining five pieces ranges between 17 cm and c. 29 cm, while the two other pieces both show a length of c. 31 cm.

One could be inclined to assume that the five roughouts might actually be runners, while the two remaining rough-outs could have been intended as bottom stones. Hence omitting these two examples, a calculation of the mean weight of the remaining five hypothetical runner roughouts results in c. 2.8 kg. Calculating the mean weight of the probable two bottom stone roughouts the result is c. 5.9 kg, i.e. nearly 6 kg.

Referring to what is believed a complete, though heavily used quern from the LBK settlement of Gotha-Alschleben, its bottom stone shows a length of 45 cm, a width of 21 cm and a remaining thickness of 9 cm; the piece still weighs 11 kg. The matching broken runner shows a length of 16 cm, a width of 11 cm and a thickness of 4 cm; this piece still weighs 1.3 kg (Hennig 1966, 73). As the runner is bro-ken into half, one could reconstruct its original weight with c. 2.6 kg. Bearing in mind that both components represent a used state, one could assume a higher original thick-ness and logically a higher original weight, well surpassing the weights mentioned. Two complete big bottom stones from Müddersheim show lengths of 48 cm and 46 cm and

widths of 24 cm and 29 cm, respectively; unfortunately the weight of both examples is not delivered (Schietzel 1965, 67 note 1).

An idea of the original weight concerning bottom stones of such dimensions could be gathered from an only slightly used bottom stone found at the Middle Neolithic settlement of Aldenhoven in the centre of the similarly named Plateau. Depicting a length of c. 44 cm, a width of c. 29 cm and a thickness of c. 16 cm, it shows a weight of almost 22 kg! (Jürgens 1979, 492ff.).

For the sake of an intended general weight approximation, based on the five complete runners from Langweiler 8 and the reconstructed weight of the runner from Gotha-Alschle-ben, and bearing in mind their used state, I tend to assume a minimum weight of 4 kg for LBK runner roughouts.

Mainly in terms of their weight, I regard one example of a so-called runner from Langweiler 8 as well as two examples from the group of „millstone roughouts“ from the same site as bottom stone, or probable intended bot-tom stones. In unused and even used state they show weights between around 5 kg and nearly 6.7 kg. But both „millstone roughouts“ show only a length of c. 31 cm. The much bigger and well used piece from Gotha-Alschleben, in its unused stage, could have easily reached the double weight of the latter or even more, remembering the Middle Neolithic example from Aldenhoven. Certainly not all LBK bottom stones were as big as the examples from Gotha-Alschleben or from Müddersheim. But as well, not all were as small as the two probable examples from Langweiler 8. On the basis of their weight, Ch. Willms calculates a divi-sion at around 8-10 kg between runners and bottom stones from the Neolithic settlement Twann (CH), and he refers to nearly the same result mentioned by Hürlimann in his 1965 article on the querns from Storen-Wildsberg (Willms 1980, 122ff.). Summing up, I think it is not exaggerated to assume a minimum weight of 10 kg for LBK bottom stone roughouts.

Using these data, a calculation would amount to c. 221 t of eventually procured bottom stone roughouts for the above assumed 22,065 bottom stones, and to c. 177 t of eventu-ally procured runner roughouts for the established 44,130 runners, adding up to c. 398 t of EKS potential millstone roughouts in total. Of course this has to be understood being nothing but a weak approximation to the Neolithic reality (e.g. Schneider 1996).

Considering the duration of the LBK culture in the Rhine-land, according to 14C-dates, this is a period of 400 years (c. 5300-4900 BC; Stehli 1994, 135), which accordingly saw a steady demand for EKS. So the needed annual amount of EKS could be calculated with c. 1 ton. Assum-ing that the Rhenish LBK would have only lasted 300 years (c. 5300-5000 BC) this amount would increase to c. 1.33 t/year (Lehmann 1999, 307).

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But following J. Gaffrey, EKS was not only exclusively used for millstones during the LBK, but also during the Middle Neolithic until the beginning of the Late Neolithic in the Rhineland (Gaffrey 1994, 477 note 56), covering a period of c. 900 years (c. 5300-4400 BC).

Without confronting the reader with any additional at-tempted calculation, it seems quite obvious that the needed overall amount of EKS from LBK to Late Neolithic times should have been considerably higher than the es-tablished 398 t.

Some additional ideas concerning bottom stonesIt follows common sense to assume that in terms of ef-ficiency, there should be a high correlation between the lengths of bottom stones and the milling productivity (Sommer 1998, 201), i.e. the longer the bottom stone the higher the output. However, producing bottom stones, their length cannot be increased arbitrarily. The reason is quite simple, as one has to regard what might be called natural or anatomical limits, i.e. the potential length LBK female adults could stretch their arms during a recurrent push-pull motion when working with a quern. Admittedly though, this is nothing but a hypothesis, as we do not know whether the females were working more or less exclusively from the arms, or whether they did increase their reach by simultaneously stretching the upper body, too, the latter most probably resulting in a physically quite exhausting movement.

One probable hint to this question might be found in the frontispiece of a publication by P.C. Anderson et al. (1993), depicting the most extreme example of a „quern“. The pho-tograph from 1963 by J. Courtin shows four Dionkor girls in the eastern Chad, kneeling on a huge flat granite boulder of several meters diameter that serves as bottom stone. But the actual milling areas of oval outline („meules“) in front of the girls display dimensions which are unequivo-cally defined by the lengths of the girls´ arms. There are ad-ditional ethnographical data, which indicate bottom stones of up to c. 70 cm length (Sommer 1998, 201), but one may raise the question, whether the complete length of these bottom stones was effectively used.

The LBK bottom stone of Gotha-Alschleben has a length of 45 cm, the two complete LBK bottom stones from Müd-dersheim show nearly comparable lengths of 48 cm and 46 cm as is the case with the Middle Neolithic one from Al-denhoven with c. 44 cm. Comparing these with both prob-able intended bottom stone roughouts from Langweiler 8, mentioned above, the latters´ length of c. 31 cm is rather amazing, being c. 20 cm shorter than the formers´. I am well aware that these roughouts are only two single pieces which do not deliver any sound statistical basis.

Be that as it may, one could wonder, whether both exam-ples really were to be used by adults. Hence one could raise the probability that they might represent apprentices´ artefacts, i.e. components of childrens´ querns which were employed in playful learning. That stone age apprentice-ship has to be taken into consideration, has recently been shown by J. Junkmanns who described Swiss Neolithic bows which, due to their length and other features, could only have served in „playful training“ for rather young chil-dren as well as adolescents (Junkmanns 1999, 3).

Without further following this interesting question, it seems that at least concerning the LBK, the maximum length for a bottom stone used by adult females may be fixed at around 50 cm. J.W.

ConclusionOur understanding of LBK procurement of EKS in the Rhineland – and the adjacent Dutch Limburg – can simply be expressed as well as underlined referring to a statement by J. Gaffrey, according to which „Without any positive proof of prehistoric mining [of EKS] to date, a predomi-nant origin from primary outcrops is mainly favoured by economical considerations...Hence it seems hardly imagi-nable that such a distinct demand for adequately big and qualitatively suitable [italics ours] raw pieces of sandstone could even approximately be met from open gravel beds” (Gaffrey 1994, 477f., translation J.W.).

Just recently a massive block of EKS was found in an LBK refuse pit during a rescue excavation at Eschweiler-Weis-weiler in the very vicinity of EKS outcrops (Tutlies & Weiner 2000). The piece is 38 cm long, 20 cm wide, 18 cm thick and weighs 18.3 kg. Due to its weight and typical pecking marks as well as traces of polishing, this artefact has to be regarded as a bottom stone roughout. Not even the slight-est trace of water wear is present, indicating that the block must have been procured from primary outcrops of EKS by what we would call quarrying (Fober & Weisgerber 1980).

So, in contrary to the until now accepted LBK pattern of EKS procurement from gravel beds of the river Inde, we would suggest that this type of rock should have been pro-cured from the bedrock by proper mining, most probably in open quarries. The potential huge removed mass of mined rock, the equally huge mass of resulting mining-waste left on the spot, together with other related mining activities as well as pre-shaping work on the roughouts should have left at least some traces in the area of primary EKS outcrops.

Consequently it seems worth trying to find those hypo-thetical LBK quarries despite the many different perils which, over more than 7000 years, might have obscured or even destroyed the majority of the quarrying traces. J.Sch./J.W.

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AcknowledgementJ. Weiner is indebted to J. Lüning, Frankfurt/M., who kindly provided the chapter on rock artefacts from U. Sommer´s thesis. The authors would like to thank D. Gronenborn, Frankfurt/Main and A. Gopher, Tel Aviv, for kind information on additional literature as well as valuable comments on the paper’s final draft.

Notes

1 Lüning mentions 1,330 settlements which seems to be a calculation error (1,622 x 0.8= 1,297.6; Lüning 1991, 38 note 33).

2 I follow Lüning’s assumption according to which the LBK long-houses should have been inhabited by a single „core-family“ consisting of 5-7 persons (Lüning 1991, 86).

3 According to A. Zimmermann and U. Sommer, cereal grinding was most exclusively a female task (Zimmermann 1988, 740; Sommer 1998, 207 note 159).

4 Concerning A. Zimmermann’s classification of LBK runners and bottom stones, U. Sommer wrote to the same effect (Som-mer 1998, 200).

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