Same same, or very different. Comparing grindstones from Late Bronze Age settlements and a mining/ore beneficiation site in the Southern Alps

Abstract

Macrolithic tools and grinding implements, in particular, are common finds at archaeological excavations. They appear in settlements, at workshop sites and close to mines. The central hypothesis of this article is that mining archaeology has a lot to gain when tools are directly compared to similar implements from settlement sites. However, the sphere of mining and beneficiation and the sphere of domestic production have mainly been thought of as separate. This a priori exclusion has led to misunderstandings of the social and physical environments of prehistoric individuals, leading to an artificial divide. By looking at a marginalised group of tools, in this case from three sites in the Southern Alps, I set out to discuss particular features of Late Bronze Age tool production and use-wear, to show that even though mining and domestic tools show distinct morphometric differences, similarities and possible hints indicate the entwinement of these spheres.