Coupling the beams: how controlled extraction methods and FTIR-spectroscopy, OM and SEM reveal the grinding of starchy plants in the Pontic steppe 36,000 years ago

• Main Authors: Longo, Laura, Birarda, G., Cagnato, C., Badetti, E., Covalenco, S., Pantyukhina, I., Skakun, N., Vaccari, L., Terekhina, V., Sorrentino, G.
• Other Authors: School of Art, Design and Media
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Social sciences::Geography; Museum Collection; Plants Processing
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/162867
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

A selection of five ground stones from Pontic Steppe sites dating back to the Early Upper Palaeolithic (EUP) was used as test-cases to be analysed by combining wear-traces and use-related biogenic residues (U-RBR). The artifacts studied can be termed “legacy” objects, excavated even many decades ago...