Grinding slab

In archaeology, a grinding slab is a ground stone artifact generally used to grind plant materials into usable size, though some slabs were used to shape other ground stone artifacts.^[1] Some grinding stones are portable; others are not and, in fact, may be part of a stone outcropping.

Stone slab in east-central California used to grind acorns

Grinding slabs used for plant processing typically acted as a coarse surface against which plant materials were ground using a portable hand stone, or mano ("hand" in Spanish). Variant grinding slabs are referred to as metates or querns, and have a ground-out bowl. Like all ground stone artifacts, grinding slabs are made of large-grained materials such as granite, basalt, or similar tool stones.

References

1. Shoemaker, Anna C.; Davies, Matthew I.J.; Moore, Henrietta L. (2017). "Back to the Grindstone? The Archaeological Potential of Grinding-Stone Studies in Africa with Reference to Contemporary Grinding Practices in Marakwet, Northwest Kenya". African Archaeological Review. 34 (3): 415–435. doi:10.1007/s10437-017-9264-0. ISSN 1572-9842.