Ricerc@Sapienza

Ground stone tool (GST) technology includes artefacts utilized in pounding or grinding
activities and characterized by long life cycles and multiple uses. The introduction of
such technology dates back to early prehistory, and for this reason, it is used as prime
evidence for tackling a wide range of archaeological questions such as the origins of
technology, patterns of daily subsistence and lifeways. In this paper, we contribute to
the field of study of GSTs by discussing the application of a novel multi-level analytical

The presence of shaped stone balls at early Paleolithic sites has attracted scholarly attention since the pioneering work of the Leakeys in Olduvai, Tanzania. Despite the persistent presence of these items in the archaeological record over a period of two million years, their function is still debated. We present new results from Middle Pleistocene Qesem Cave on the use of these implements as percussion tools.

This contribution focuses on residues developing on spindle-whorls during spinning. Such a kind of tools is largelydiffused in archaeological contexts where spindle-whorls were used in textile activities or deposited in burials asgrave goods. Scholars recently approached the analysis of these objects through experimental archaeology to betterunderstand their wide variation in size and shape especially in relationship with the adoption of specific spinningtechniques or the quality of the fibres processed for producing different kinds of yarn.