Cᵉ siècle av. J.-C.
El-Guettar, North Africa
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El-Guettar preserves a concentration of about sixty stone spheroids associated with a spring site. The balls range from 4.5 to 18 centimetres in diameter and are presented as the best-documented example of a broader pattern also found at Windhoek and Esere. Their possible functions include hunting weapons, pounders for plant foods or bones, and perhaps components of throwing or entangling weapons, though the exact arrangement and use remain uncertain.
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Le récit
El-Guettar provides the best-documented example of a concentration of stone balls associated with a spring. The pile contained about sixty spheroids, ranging from 4.5 to 18.0 centimetres in diameter. Their unusual concentration and relationship to water are treated as significant archaeological features rather than as an ordinary scatter of tools.
The spheroids may have served more than one purpose. Their form and wear are compatible with pounding meat, tough plant foods, or bones to obtain marrow, while some smaller and more regular examples may have had a secondary use. The passage also considers the possibility that they were mounted in a greenhide sleeve as a stone-headed throwing club or hafted in groups to make an entangling weapon resembling bolas.
The precise function cannot be established from the concentration alone. El-Guettar is nevertheless important because it connects Middle Stone Age stone technology with the processing of food and the possible development of specialized hunting equipment. Comparable collections are mentioned from Windhoek and Esere, indicating that the phenomenon was not confined to one locality.
Cᵉ siècle av. J.-C.
El-Guettar, North Africa
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
El-Guettar preserves a concentration of about sixty stone spheroids associated with a spring site. The balls range from 4.5 to 18 centimetres in diameter and are presented as the best-documented example of a broader pattern also found at Windhoek and Esere. Their possible functions include hunting weapons, pounders for plant foods or bones, and perhaps components of throwing or entangling weapons, though the exact arrangement and use remain uncertain.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
El-Guettar provides the best-documented example of a concentration of stone balls associated with a spring. The pile contained about sixty spheroids, ranging from 4.5 to 18.0 centimetres in diameter. Their unusual concentration and relationship to water are treated as significant archaeological features rather than as an ordinary scatter of tools.
The spheroids may have served more than one purpose. Their form and wear are compatible with pounding meat, tough plant foods, or bones to obtain marrow, while some smaller and more regular examples may have had a secondary use. The passage also considers the possibility that they were mounted in a greenhide sleeve as a stone-headed throwing club or hafted in groups to make an entangling weapon resembling bolas.
The precise function cannot be established from the concentration alone. El-Guettar is nevertheless important because it connects Middle Stone Age stone technology with the processing of food and the possible development of specialized hunting equipment. Comparable collections are mentioned from Windhoek and Esere, indicating that the phenomenon was not confined to one locality.