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PESTLE
Unique ID: CORN-412405
Object type certainty: Certain
Greenstone cobble, circular in plan and section, and egg-shaped in profile, with one pointed end roughly pecked, possibly from hammerstone use, and the other end smoothed and polished from a little pestle use. Note that the rough pecked end forms a visual contrast to the fine grain which occurs at the other end of the piece. The pestle is of a convenient size to be held in the hand. Such pieces do turn up on domestic sites but not in any quantity compared to mullers and rubbers. On these objects the waterworn cobble surfaces are all fresh and unweathered, appropriate for selection from a beach during the Neolithic. The beach selection would ensure hard enduring pieces. It is quite possible that the wear on these objects has been caused by grinding pieces in the axe manufacture process. (Henrietta Quinnell, Clodgy Moor stonework, forthcoming).
Examples of pestles have been found on Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in Cornwall, such as the Beaker site at Boscaswell, near the north coast of West Penwith, illustrated in Jones & Quinnell (2008) on page 47, Fig.11, No.S2; and at the Middle Bronze Age site at Scarcewater, St Stephens, illustrated in Jones and Taylor (2010) on page 122, Fig.60, No.236; and at the Middle Bronze Age settlement at Trethellan, Newquay, illustrated in Nowakowski (1991) on page 149, Fig.62, No.99, which tapers at one end, and comments that 'many cobblestones used as pounders have pecked grips', like this example, on page 151.
Subsequent actions
Current location of find: Royal Cornwall Museum
Subsequent action after recording: Donated to a museum
Chronology
Broad period: NEOLITHIC
Period from: NEOLITHIC [scope notes | view all attributed records]
Period to: BRONZE AGE [scope notes | view all attributed records]
Date from: Circa 4500 BC
Date to: Circa 700 BC
Dimensions and weight
Length: 91 mm
Width: 61 mm
Thickness: 54.5 mm
Weight: 383.7 g
Quantity: 1
Materials and construction
Primary material: Stone [scope notes | view all attributed records]
Manufacture method: Ground/polished [scope notes | view all attributed records]
Completeness: Complete [scope notes | view all attributed records]
Spatial data
Region: South West
County: Cornwall
District: Penwith
Parish: Paul
Restricted 4 Figure grid reference: SW4627
The map has been degraded and provides an approximate location with a degree of random obfuscation.
Grid reference source: Centred on field
Grid reference accurate to a 10 metre square.
Method of discovery: Fieldwalking
[scope notes]
General landuse: Cultivated land [scope notes]
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Monday 21st June 2004 - Saturday 31st July 2004
Personal details
Found by: This information is restricted for your login.
Recorded by: Ms Anna Tyacke
- [
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Identified by: Ms Anna Tyacke - [view all attributed records]
Secondary identifier: Mrs Henrietta Quinnell - [view all attributed records]
Other reference numbers
Other reference: 80.14
Museum accession number: 2011.23
References cited
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Audit data
Created:
Thursday 9th February 2012
Updated: Wednesday 22nd February 2012
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