Rights Holder: Royal Institution of Cornwall
CC License:
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Unique ID: CORN-25A252
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation
A single-sided muller or rubbing stone of fine-grained granite elvan. The muller is circular in plan, plano-convex in section and in profile. The base of the muller is flat and smooth through use as a rubbing implement and the upper face is convex so it could have been held and pushed across another stone. The muller would have been used with a larger saddle quern to grind grain between the stones to make flour. The granite is fine grained and contains inclusions of dark tourmaline and pale feldspar phenocrysts. The soft feldspar would work into hollows and the hard tourmaline would stand proud of the surface, thus allowing a shearing action to cut and grind the grain. Both surfaces are marked with several red-brown linear 'stripes' through contact with the plough. The shape of the muller suggests that it was made from a beach cobble from the Land's End Granite outcrop.
Jones & Taylor (2010) illustrate a similar, although double-sided, muller of porphytic elvan, derived from a river cobble, excavated from Scarcewater, St Stephen, on page 127, fig.64, no.253, which is dated from the Middle Bronze Age, c.1500-1100 BC.
Jones (2002) illustrates a similar, but broken elvan muller excavated from Callestick on page 32, fig.13, no.95 which dates from the Later Bronze Age, c.1100-700 BC.
Nowakowski (1991) illustrates two similar rubbing stones, one of elvan and one of fine-grained granite containing 'nests' of black tourmailne, excavated from Trethellan, Newquay, on page 142, fig.57, nos.88-89, which date from the Middle Bronze Age, c.1500-1200 BC.
Notes:
Report from Roger Taylor, petrologist:
Fine-grained granite elvan with pale felspar phenocrysts and dark tourmaline inclusions.
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Broad period: BRONZE AGE
Subperiod from: Early
Period from: BRONZE AGE
Subperiod to: Late
Period to: BRONZE AGE
Date from: Circa 2350 BC
Date to: Circa 700 BC
Quantity: 1
Length: 146 mm
Height: 45 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 45 mm
Weight: 1348 g
Date(s) of discovery: Wednesday 29th March 2017 - Wednesday 29th March 2017
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Primary material: Stone
Manufacture method: Ground/polished
Completeness: Incomplete
4 Figure: SW4529
Four figure Latitude: 50.10621313
Four figure longitude: -5.56762893
1:25K map: SW4529
1:10K map: SW49NE
Grid reference source: From a paper map
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 10 metre square.
Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jones, A.M. | 2002 | The excavation of a later Bronze Age structure at Callestick | Bristol | J.W. Arrowsmith Ltd. | 32, fig.13 | no.95 | |
Jones, A.M. and Taylor, S.R. | 2010 | Scarcewater, Pennance, Cornwall: Archaeological excavation of a Bronze Age and Roman Landscape | Oxford | Archaeopress | 127, fig.64 | no.253 | |
Nowakowski, J. | 1991 | Trethellan Farm, Newquay: The excavation of a lowland Bronze Age settlement and Iron Age cemetery | Redruth | Cornwall Lithographic Printers Ltd. | 142, fig.57 | nos.88-89 |