Life and death of querns: The deposition and use-contexts of querns in South-Western Britain from the Neolithic to the Iron Age
Full details
| Authors & editors | |
| Publisher | Highfield Press |
| Year of publication | 2014 |
| Languages | |
| Medium | Book |
| Edition | 1 |
| ISBN | 9780992633615 |
| Topics | |
| Tags | |
| Scope & content | Querns are special artefacts as they are concerned with subsistence and supporting life in a manner which few other artefacts can emulate: they transform raw material into a usable consumable commodity. Their association with women, the production of food and the movement of the upper stone, suggests symbolical links between querns and life cycles - agricultural, human and building. They can also be read in terms of gender relations and the turning of the heavens. It is not surprising therefore that they have a special symbolic role in early societies. This book analyses the deposition of querns in prehistoric south-western England, cataloguing how and where they are buried, the associated artefacts and their possible significance. The discussion is broader, however, exploring the object biography and symbolism of querns, taking the reader to unfamiliar territories around the world. This is a new ground-breaking work, which with its full bibliography will stimulate fresh studies and at the same time set the agenda for a new field of investigation. |
Copies held
Accession no. 232160
- Shelf location: F200-WAT
- Notes: Southampton Monographs in Archaeology New Series 3