Grinding stone
- Audio guide stop: 432
- Gallery: Room 51
- Culture: Natufian
- Object type: saddle quern
- Materials: stone
- Museum number: 1973,0703.1
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you is a saddle quern attributed to the Natufian culture. This stone tool is one of the earliest examples of grinding implements used in prehistoric societies.
The object has an almost oval shape that tapers to a narrow end. Its upper surface is slightly dished and noticeably worn from use, suggesting it was employed for grinding plant materials or grains.
Crafted from a single piece of stone, this tool reflects the practical ingenuity of Natufian people, who lived in what is now the Near East. Its wear patterns provide valuable insight into their daily routines and subsistence strategies.
This quern was excavated at Abu Hureyra, a key archaeological site that sheds light on the transition from hunter-gatherer societies to settled agricultural life.
See it in person
Grinding stone is on display in Room 51 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and type its audio guide stop number, 432, from the gallery label, or take a photo of it, to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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