Editing Ground stone (section)

==Analytical methods==

In archaeology, ground stones are studied to document past activities, agriculture strategies and the process of domestication. Ground stones technology was identified as daily life technology associated with cereals processing. However, their study has shown that they are more complex to understand and have multi-function.  Ethnographic studies are essential to define the research question but are not enough to correctly determine the function of ground stones. Typology, ethnographic studies and experimental replicas help understand groundstone technologies. 
Typical methods are used to analyse them: the trace of wear and the analysis of botanical residues (starch grains and phytoliths).

===Use-wear analysis===

This technique analyses the trace of wear left by the types of actions (pounding, grinding, cutting).<ref>Adams, J. L. (2014). Ground stone use-wear analysis: a review of terminology and experimental methods. Journal of archaeological science, 48, pp.129–138. [Accessed 10 March 2022].</ref> The trace of wear is specific to the action but also the type of product (organic or inorganic) process. Handstones for cereals and hide processing were distinguished using this method.<ref>Adams, J. L. (1988). Use-Wear Analyses on Manos and Hide-Processing Stones. Journal of Field Archaeology, 15 (3), pp.307–315.</ref>

===Botanical remains===

[[Starch]] grains and [[phytoliths]] are botanical remains which are well preserved in archaeological context and are small enough to be trapped in the micro-crevice of a ground stone.<ref>Torrence, R. and Barton, H. (2016). Ancient Starch Research. Routledge.</ref> Analyzing the botanical remains is essential to precise the function of the stones. 
A standardized protocol is used to study plant remains. First, there are extracts from the ground stones, using a toothbrush and an ultrasonic bath. Then, the residues are observed under a polarised microscope. And finish, starch are compared to a reference collection of experimental modern starch grains.