Fertility and the Repetitive Partition

Grinding as Social Construction

Abstract

In an agrarian reproduction system, grinding and grinding tools represent various forms of reproduction linked together through the transformative ability of grinding. It seems that grinding as action brings different aspects, seen as metaphors, to the social context. These are central for the understanding and perception of grinding and grinding tools as socially defined conditions—especially when they occur in contexts interpreted in ritual terms. The methodological and empirical problems associated with grinding stones as archaeological source material have led me through interdisciplinary studies to search for alternative interpretations and new angles of approach to understand what constitutes grinding contexts. As a part of my thesis work I have studied three metaphorical grinding aspects that are important for the elucidation of the grinding action: cyclicity of time, sexual reproduction, and transformation or change. Each theme lnclude various concrete expressions such as fragmentation, rhythm, body and stone/tool. In this article I discuss some of them.