Abstract
The enigmatic mortar and pestle complex of formally manufactured ground, pecked and sometimes exquisitely carved stone objects from New Guinea and neighbouring islands has a remarkable range of form and decoration, providing a unique opportunity to investigate the role of these objects in traditional societies across different landscapes and language groups (see Swadling 1986, 2013, 2021; Swadling et al. 2008). The vast majority of stone mortars and pestles currently known are from poorly provenanced contexts with no associated chronological information (Swadling 2021). Local communities have no knowledge about their manufacture or intended use. Despite much speculation among researchers for over