A History of Agriculture in India v1.c14.6

v1.c14.6

The Natufians, who are so named after a camp-site in the Wadi-el-Natuf, in Jordan, used sickles of small flint blades set with gum into the grooved shafts of bone. The blades were finely notched and set in a line to make a continuous saw-edge. The silica in the grass or corn stalks had polished the edges of the flints into a bright lustre from constant use. On the flat rock floor at the cave mouth were hollows made by pounding the grain into flour, and stone mortars were found for the same purpose.