007 Bird Shaped Pestle

Carved from a single piece of stone, this intriguing object is a pestle. The heavy round bulb at the base is designed for grinding or crushing food; while the handle has been carved in the elongated form of a bird. It has an elegant neck curving into a stylised head. Two small, rounded wings are positioned halfway along the body, facing forwards; and the short tail points downwards.

The pestle was found in Oro Province of Papua New Guinea. It was made between four and eight thousand years ago, at a time when humans were moving away from hunting and gathering towards agriculture. This meant new tools had to be invented: both for farming and for food storage and preparation. Early farming seems to have begun in many places around the world at roughly the same time. Farmers began by selectively harvesting crops from the wild, planting and tending them in order to grow more. The crops they chose varied because different climates supported different plants. In the Middle East they farmed early forms of wheat, in China wild rice was grown, and in Papua New Guinea the staple crop was taro. Taro is a root vegetable, similar to potatoes, that is still grown there today. This pestle was probably used to grind up its edible root before it was cooked.

Like taro, most of the crops harvested by early farmers had to be prepared and cooked before they could be eaten. In this way, humans expanded the range of foods they could safely consume and increased their ability to sustain more settled communities.

The remarkable shape of this pestle tells us it is more than a kitchen utensil. It was also clearly intended to be regarded as an object of beauty. It may have had symbolic value: possibly it was used for preparing ritual meals on special occasions.