Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, 90: 115-125, 2007 
Description of grinding patches found on granite bedrock near Cue, 
in central Western Australia, and a discussion of their significance 
R E Webb 
School of Natural Sciences, 
,, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup WA 6027 
0 e.webb^'ecu.edu.au 
Mamiscipt received November 2005; accepted juiie 2007 
Abstract 
Patches of exposed granite bedrock around Cue, in central Western Australia, that have been 
smoothed by being used for grinding are described and compared with portable grindstones 
recorded in the same region. Patches had rarely been reported from this area before, although they 
have long been recognised in the Pilbara. The extension into the southern half of Western Australia 
of a type of evidence for past human behaviour rarely identified there is significant. Two much- 
debated questions are also considered, but left unresolved due to insufficient data: whether there is 
a morphological difference between grindstones used to wet mill grass seeds and those used for 
dry grinding hard seeds and whether the juxtaposition of grinding, generally considered to have 
been women's work, with rock carvings, usually assumed to have been made by men, is socio¬ 
culturally significant. 
Keywords: grinding patches, granite bedrock. Cue, central Western Australia 
Introduction 
Grinding patches can be defined as 'rock pavements 
or slabs worn smooth by Aborigines grinding on their 
surface ... they are most commonly found in arid regions, 
where Aboriginal people, especially women, carried out 
seed grinding' (Flood 1990). Elsewhere in the same text, 
she was more specific about what was ground. Grinding 
patches were 'oval patches of rock worn smootli from 
women's grinding of grass seeds into flour' (Flood 1990). 
Later, she widened her definition. A grinding patch 
became 'a concave abraded hollow on a horizontal or 
sloping rock surface, usually produced by grinding ochre 
or foodstuffs .such as hard fruits' (Flood 1997). 
Flood (1990) also noted that grinding patches are 
frequently located near petroglyphs (engraved rock art 
motifs), being found 'close to or even on top of 
engravings'. For example, in the Pilbara, 600-750 km 
north of Cue, there are grinding patches at art sites on 
Gallery Hill, Woodstock (Flood 1990). At Spear Hill, 
'there are many seed-grinding patches on the pavements 
and aprons at the base of conical hills' (Flood 1990). 
While, on the Burrup Peninsula, there are 'patches of 
rock worn smooth by grinding by Aboriginal people, 
usually women, grinding acacia or grass seeds into flour' 
(Flood 1990). 
Later, Flood (1997) stated firmly that grinding patches 
'are utilitarian by-products of grinding up foodstuffs, 
ochre or other commodities'; emphasising that they 'are 
economic, functional marks left by grinding activity 
usually on horizontal surfaces or large portable rock 
slabs. Residue analysis has shown that some grinding 
hollows were used for pulverising ochre and some for 
grinding up food substances such as hard fruits. [They] 
© Royal Society of Western Australia 2007 
are utilitarian marks which should not be classed as rock 
art'. 
Other authors also emphasise the utilitarian nature of 
grinding patches. 'Domestic camping activities are 
evident at sites [around Dampier], particularly grinding 
patches on the rock where grass-seed flour was made, 
which was a woman's task; sometimes the grinding 
occurs between engravings' (Mulvaney and Kamminga 
1999). These sites are: Skew Valley, Gum Tree Valley and 
Kangaroo Valley, studied by Lorblanchet (1992). 
The identification in October 2004 of grinding patches 
on five granite outcrops located within a 50 km radius of 
Cue (Gunn & Webb 2006), a small town on the Great 
Northern Highway in central Western Australia (Figure 
1), is reported here. At one site, petroglyphs flanked the 
grinding patches. Such patches, particularly juxtaposed 
to rock art, had rarely been reported from this area 
before, although hundreds of patches, with and without 
artwork, are known further north, particularly in the 
Pilbara. 
Patches can be extremely difficult to see, those 
reported on here were identified as much by touch as by 
sight. They arc described in this paper in the hope that 
more may be recognised and reported on in the 
Murchison-Gascoyne region in future by other 
researchers. The socio-cultural implications of the 
geographic distribution of such features in Western 
Australia and their occurrence close to rock art are then 
considered. Whether or not there is a morphological 
difference between grindstones used to wet mill grass 
seeds and those used for other tasks is also discussed. 
Site descriptions 
In total, 43 grinding patches were found at six sites in 
the study area: Afghan Rock, Boat Hole Rock, Camel 
Soak, Djungari, Pool Paddock and Taincrow Rockhole. 
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