Heating-stone hypothesis tested in experiments on limestone and basalt

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Key facts

• The stone balls were found close to basalt millstones and storage basins, prompting a proposal that they processed plants and cereals
• The video notes that a mixture of sedimentary and igneous rocks would have different properties such as hardness and erosion rates, raising questions about a food-processing role
• Laura Dietrich, in her book Plant Food Processing Tools of Early Neolithic Göbekli Tepe, proposes the balls could have served as heating stones
• Burnt basalt stones associated with basins or troughs are reported from Göbekli Tepe, though no stone balls are known from there
• Dietrich refers to the Tell 'Abr 3 finds as burnt stone balls, but the video could not find a published reference confirming they were burnt
• Dietrich and colleagues experimentally used limestone and basalt heating stones, finding both rock types worked but limestone became heavily burnt-looking while basalt showed far fewer traces of burning
• The video suggests the dark grey and black balls could be burnt limestone rather than basalt, but notes the rock types remain unidentified in published reports
• Building M1 is believed to have been decommissioned after a fire, which the presenter offers as a possible explanation for any burnt appearance

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