Gallo-Roman whetstone building deposits. The cultural biography of the domestic sphere in northern Gaul

We discuss the ritual deposition of whetstones on native-type farmsteads in the northern-most parts of the Gallo-Roman Province of Gallia Belgica. The phenomenon occurs mainly in the lower river Scheldt valley (Belgian East and West Flanders and the southwestern Netherlands), where these whetstones, as well as other objects, are most often found in the domestic environment of timber-framed stable-houses. We show that the stone tools were buried deliberately in a specific structural component of the house, and that there was no intention of reclaiming them afterwards. By burying these whetstones, native Gallo-Roman-period farmers removed them from their primary, functional use, but at the same time initiated a new trajectory in their cultural biography. They received a ritual, apotropaic function in the course of the domestic life cycle of the house and its inhabitants, connected to the seasonal rhythm of the annual harvest cycle. This paper aims to contribute to the discussion of structured (building) deposits in archaeology and, more generally speaking, to the various aspects of the cultural biography of houses.