Grindstone - grindstone

Japanese: といし(砥石) - といし（英語表記）grindstone

A stone used to sharpen and polish things. In a broad sense, this is a general term that includes grinding stones, honing stones, and superfinishing stones, but here we will talk about stones used for "hand sharpening" blades. In the Paleolithic period, there were stone tools that were locally polished, and it can be said that the origin of grinding stones dates back to the Paleolithic period. The technology ranged from polished stone tools to bone tools and jade tools, and grinding stones became indispensable with the appearance of metal tools. In Japan, the number of excavated examples increased after the late Yayoi period when iron tools became widespread, and their shapes changed from irregular to regular rectangular prisms.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

物を研ぎ磨く石。広義には研削といしとかホーニングといし，超仕上げといしなどをも含めた総称であるが，ここでは刃物の〈手研ぎ〉に用いるものについて述べる。旧石器時代には局部的な研磨を施した石器があり，といしの起源は旧石器時代まで遡るといえよう。その技術は磨製石器から骨器，玉器に及び，といしは金属器の出現とともに不可欠のものとなった。日本でも鉄器が普及する弥生後期以後，その出土例が増し，形態も不定形から直方体へと整っていく。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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