This book combines the latest studies of Near Eastern Neolithic lithics by leading international archaeologists to develop their analytical potential and advance our understanding of the world oldest farming societies of the Near East in human history.
This volume presents the proceedings of the 9th International Conference of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Chipped and Ground Stone Industries of the Near East, hosted at the University of Tokyo, Japan, from November 12 to 16, 2019 (PPN9-Tokyo).
A unique point of the volume, while referring to the origins and development as in the proceedings of the previous conferences, is a greater emphasis on regional perspectives to evaluate the Near Eastern Neolithic. The current research indicates that the earliest farming societies of the Near East developed in interaction with neighbouring hunter-gatherer societies, that either coexisted with them for long periods or soon assimilated to the Near Eastern farmers. Understanding these contrasting processes would shed new light on identifying the Neolithisation practices of the “core” regions in the Near East itself. A similar attempt was made at the PPN2-Warsaw in 1995, but the present volume provides the most up-to-date discoveries and perspectives after a quarter century.
The 39 papers in this volume include contributions on the Iranian Zagros, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, a region whose Neolithic archaeological records are far less well understood but that we believe will enrich our understanding of the first farming societies of the Near East.
Paperback ISBN: 9789464260809 | Hardback ISBN: 9789464260816 | Imprint: Sidestone Press | Format: 210x280mm | ca. 600 pp. | Language: English | 211 illus. (bw) | 109 illus. (fc) | Keywords: archaeology; lithic industries; neolithic; Near Eastern prehistory; West Asia; obsidian; early farming; hunter-gatherers; neolithisation; Göbekli Tepe; Çatalhöyük
PREFACE
Y. NISHIAKI, O. MAEDA& M. ARIMURAPART 1: NEWDISCOVERIES IN THELEVANT
THEPRODUCTIONANDUSE OF DISTINCTIVELITHICOBJECTS
Drilling Tools at the End of the Natufian: Suggesting a Technological Innovation
T. YASHUV& L. GROSMANArrows and Archery during the PPNB: An Experimental Approach: Points Production and Use
F. ABBÈS& F. PICHONWeapons or Hunting Tools? Evaluating the Role of Big Arrowheads of the Neolithic Levant
O. BARZILAI& H. MAY3D Morpho-Metric Analysis of PPNB Arrowheads from MOTZA: Preliminary Results
H. KHALAILY, K. VARDI, A. KARASIK& O. BARZILAIProduction and Use of Nahal Hemar Knives in the Southern Levant during the PPNB: New Evidence from Kharaysin (Jordan)
F. BORRELL, J.J. IBÁÑEZ, J. MUÑIZ, I. CLEMENTECONTE& L. TEIRAThe Baʻja Daggers: Type, Technology and Commodification of a LPPNB Burial Object
H.G.K. GEBEL, C. PURSCHWITZ, D. ŠTEFANISKO& M. BENZRecycling of PPNB Artefacts in the Yarmukian Site of Tel Izhaki, Jezreel Valley, Israel: Some Chronological and Regional Implications
A. YAROSHEVICH, E.C.M. van den BRINK, R. CHASAN, D. ROSENBERG, A. BIELER, L. PERRY-GAL, E. BOARETTO& N. GREENBAUMInnovation, Adaptation or Just a Development? Alternative Uses of Obsidian the Early Neolithic of the Near East
E. HEALEY and S. CAMPBELLTypology, Material and Cultural Role of Stone Bracelets (Bangles) from the Neolithic Megasite of Motza: Preliminary Report
I. MILEVSKI, J. VARDI& H. KHALAILYFlaking or Grinding? Habits of Stone Tool Production in Prehistoric Cyprus
A. MCCARTHYThe Processing of Construction Stones at the Neolithic Site of Mishmar Ha‘emeq, Israel
G. HAKLAY, N. GETZOV& O. BARZILAILITHICASSEMBLAGESANDKNAPPINGTECHNOLOGIES
Refitting Lithics from Ais Giorkis, Cyprus: A Preliminary Analysis of Bidirectional Blade Technology
C. MCCARTNEYPreliminary Analysis of the Lithic Assemblages of Nahal Yarmuth 38: A New PPNB Site in Central Israel
D. ACKERFELD, A. EIRIKH-ROSE, H. ASHKENAZI, K. ZUTOVSKI& A. GOPHERIntra-Site Variability in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Site of Yiftahel: Lithic Techno-Typological Analysis
A. LEVY, N GETZOV, H. KHALAILY, I. MILEVSKI& O. MARDERSkill, Learning and Knowledge Transfer in Lithic Production as Seen from LPPNB/FPPNB Baʻja, Southern Levant
C. PURSCHWITZMotza: A Village of the Final Phase of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B, Preliminary Observations
J. VARDI, D. YEGOROV, A. LEVY, A. SHATIL, N. MITKI& H. KHALAILYHeat Treatment of Flint in the Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Site of Motza (Judean Hills, Israel)
D. YEGOROV, H. KHALAILY& S.A. ROSENTracing the Neolithic Occupation of ‘En Esur (Israel) and the Question of the Archaeological Visibility of the Neolithic in the Archeological Record: The Lithic Perspective
L. BRAILOVSKY-ROKSER, D. SHALEM& M. BIRKENFELDPART 2: VIEWSFROMNEIGHBORINGREGIONS
LITHICSFROMARIDLANDS
Hunting in the Dunes: Evidence for Late Natufian Hunting Practices in the Northwestern Negev Site of Ashalim
L. EDELTIN, J. VARDI& O. MARDERChipped Stone Tool Production Strategies at Nahal Efe (northern Negev) during the Middle Pre-Pottery Neolithic B
F. BORRELL& J. VARDIThe Ghassanian Techno-Complex: Late/Final PPNB Lithic Assemblages from Desert Kite-Associated Occupation Sites in Jibal al-Khashabiyeh, South-Eastern Jordan
R. CRASSARD, J.A. SÁNCHEZPRIEGO, F. PICHON, W. ABU-AZIZEH& M. TARAWNEHHarrat Juhayra 202 and the Jordanian Badia Early PPNB: Fresh Perspective on the PPNA/PPNB Transition in the Southern Levant
S. FUJIIGo West: New Discoveries Concerning the PPNB in the Eastern Desert of Egypt between the Sinai and the Nile Valley
F. BRIOIS, B. MIDANT-REYNES& Y. TRISTANTThe Local Development and Levantine Influence Seen in the Stone Tools of the Fayum Neolithic in Egypt
N. SHIRAINEWPERSPECTIVESFROMANATOLIA
A Prehistoric Survey in Cappadocia and a New Early Holocene Site, Balıklı: Preliminary Insights into the Local Chipped Stone Industries
N. KAYACAN, A.N. GORING-MORRIS, G. DURU& M. ÖZBAŞARANSırçalıtepe: A New Aceramic Neolithic Site in Volcanic Cappadocia (Central Anatolia)
S. BALCI& Ç. ALTINBILEK-ALGÜL& D. MOURALISChipped Stone at the Late Neolithic TPC Area, Çatalhöyük: On-Site and Beyond
H.C. SCHECHTERTepecik Çiftlik (Turkey) and the Exploitation of Cappadocian Obsidian during the 7th Millennium
D. GUILBEAUThe Lithic Assemblages of Gusir Höyük: A Pre-Pottery Neolithic Site on the Upper Tigris Basin (Southeast Anatolia)
Ç. ALTINBILEK-ALGÜL, S. BALCI, D. MOURALIS& O. D. ASLANERChange and Continuity in the Lithic Industry of Hasankeyf Höyük, a late 10th millennium cal. BC Site on the Upper Tigris O.MAEDA, T. CARTER& R. MOIR
“[…] but it is not clear at all where all the […] debris had been taken from […]” Chipped Stone Artefacts, Architecture and Site Formation Processes at Göbekli Tepe
J. BREUERS and KINZELLITHICSFROMFURTHEREAST
Exploring the Changes in Lithic Industries during the Neolithisation in Armenia (7th–6th millennium BCE): A Comparison of Chipped Stone Tools from Lernagog-1 and Masis Blur
M. ARIMURA, K. MARTIROSYAN-OLSHANSKY, A. PETROSYAN& B. GASPARYANNeolithic Chipped Stone Industry of Mentesh Tepe (Middle Kura Valley, Azerbaijan): Technological Markers and Relations to North-Eastern Anatolia
L. ASTRUC, D. GUILBEAU, B. GRATUZE, C. CHATAIGNER, O. BARGE, B. LYONNET& F. GULIYEVDiscard Patterns of Chipped and Ground Stone Refuse at Hacı Elamxanlı Tepe in the Southern Caucasus: Implications for the Residential Mobility and the Neolithization Process
S. KADOWAKI, F. GULIYEV& Y. NISHIAKINeolithic Sickles of the South Caucasus and North Mesopotamia (early 6th millennium BC)
Y. NISHIAKIA Brand New Thing: Bladelet Production Techniques and Methods in Caspian Mesolithic and Neolithic Chipped Stone Industries
M. JAYEZ& H.V. NASABTowards Understanding the Early Neolithic in the Zagros Mountains: Results of New Investigations of the Austro-Iranian Team in Ilam Province, Iran
B. MILIĆ, B. HOREJS& L. NIAKANReturning to Hunting and Re-microlithisation during the Mushki Phase in Fars, Southwest Iran
M. ABE, S. ARAI& M. KHANIPOURThe Symbolic Meaning of the Neolithic Manuports: The Examples from Nemrik 9, Northern Iraq, and Ayakagytma ‘The Site’, Uzbekistan
K. SZYMCZAK