Tracking the Neolithic in the Near East: Lithic Perspectives on Its Origins, Development and Dispersals

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 neighboring 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 Neolithization 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.Table of ContentsPREFACEY. NISHIAKI, O. MAEDA & M. ARIMURAPART 1: NEW DISCOVERIES IN THE LEVANTTHE PRODUCTION AND USE OF DISTINCTIVE LITHIC OBJECTSDrilling Tools at the End of the Natufian: Suggesting a Technological InnovationT. YASHUV & L. GROSMANArrows and Archery during the PPNB: An Experimental Approach: Points Production and UseF. ABBÈS & F. PICHONWeapons or Hunting Tools? Evaluating the Role of Big Arrowheads of the Neolithic LevantO. BARZILAI & H. MAY3D Morpho-Metric Analysis of PPNB Arrowheads from MOTZA: Preliminary ResultsH. 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. CLEMENTE CONTE & L. TEIRAThe Baʻja Daggers: Type, Technology and Commodification of a LPPNB Burial ObjectH.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 ImplicationsA. 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 EastE. HEALEY and S. CAMPBELLTypology, Material and Cultural Role of Stone Bracelets (Bangles) from the Neolithic Megasite of Motza: Preliminary ReportI. MILEVSKI, J. VARDI & H. KHALAILYFlaking or Grinding? Habits of Stone Tool Production in Prehistoric CyprusA. MCCARTHYThe Processing of Construction Stones at the Neolithic Site of Mishmar Ha‘emeq, IsraelG. HAKLAY, N. GETZOV & O. BARZILAILITHIC ASSEMBLAGES AND KNAPPING TECHNOLOGIESRefitting Lithics from Ais Giorkis, Cyprus: A Preliminary Analysis of Bidirectional Blade TechnologyC. MCCARTNEYPreliminary Analysis of the Lithic Assemblages of Nahal Yarmuth 38: A New PPNB Site in Central IsraelD. ACKERFELD, A. EIRIKH-ROSE, H. ASHKENAZI, K. ZUTOVSKI & A. GOPHERIntra-Site Variability in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Site of Yiftahel: Lithic Techno-Typological AnalysisA. LEVY, N GETZOV, H. KHALAILY, I. MILEVSKI & O. MARDERSkill, Learning and Knowledge Transfer in Lithic Production as Seen from LPPNB/FPPNB Baʻja, Southern LevantC. PURSCHWITZMotza: A Village of the Final Phase of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B, Preliminary ObservationsJ. 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 PerspectiveL. BRAILOVSKY-ROKSER, D. SHALEM & M. BIRKENFELDPART 2: VIEWS FROM NEIGHBORING REGIONSLITHICS FROM ARID LANDSHunting in the Dunes: Evidence for Late Natufian Hunting Practices in the Northwestern Negev Site of AshalimL. EDELTIN, J. VARDI & O. MARDERChipped Stone Tool Production Strategies at Nahal Efe (northern Negev) during the Middle Pre-Pottery Neolithic BF. BORRELL & J. VARDIThe Ghassanian Techno-Complex: Late/Final PPNB Lithic Assemblages from Desert Kite-Associated Occupation Sites in Jibal al-Khashabiyeh, South-Eastern JordanR. CRASSARD, J.A. SÁNCHEZ PRIEGO, 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 LevantS. FUJIIGo West: New Discoveries Concerning the PPNB in the Eastern Desert of Egypt between the Sinai and the Nile ValleyF. BRIOIS, B. MIDANT-REYNES & Y. TRISTANTThe Local Development and Levantine Influence Seen in the Stone Tools of the Fayum Neolithic in EgyptN. SHIRAINEW PERSPECTIVES FROM ANATOLIAA Prehistoric Survey in Cappadocia and a New Early Holocene Site, Balıklı: Preliminary Insights into the Local Chipped Stone IndustriesN. 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 BeyondH.C. SCHECHTERTepecik Çiftlik (Turkey) and the Exploitation of Cappadocian Obsidian during the 7th MillenniumD. 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 TepeJ. BREUERS and KINZELLITHICS FROM FURTHER EASTExploring 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 BlurM. 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 AnatoliaL. 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 ProcessS. 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 IndustriesM. JAYEZ & H.V. NASABTowards Understanding the Early Neolithic in the Zagros Mountains: Results of New Investigations of the Austro-Iranian Team in Ilam Province, IranB. MILIĆ, B. HOREJS & L. NIAKANReturning to Hunting and Re-microlithisation during the Mushki Phase in Fars, Southwest IranM. ABE, S. ARAI & M. KHANIPOURThe Symbolic Meaning of the Neolithic Manuports: The Examples from Nemrik 9, Northern Iraq, and Ayakagytma ‘The Site’, UzbekistanK. SZYMCZAK