The Neolithic Lithic Industry at Tell Ain El-Kerkh: Excavation Reports of Tell el-Kerkh, Northwestern Syria 1

Northwest Syria during the Neolithic period has been less well studied than the rest of the northern Levant, where Neolithisation first took place in the Near East. The Neolithic Lithic Industry at Tell Ain El-Kerkh presents the first attempt to unveil the Neolithisation process in northwest Syria, with the techno-typological studies of the flintstone implements from Tell Ain el-Kerkh in the Rouj basin in Idlib, which was an important large Neolithic site occupied from the from the 9th to the 7th millennium BC.Examination of the lithic record from Tell Ain el-Kerkh revealed techno-morphological changes in flint tools during the long Neolithic sequence from the Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) to the end of the Pottery Neolithic. The author interprets such changes in stone tools in the socio-economic context of the Neolithic. Through the comparison between the data obtained from Tell Ain el-Kerkh and other Neolithic sites in the northern Levant, the regional characteristics of northwest Syria during the Neolithic period are highlighted. In the end, two important issues in the Neolithic Levant, diffusion of the PPNB culture and the PPNB collapse, are discussed based on the results of this study.This volume includes substantial original data, drawings, and analysis of lithics from Neolithic sites in Syria, which will be useful for future discussion of the changes in material culture in relation with the Neolithisation process in the Near East.Table of ContentsList of Figures, Tables and PlatesAcknowledgementsIntroduction1. The research subject2. Organisation of the research3. IllustrationsChapter I: The research framework1. Neolithisation of the northern Levant2. Neolithisation of north-western SyriaChapter II: Methodology1. The subject of analysis2. Methodological framework: Reconstitution of the operational sequence in lithic production3. Analytical methodChapter III: The lithic industries of the Pre-Pottery and the Pottery Neolithic at Tell Ain el-Kerkh1. The collections2. Raw material for the lithic industry at Tell Ain el-Kerkh and geological surveys for flint research3. The lithic industry of the Rouj 1a period4. Lithic industry of layer 65. The lithic industry of the Rouj 1c period6. The lithic industry from the Rouj 2a/2b period7. The lithic industries of the later periods of the Pottery Neolithic8. Discussion: Development of the lithic industries at Tell Ain el-Kerkh during the NeolithicChapter IV: Comparative analysis of lithic materials from other sites in Syria1. Tell Riz2. Qastun3. Slenfe4. Tell el-Kerkh 25. Tell Ain Dara III6. Dja’de el Mughara, sector SBChapter V: Comparative study of published data from other Neolithic sites in the northern Levant1. Sites of the Early PPNB (the 9th millennium cal. BC)2. Sites of the Middle PPNB (first half of the 8th millennium cal. BC)3. Sites of the Late PPNB (second half of the 8th millennium cal. BC)4. Sites of the Beginning of the Pottery Neolithic or Final PPNB (first half of the 7th millennium BC)Chapter VI: General conclusion1. Synthesis: Development of Neolithic lithic industries in the northern Levant2. Reflections on the system of lithic production during the PPNB in the northern Levant in a socio-economic context3. Emergence and diffusion of the PPNB culture4. The end of the PPNB culture: Was the ‘PPNB collapse’ a general phenomenon?Appendix: PlatesBibliography