Techno-typology and provenance of the obsidian chipped stones from Sofular Höyük, an Early Neolithic settlement near the Kızılırmak in Central Anatolia (original) (raw)
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This paper details the chemical sourcing of 135 obsidian artefacts from Ç atalhöyük, a Neolithic site in central Anatolia, the trace-elemental analyses being undertaken in two laboratories using ICP-MS, ICP-AES and LA-ICP-MS. The material is assigned to three sources in Cappadocia: Göllü Dag˘-east, Nenezi Dag˘and Acıgöl West. The various interrelationships of technology, raw material and date are considered, the data suggesting an increased reliance upon the Nenezi Dag˘source in the latter part of the Early Neolithic, a shift that coincides with, and is related to, the introduction of new blade technologies.
Proceedings of the 11th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, 2020
This paper explores the mobility through the study of the exploitation of obsidian throughout Pre- and Protohistory in the Near East. It focuses on the techno-functional data from Tepecik Çiftlik (Cappadocia, Turkey). This Anatolian site is in very close proximity to the obsidian sources of Göllüdağ and Nenezidağ. It thus provides an excellent setting to highlight the role of the local communities in the production and the diffusion of Cappadocian obsidian. The latest results of the techno-functional analysis of the obsidian industry from the Late Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic levels (around 6000 cal. BC) show that obsidian was used for a variety of productions, including highly skilled ones. The blanks were involved in many activities linked with an agropastoral lifestyle. Furthermore, Tepeçik may have played a role in the distribution of obsidian to other sites in Central Anatolia.
A New Aceramic Neolithic Site Nearby the Obsidian Sources: Preliminary Insights from Sırçalıtepe
Anadolu Araştırmaları, 2021
This paper is a general assessment of the studies conducted in 2019 and 2020 at the site of Sırçalıtepe. The settlement, which is dated to the 8th mill BCE, is located in the Volcanic Cappadocia region, within the borders of the Kayırlı village in the province of Niğde. With its location, it can be characterised as the nearest site to the Göllüdağ and Nenezi Dağ obsidian sources in the region. The excavations at Sırçalıtepe were carried out in two different areas of the mound. One trench is the slope trench with documented architectural remains and finds related to daily life, and the other trench is from the top of the mound where obsidian knapping debris is present in proportions commonly seen in workshop areas. The architectural remains discovered in the slope trench involve mudbrick walls, lime plastered floors, and large ovens. However, the investigated area from the top trench with abundant cores and knapping debris reveals the difference between Sırçalıtepe and other contemporaneous sites in the region. Thus, it can be argued that Sırçalıtepe, especially with its obsidian artefacts, has the potential for revealing the relationship between the workshop and the site. Portable XRF analyses performed on a group of obsidian artefacts showed that the settlement inhabitants used Göllüdağ, Nenezi Dağ, and Acıgöl obsidian sources.
This paper details the use of obsidian sourcing to reconstruct networks of interaction (or 'communities of practice') amongst populations of south-eastern Anatolia and the Near East in the context of 'Neolithisation' during the late 11theearly 10th millennia BC. EDXRF was used to elementally characterise 120 artefacts of Epi-Palaeolithic e Pre-Pottery Neolithic A date from Körtik Tepe in south-eastern Anatolia. Four eastern Anatolian sources are represented, mainly Bingöl A/B and Nemrut Da g, plus the first evidence for the use of Muş obsidian. When the source data is integrated with the artefacts' technotypological attributes it is possible to locate the assemblage within an Upper Tigris tradition (with some interesting local differences), which stands in stark contrast to contemporary practices in northern Mesopotamia and the Levant. These local and regional distinctions support recent views of the Neolithic being much more heterogeneous, with a 'mosaic' of community-specific/local traditions of subsistence practices, raw material choices and lithic technologies during the Younger DryaseEarly Holocene.
This paper is a general assessment of the studies conducted in 2019 and 2020 at the site of Sırçalıtepe. The settlement, which is dated to the 8th mill BCE, is located in the Volcanic Cappadocia region, within the borders of the Kayırlı village in the province of Niğde. With its location, it can be characterised as the nearest site to the Göllüdağ and Nenezi Dağ obsidian sources in the region. The excavations at Sırçalıtepe were carried out in two different areas of the mound. One trench is the slope trench with documented architectural remains and finds related to daily life, and the other trench is from the top of the mound where obsidian knapping debris is present in proportions commonly seen in workshop areas. The architectural remains discovered in the slope trench involve mudbrick walls, lime plastered floors, and large ovens. However, the investigated area from the top trench with abundant cores and knapping debris reveals the difference between Sırçalıtepe and other contemporaneous sites in the region. Thus, it can be argued that Sırçalıtepe, especially with its obsidian artefacts, has the potential for revealing the relationship between the workshop and the site. Portable XRF analyses performed on a group of obsidian artefacts showed that the settlement inhabitants used Göllüdağ, Nenezi Dağ, and Acıgöl obsidian sources.
Quaternary International, 2018
Arslantepe is a h€ oyük (¼ tell) located within the fertile Malatya Plain, near the right bank of the Euphrates River. The site is excavated since more than 55 years by the Italian Sapienza University archaeologists and reveals periods from at least the sixth millennium BCE until the final destruction of the Neo-Hittite town. This long sequence records the changing relations and connections with various civilizations and regions of the Near East. Using the chemical characterization of a large group of artefacts (388 analysed), we propose, in this paper, a new sourcing of the obsidian used by the inhabitants of Arslantepe from the beginning of the Late Chalcolithic to the end of the Early Bronze Age. The method is based on the portable XRF analyse of the artefacts and their attribution to a geological source using our database collected within the ongoing "GeObs" project (resp. D. Mouralis) in the Eastern Anatolia as well as previous published data in Central Anatolia and Caucasus. Moreover, the chemical characterization is coupled with the techno-functional determination of the artefacts. The present study conducted by an interdisciplinary research group allows to precise the procurement of obsidian in Arslantepe and to better understand the external relations of the site over time. This research also questions and discusses the preferential choice of the obsidian sources through time, in relation with various factors such as distance, quality and abundance of the raw material as well as sociocultural influences.
Networks and Neolithisation: sourcing obsidian from Körtik Tepe (SE Anatolia)
Journal of Archaeological Science 40 (2013) 556e569, 2013
This paper details the use of obsidian sourcing to reconstruct networks of interaction (or 'communities of practice') amongst populations of south-eastern Anatolia and the Near East in the context of 'Neolithisation' during the late 11theearly 10th millennia BC. EDXRF was used to elementally characterise 120 artefacts of Epi-Palaeolithic e Pre-Pottery Neolithic A date from Körtik Tepe in south-eastern Anatolia. Four eastern Anatolian sources are represented, mainly Bingöl A/B and Nemrut Da g, plus the first evidence for the use of Muş obsidian. When the source data is integrated with the artefacts' technotypological attributes it is possible to locate the assemblage within an Upper Tigris tradition (with some interesting local differences), which stands in stark contrast to contemporary practices in northern Mesopotamia and the Levant. These local and regional distinctions support recent views of the Neolithic being much more heterogeneous, with a 'mosaic' of community-specific/local traditions of subsistence practices, raw material choices and lithic technologies during the Younger DryaseEarly Holocene.
In this paper the results of X-ray fluorescence and neutron activation analysis for 18 obsidian tools from the archaeological sites of Eastern Chia Sabz and Chogha Ahovan in western Iran are presented. The archaeological sites have materials dating from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic and Chalcolithic to Uruk periods. The evidence supports our conclusion that most of the obsidian found on western Iranian sites came from sources located near Lake Van in southeastern Turkey. These results suggest that the trade route for obsidian originated in southeastern Anatolia and moved southward along the western slopes of the Zagros Mountains into the central Zagros region.