Change and Continuity in the Lithic Industry of Hasankeyf Höyük (original) (raw)

Recent archaeological investigations of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) period in the upper Tigris valley in Southeast Anatolia have shed new light on the local PPNA culture. While archaeological evidence, such as the establishment of sedentary villages, construction of round subterranean buildings and symbolic depiction of geometric and animal motifs, demonstrates a certain link between the upper Tigris and the middle Euphrates and the upper Balikh valley, it has become clear that the lithic industries in the upper Tigris valley show a distinct local character. It is well represented in the new evidence from several PPNA sites in this area and Hasankeyf Höyük is one of these sites, which provides us with detailed information for the use of lithics through time. Although the general characteristics of the lithic artefacts of Hasankeyf Höyük and their changes and continuities through time have already been studied elsewhere, the additional evidence made available in the last few years makes it possible for us to consider the chronological trend across a longer time span and improve our understanding of the lithic industry in the upper Tigris valley in the later half of the 10 th millennium cal. BC.