Exchange of points in the PPNB: points with the Palmyran retouch from Tell Ain el-Kerkh, northwest Syria

Stone Tools in Transition:From Hunter-Gatherers

to Farming Societies in the Near East

7th Conference on PPN Chippedand Ground Stone Industries

of the Fertile Crescent

Ferran Borrell; Juan José Ibáñez; Miquel Molist (editors)

Dades catalogràfiques recomanades pel Servei de Biblioteques de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Stone Tools in Transition: From Hunter-Gatherers to Farming Societies in the Near East / Ferran Borrell, Juan José Ibáñez, Miquel Molist (eds.) — Bellaterra (Barcelona) : Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Servei de Publicacions, 2013.

ISBN 9788449038181

I. Borrell, Ferran ed.II. Ibáñez, Juan José ed.III. Molist, Miquel ed.

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Organitzat per:Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaInstitució Milà i Fontanals (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas)

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Edició:Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaServei de PublicacionsEdifici A. 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès). SpainTel. 93 581 10 22Fax 93 581 32 [email protected]://publicacions.uab.cat

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Fotografia de la coberta:© Central photograph: SAPPO Research Group. Others (clockwise from top left): EFAP Archive, TISARP team-University of Tübingen, Jesús González Urquijo, Netta Mitki, Ferran Borrell, Semra Balcı, Stuart Campbell, Trustees of the British Museum and Hamoudi Khalaily.

ISBN 978-84-490-3818-1Dipòsit legal: B. 15.831-2013

Imprès a Espanya. Printed in Spain

F. Borrell, J.J. Ibáñez, M. Molist (eds.) 7

Summary

Presentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Tribute to Marie Claire Cauvin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Brief introduction to the 7th Conference on PPN chipped and ground stone industries of the Fertile Crescent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Ferran Borrell, Juan José Ibáñez and Miquel Molist

Assessing typo-technological variability in Epipalaeolithic assemblages: Preliminary results from two case studies from the Southern Levant . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Lisa A. Maher and Danielle A. Macdonald

Wadi al-Hajana 1: A Khiamian outpost in the northwestern piedmont of Mt . Bishri, central Syria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Sumio Fujii and Takuro Adachi

The bidirectional blade industries of the southern Levant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Omry Barzilai

Nahal Hava: a PPNB campsite and Epipalaeolithic occupation in the central Negev highlands, Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Michal Birkenfeld and A. Nigel Goring-Morris

Large-scale larnite quarries and production sites for bifacial tools in the southern Judean desert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Jacob Vardi

Qumran Cave 24, a Neolithic-Chalcolithic site by the Dead Sea: a short report and some information on lithics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Avi Gopher, Cristina Lemorini, Elisabetta Boaretto, Israel Carmi, Ran Barkai and Heeli. C. Schechter

Observations on the chaîne opératoire of bidirectional blade production at Nahal Lavan 1021 based on refitting studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Netta Mitki, Omry Barzilai and A. Nigel Goring-Morris

Summary8

Household-level flaked-stone tool production at the Neolithic site of ‘Ain Ghazal, Jordan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Theresa M. Barket

Early Neolithic flint raw material selection at LPPNB Ba’ja / southern Levant . Preliminary results from two room fills of area B-North . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Christoph Purschwitz

A functional investigation of perforators from the Late Natufian/Pre-Pottery Neolithic A site of Huzuk Musa – a preliminary report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Iris Groman-Yaroslavski, Danny Rosenberg and Dani Nadel

Microdrill use at Khiamian sites in central and northern Levant (Syria and Lebanon) . . . 177Jesús González-Urquijo, Frederic Abbès, Hala Alarashi, Juan José Ibáñez and Talía Lazuén

The Neolithic commodification of stone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191Hans Georg K. Gebel

The Neolithic of Lebanon: a statement of current knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207Maya Haïdar-Boustani

Caching and depositing in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B of Yiftahel, Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . 219Hamoudi Khalaily, Ianir Milevski and Omry Barzilai

The significance of long blade caches and deposits at Late Neolithic Shir, Syria . . . . . . . 231Dörte Rokitta-Krumnow

Opening Pandora’s Box: Some reflections on the spatial and temporal distribution of the off-set bi-directional blade production strategy and the Neolithisation of the Northern Levant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Ferran Borrell

Exchange of points in the PPNB: points with the Palmyran retouch from Tell Ain el-Kerkh, northwest Syria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Makoto Arimura

Naviform technology at Göllüdağ, Central Anatolia: some remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277Semra Balci

The lithic assemblages of Gusir Höyük (Turkey): the preliminary results . . . . . . . . . . . . 289Çiler Altinbilek-Algül

The early cypriot Pre-Pottery Neolithic: new evidence from the Amathus area . . . . . . . . 299François Briois, Jean-Denis Vigne and Jean Guilaine

Chipped stone artifacts from the aceramic Neolithic site of Chogha Golan, Ilam Province, western Iran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Mohsen Zeidi and Nicholas J. Conard

F. Borrell, J.J. Ibáñez, M. Molist (eds.) 9

Chipped stone industry from the excavation at the PPN settlement of Tell-e Atashi, SE Iran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

Mozhgan Jayez and Omran Garazhian

Study of the chipped stone assemblage from systematic surface sampling at the PPN settlement of Tell-e Atashi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Maryam Shakooie and Omran Garazhian

A reappraisal of the Pottery Neolithic flaked stone assemblages at Tall-i Jari B, Fars, Southwest Iran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

Yoshihiro Nishiaki

The ground stone tools from the aceramic Neolithic site of Chogha Golan, Ilam province, western Iran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

Nicholas J. Conard and Mohsen Zeidi

Keeping the razor sharp: hafting and maintenance of sickles in the southern Levant during the 6th and 5th millennia bc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

Jacob Vardi and Isaac Gilead

The PPNA quarry of Kaizer Hill, Modi‘in, Israel – The waste piles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395Gadi Herzlinger, Leore Grosman and Naama Goren-Inbar

Incised slabs from Hayonim cave: a methodological case study for reading Natufian art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

Dana Shaham and Anna Belfer-Cohen

Grooved stones and other macrolithic objects with incised decoration from the PPNB at Tell Halula (Syria, Middle Euphrates Valley) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421

Miquel Molist, Maria Bofill, Anabel Ortiz and Bushra Taha

Grooved stones in the Southern Levant: typology, function and chronology . . . . . . . . . . 435Ariel Vered

Natufian bedrock mortars at Qarassa 3: Preliminary results from an interdisciplinary methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449

Xavier Terradas, Juan José Ibáñez, Frank Braemer, Karen Hardy, Eneko Iriarte, Marco Madella, David Ortega, Anita Radini and Luis C. Teira

Göllü Dağ Obsidian Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465Nur Balkan-Atli, Nurcan Kayacan, Semra Balci, Laurence Astruc and Korhan Erturaç

Results of geochemical analyses of obsidian artefacts from the Neolithic site of Tell Labwe South, Lebanon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475

Lamya Khalidi, Bernard Gratuze, Maya Haidar-Boustani, Juan José Ibáñez and Luís Teira

The consumption of obsidian at Neolithic Çatalhöyük: a long-term perspective . . . . . . . 495Tristan Carter and Marina Milic

Summary10

The obsidian assemblage from Neolithic Hagoshrim, Israel: pressure technology and cultural influence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509

Heeli C. Schechter, Ofer Marder, Ran Barkai, Nimrod Getzov and Avi Gopher

The obsidian at Arpachiyah, Iraq; an integrated study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529Stuart Campbell and Elizabeth Healey

Stone Tools in Transition: From Hunter-Gatherers to Farming Societies in the Near East. F. Borrell, J.J. Ibáñez, M. Molist (eds.) 265

Exchange of points in the PPNB: points with the Palmyran retouch from Tell Ain el-Kerkh, northwest Syria

Makoto Arimura

Kanazawa University. [email protected]

Abstract

Specific point groups with a burin facet-like scar on the ventral face of the tang have been identified by several scholars as points with ‘Palmyran retouch’, ‘Palmyra points’, or tools with a proximal scar. Studies so far have mentioned that the proximal scar functioned as a retouch to remove the bulbar end of the blank blade. Recent studies have revealed that such a retouch technique is closely related to a re-gional variant of bi-directional blade technology (Douara type, or off-set strategy). The chrono-geo-graphical distribution of sites producing these points indicates that they might be characteristic of the Middle-Late PPNB lithic industries of Northern Levant. Tell Ain el-Kerkh, situated in the Levantine corridor in Northwest Syria, is a huge Tell complex, and it was occupied from the EPPNB to the Pottery Neolithic period. Excavations in Late PPNB layers at Tell Ain el-Kerkh also yielded several points made on twisted blades, including some specimens with Palmyran retouch. Judging from the technological study of lithic industries in these layers, points on twisted blades from Tell Ain el-Kerkh might not have been made on-site and may have come from elsewhere. The Kerkh example could indicate the exchange of projectile points between peoples of West and East Syria, different groups with different blade manufacturing technologies.

Keywords: Palmyran retouch, PPnB, points, exchange, neolithic Syria .

The lithic industry of the Levantine PPnB is characterized by large tanged points on blades . These points show regional and periodical diversity . Because of the abundance and techno-mor-phological change among regions and cultural periods, points can be a key tool type or ‘fossile directeur’ to define the cultural horizon or mark a chronological division . In this article, we will present points with the ‘Palmyran retouch’ defined by Fujii (1986) or with the proximal scar re-cently included in several articles (nishiaki 2000; Borrell 2011b) . The aim of article is to show new specimens of the points from Tell Ain el-Kerkh in northwest Syria and to consider their meaning in the PPnB context .

Exchange of points in the PPNB: points with the Palmyran retouch from Tell Ain el-Kerkh, northwest Syria266

1. Palmyran retouch: unique retouching technique in the Northern PPNB

The retouched tools treated here have been mentioned and studied for almost three decades . They are characterized by a burin facet-like scar on the ventral surface of the blade . The terms used for the description of this type of scar are various, such as Palmyran retouch, proximal scar, pseudo-burin plan (Coqueugniot 2011), and we use mainly the term Palmyran retouch1 in this article because this was the term used in the earliest article concerning the tools treated here (Fu-jii 1986) . We will start by presenting a short review on the issue of the Palmyran retouch . The following characteristics, which will be discussed, can be indices when compared with the arte-facts from Tell Ain el-Kerkh .

1.1. Principal traitAs many authors have noted, the Palmyran retouch can be observed usually on the left edge of the ventral face of the blade (e .g . Fujii 1986; nishiaki 2000; Borrell, Molist 2007) . The negative scar starts from near the percussion point of the blade, and it eliminates the left side of the bulbar end of the blade . The blow of the Palmyran retouch mainly removes the surface of the ventral face of the blade, and it makes a plain negative scar . It is quite close to the burin plan by burin-blow technique (Fujii 1986: 32) . The retouch is mostly produced by a single blow but some-times several scars can be observed . In some cases, retouches are appended on the main retouch (Palmyran retouch) (Fujii 1986: 34; nishiaki 2000: 83; figs . 1-4) . In contrast, the right edge of the bulbar end is generally not retouched .

1.2. FunctionThe function of these negative scars (Palmyran retouches) has been discussed (e .g . nishiaki 2000) . As already suggested in the earlier articles (Moss 1983; Fujii 1986), at present, the gen-eral view of the function of the Palmyran retouch is that it facilitates the hafting of the tool . The retouch eliminates the bulbar end of the twisted blade, which makes it difficult to haft the blade . Additionally, as nishiaki has noted (2000: 83), the retouch also makes the twisted blade sym-metrical: certain tools like projectile points need the symmetric form .

The other interpretation of the reason for the scar (Palmyran retouch) is the knapping acci-dent . High frequencies of occurrence of the Palmyran retouch among tools and even in blades without intensive retouches (see below) could indicate that the negative scar on the left side of the blade (Palmyran retouch) results from the knapping accident which occurs during blade knapping . If the Palmyran retouch results from the knapping accident, we face the question, ‘Why does the Palmyran retouch always appear on the left side on the ventral face of the blade?’ The answer may be that the position of the negative scar relates to the inclination of a specific blade-knapping method (see below) . This hypothesis should be examined by experimental stud-ies . Additionally, as was done in the study of the material from Douara (nishiaki 2000)2, the comparative analysis between spalls from the blade detached by proximal scarring and tools with the proximal scar (Palmyran retouch) should be done in each site .

1 . The term ‘Palmyran retouch’ does not mean that retouch technique can only be used in the Palmyra Basin . It is the term named after the study of material from the Palmyra Basin (Fujii 1986), and this is first study to define the flint tools treated here .

2 . In Douara, since the spalls from the blade by proximal scarring are retouched pieces, it is suggested that most negative scars (Palmyran retouch) resulted from the retouching (nishiaki 2000: 81) .

Makoto Arimura 267

1.3. Tool types with the Palmyran retouchThe tool type that is most often seen with the Palmyran retouch is probably the point . In the study of points from Gürcütepe (Schmidt, Beile-Bohn 1996), 35% of Byblos points have the Palmyran retouch, and according to the morphological and metrical traits, points with the Palmyran re-touch could be separated from other Byblos points, and these are named Palmyra points .

However, it is true that in some sites, tools with the Palmyran retouch include quite a variety of types . In Halula, the Palmyran retouch occurs on almost all types of tools, such as points, sickle blades, scrapers, borers, and on blades without significant retouching (Borrell, Molist 2007) . Blade deposits found at Abu Hureyra 2B (Moore et al . 2000: 244-250) include numerous knife-shaped tools with the Palmyran retouch (fig . 1) . Large numbers of blank blades with the Palmyran re-touch from Mamarrul nasr have also been reported (Borrell 2011a)3 .

1.4. Spatial and chronological distributionTools with the Palmyran retouch are reported from sites in large areas (e .g . Fujii 1986; nishiaki 2000; Copeland 2000; Borrell, Molist 2007; Coqueugniot 2011): Abu Hureyra, Halula, and Bouqras in Syrian Euphrates; Akarçay Tepe, Hayaz Höyük, and Gritille in Turkish Euphrates; Gürcütepe, Assouad and Sabi Abyad in the Balikh and Palmyra Basin sites; Douara, Mamarrul nasr, and sites in the northern steppe in inland Syria . In particular, sites producing tools with the Palmyran retouch are densely distributed in the Middle Euphrates and inland Syria, which indicates that these areas are the centre of the spatial distribution .

The earliest examples of tools with the Palmyran retouch are found at the Middle PPnB sites in the Middle Euphrates (Abu Hureyra and Halula) . More numerous sites yielding tools with Palmyran retouch appear in the Late PPnB .

1.5. Blade manufacturing methodRecent detailed analysis of blade manufacturing methods at Syrian PPn sites have revealed that the Palmyran retouch apparently relates to the specific bi-directional blade manufacturing meth-od, the so-called Douara type or off-set strategy, which is a regional trait of the PPnB in Syrian Euphrates and inland Syria (nishiaki 2000; Borrell 2011a, 2011b) . This method is mainly char-acterized by cores with inclined axes and twisted blades (fig . 1) . Blades with a twisted form turn-ing towards the right are produced, which need further modification by retouch in order to fa-cilitate the hafting of the blade or to obtain the symmetric shape of blade .

At sites producing products by the bi-directional blade manufacturing method of the Douara type, retouch by percussion was a quite common technique for shaping tools . Thus, the Palmyran retouch, a specific retouch technique by percussion, was applied as a technological response to twisted blades produced by the Douara-type bi-directional blade manufacturing method (or off-set strategy) (nishiaki 2000: 83) .

2. Points with the Palmyran retouch from Tell Ain el-Kerkh

Tell Ain el-Kerkh is located in the Rouj Basin in the Idlib district, 70 km southwest of Aleppo . The excavations started in 1997 and were conducted in several areas . Excavations in Square D6,

3 . Such a wide range of tool types with the Palmyran retouch as well as the blades without intensive retouches seems to raise the question of whether the Palmyran retouches are really the result of retouching as noted earlier .


in the northwest excavation area, revealed an occupational sequence in this area from the Early PPnB, Late PPnB, and the Pottery neolithic (Arimura 2007) .

Late PPnB layers were attested in Square D6 during the 1998 and 1999 seasons, with nu-merous flint artefacts (Arimura 2007) . C14 dates from Late PPnB layers are 8660 +/- 100 BP

Figure 1: Flint artefacts from Tell Abu Hureyra. 1: bi-directional blade core, 2-4: blade tools with the Palmyran retouch.

Makoto Arimura 269

Figure 2: Points with the Palmyran retouch from Tell Ain el-Kerkh. Arrows show the direction of the blow of Palmyran retouch.

Figure 3: Points on twisted blades from Late PPNB layers at Tell Ain el-Kerkh including specimens with the Palmyran retouch. Fine arrows show the blow of the Palmyran retouch, and wide arrows show the other retouches.


(7986-7524 cal . BC 2 sig); 8390 +/- 50 BP (7553-7341 cal . BC 2 sig) from Layer 4; and 8235+/- 40 BP (7366-7126 cal . BC 2 sig) from Layer 5 .

2.1. Points on twisted bladesLate PPnB layers (Layer 5 to 3 from the lower to the upper) in Square D6 produced 1778 flint tools . Points categorized as a tool type with a pointed end and a tang amounted to 158 pieces (8 .9%) . Among points recovered from Late PPnB layers, 17 specimens are treated here because of their twisted profile: a longitudinal section of the blade is twisted towards the right (fig . 2 and fig . 3) . Some speci-mens show a blade axis that is slightly bent and a pointed end that curves towards the left (fig . 3: 5) .

Among those 17 pieces, some specimens have Palmyran retouch on the left edge of the ven-tral surface of the proximal end (fig . 2, fig . 3: 1-4): 4 specimens from Layer 5; 2 specimens from Layer 4; and 1 specimen from Layer 3 . As other authors have noted, the Palmyran retouch at

Figure 4: Other points from Late PPNB layers at Tell Ain el-Kerkh.

Makoto Arimura 271

Kerkh also seems to remove the twisted bulbar end . The Palmyran retouch always occurs with a single scar, except for one specimen with three scars in the same direction (fig . 3: 1) .

Beside the Palmyran retouch, another retouch technique was also applied to remove the bul-bar end of the blade . In some examples, much unilateral scarring can be seen on the bulbar end (fig . 3: 5-6) . All of the points on a twisted blade are classified as the Byblos type . In most cases, retouching (abrupt or semiabrupt retouches) occurs only in the tang, and, in some cases, the pointed ends were made by inverse retouches .

As for the blank selection, all points on a twisted blade were made on a bi-directional central blade, except for one lateral blade (fig . 3: 3) .

2.2. Points on a twisted blade in the Late PPNB lithic industry at Tell Ain el-KerkhIt should be underlined that these points on a twisted blade are quite heterogeneous elements in the Late PPnB lithic industry at Kerkh . First, such twisted blades do not occur in either blank blades or in other types of tools . Almost all bi-directional blades at Kerkh are produced by the classic bi-directional blade technology of the PPnB, which is intended to make symmetrical blades with a straight profile and naturally pointed end (Arimura 2011: 381) . There is no evi-dence that the method of the Douara type (or off-set strategy) was carried out at Kerkh .

Points on twisted blades are most abundant in the lowest Late PPnB layer, Layer 5 (20 .6% of total points), and they gradually decrease towards the upper layer (table 1) . To date, there is no point on a twisted blade from the Pottery neolithic layers .

LAYER 5 4 3 Total

Points on twisted blades7

(20.6%)7

(13,0%)3

(10,0%)17

(14,5%)

Other points 34 54 29 117

Table 1: Points from Late PPNB layers at Tell Ain el-Kerkh.

When compared with other points from the Late PPnB layers at Kerkh, points with a twisted blade can be distinguished from others . The vast majority of points from the Late PPnB at Kerkh are the Byblos type (fig . 4: 1-4), and other types, such as the Ugarit type, Amuq type, and the oval point with Abu Gosh retouch, appear in small quantities (fig . 4: 5-6) . Although points on twisted blades are included in the Byblos type, we can identify the differences in retouching techniques between points on twisted blades and other points . In Kerkh, towards the upper layers, the num-bers of points formed by lamellar retouches (carried out by pressure flaking) gradually increases, and those retouches tend to occur not only in the tang but also in the body of the point . Points in the Late PPnB layers at Kerkh are often heavily retouched . Such a general tendency of the manu-facture of other points is contrary to that of points with a twisted blade . As noted earlier, points with a twisted blade are made by abrupt or semi-abrupt retouches (carried out by percussion) and are never fashioned by lamellar retouches . Among points with a twisted blade, the retouched part is limited to the tang of the point (and in some cases on the pointed end) .

The other difference is flint choice . Figure 5 shows flint choice between points on twisted blades and other points . Points on twisted blades are generally made from black or brown flint, whereas the flint types used for other points are relatively various . Fine- or medium-grained flints


of a black or brown colour are fairly abundant in Syria, and it is difficult to know the precise loca-tion of those flint sources . However, it should be emphasized that characteristic local flints in the Rouj Basin and the surrounding area, which are a bluish-grey or calcareous flint, are commonly used for other points but were never selected for the manufacture of points with a twisted blade .

Finally, according to Fig . 6 showing a comparison of width/thickness between points on twisted blades and other points, points on twisted blades are distributed in a relatively narrow area . Points on twisted blades are slightly smaller than other Byblos-type points (table 2) . A nar-rower metric distribution of points other than Byblos points was also reported in Gürcütepe (Schmidt, Beile-Bohn 1996) .

Figure 5: Selection of flints for points on twisted blades and other types of points.

Figure 6: Comparison of width/thickness (Y/X axis) between points on twisted blades and other types of points from Late PPNB layers at Tell Ain el-Kerkh.

Makoto Arimura 273

3. Discussion and concluding remarks

Based on our observation, we infer that twisted blades with points from Kerkh were brought to the site, not manufactured at the site . We can at least confirm that the twisted blades without points were not produced on site . Those twisted blades can be obtained by the Douara-type (or off-set strategy) method, which is the characteristic method that was used in East Syria during the Middle and Late PPnB .

As already mentioned in the previous sections, the Palmyran retouch (proximal scarring), a specific retouch technique for the modification of the bulbar end of the bi-directional blade, is apparently re-lated to the regional variant of the Douara-type (or off-set strategy) method for making blades . This blade manufacturing method suddenly appeared in the Middle PPnB in the Middle Euphrates (Abu Hureyra, Halula) and then was distributed largely in inland Syria in the Late PPnB (Borrell 2011a, 2011b) . In West Syria, not only in Kerkh but also in other sites, there is no evidence of the presence of this method at the moment . As attested in Tell Ain el-Kerkh, West Syria, a classic bi-directional blade production method was practiced in the PPnB and the Pottery neolithic (Arimura 2003, 2011) . Therefore, at least from the Middle PPnB onward, in the sense of blade production, there is a differ-ence between West and East in Syria (fig . 7)4 . The lithic industry of West Syria (included in north-western Levant in Fig . 7; see also Arimura 2003) in the Late PPnB is characterized by the coexistence of bi-directional blade and uni-directional blade methods (Arimura 2003, 2011) . In contrast, in con-temporary sites in East Syria (Middle Euphrates and inland Syria in Fig . 7), mainly, the Douara-type (or off-set strategy) bi-directional blade method was practiced . The Balikh seems to relate with the Middle Euphrates as well as the region farther to the east (northern Mesopotamia) .

Although points with the Palmyran retouch are found in large areas, according to the results from Kerkh, it seems that sites showing on-site production of twisted blades and tools with the

4 . Cultural differences between West and East in neolithic Syria have often been mentioned (cf . Moore 1981; nishiaki 2000: 93) .

Measurements of points on twisted blades

Length Width Thickness

N 8 17 17

Mean 64,3 19,5 6,5

Max. 79,2 23,1 8,9

Min. 42,6 14,6 5,3

Median 66,8 19,9 6,2

Measurements of other Byblos points

Length Width Thickness

N 31 90 90

Mean 70,6 22,3 8,0

Max. 110,1 50,6 16,4

Min. 42,1 10,4 3,4

Median 68,3 22,0 8,2

Table 2: Measurements of points from Late PPNB layers at Tell Ain el-Kerkh.


Palmyran retouch are limited in certain regions, probably in the Syrian Middle Euphrates and inland Syria . In other regions, there is little evidence on the twisted blade production on site, and it is possible that twisted blades or points were circulated in large areas (cf . Borrell 2011b: 298) .

Some ‘foreign’ types in a point assemblage can be often observed in PPnB lithic industries . This Kerkh example may provide insights to interpret such foreign point types in the assem-blage . It could indicate the exchange of points among different groups with different lithic tech-nology . Blade technology such as the bi-directional blade methods that flourished in the PPnB required overall knowledge of knapping, which could not have been acquired without close con-tact with a group or a person who had mastered the skill . Therefore, the differences in the bi-di-rectional blade technology between West and East Syria could indicate the presence of two dif-ferent cultural groups during the PPnB . In this context, we infer that points were exchanged between the two groups . It is possible that the points made in West Syria, which were probably made on a straight blade with lamellar retouches, were brought to the sites in East Syria .

Unlike obsidian or seashell, whose provinces are limited and known, it is difficult to prove the exchange of flint artefacts like projectile points, although such an idea was proposed once (Bar-Yosef, Belfer-Cohen 1989: 64) . The Kerkh example could indicate that projectile points can also be included among the trade items in the PPnB .

Acknowledgements

This work was partly supported by JSPS KAKEnHI (Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B): Grant no . 22720301) . I would like to thank to Professor Akira Tsuneki, director of the Ain el-Kerkh mis-sion, for having given me an opportunity to study the material from Tell Ain el-Kerkh . I also wish to express my thanks to Dr . Andrew Moore and Dr . Patricia Anderson for accessing the material from Tell Abu Hureyra, a key PPnB site in Middle Euphrates . I thank an anonymous referee for

Figure 7: Cultural groups in Northern Levant and neighbouring regions during the PPNB, defined by the analysis of lithic industries. The Syrian Middle Euphrates sites and inland Syrian sites show close resemblance in the lithic technology (cf. Borrell 2011b).

Makoto Arimura 275

very useful comments on a previous draft of this paper . Finally, I would like to sincerely thank our friends in Syria for their support . I sincerely hope that peace will come to Syria as soon as possible .

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Documents

Exchange of points in the PPNB: points with the Palmyran retouch from Tell Ain el-Kerkh, northwest Syria