Heavy Neolithic
| The Stone Age |
|---|
| ↑ before Homo (Pliocene) |
|
| ↓ Chalcolithic |
| The Neolithic |
|---|
| ↑ Mesolithic |
| ↓ Chalcolithic |
Heavy Neolithic (alternatively, Gigantolithic) is a style of large stone and
Qaraoun II.[2]
Naming
The term "Heavy Neolithic" was translated by Lorraine Copeland and Peter J. Wescombe from Henri Fleisch's term "gros Neolithique", suggested by Dorothy Garrod (in a letter dated February 1965) for adoption to describe the particular flint industry that was identified at sites near Qaraoun in the Beqaa Valley.[3] The industry was also termed "Gigantolithic" and confirmed as Neolithic by Alfred Rust and Dorothy Garrod.
Characteristics
Gigantolithic was initially mistaken for
Maya Haidar Boustani has called for discussion on the chronological problem when reliable data on the flint workshops becomes available.[7] She looked towards the work of Ron Barkai and H. Taute as being of possible use in this research.[8][9]
A notable stratified excavation of Heavy Neolithic material took place at
Adloun II (Bezez Cave), conducted by Diana Kirkbride and Dorothy Garrod. Materials extracted from the upper layers were however disturbed.[7] The morphology of the tools has noted similarities to the Campignian industry in France.[10] Due to the disturbance of the upper layers and lack of radiocarbon dating or the materials at the time of this excavation, the placement of the Qaroun culture into the chronology of the ancient Near East remains undetermined from these excavations.[11]
The industry has been found at surface stations in the Beqaa Valley and on the seaward side of the mountains. Heavy Neolithic sites were found near sources of
timber. Chisels, flake scrapers and picks were also found with little, if any sign of arrowheads, sickles (except for Orange slices) or pottery. Finds of waste and debris at the sites were usually plentiful, normally consisting of Orange slices, thick and crested blades, discoid, cylindrical, pyramidal or Levallois cores.[12] Andrew Moore suggested that many of the sites were used as flint factories that complimented settlements in the surrounding hills.[13]
The identification of Heavy Neolithic sites in Lebanon was complicated by the fact that the
Rayak.[14]
Sites
Apart from the type site,
El Biré.[6][14][15] The Heavy Neolithic industry has also been identified at the Palestinian archaeological sites around Wadi al-Far'a; (Wadi Farah, Shemouniyeh and Wadi Sallah (occupational) excavated by Francis Turville-Petre.[10][16][14]
Gallery
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Double ended pick, triangular section with narrowing, jagged edges at both ends. -
Mini blade core on a split cobble. -
Thick and heavy biface, retouched all over with jagged and irregular edges.
References
- ^ Lorraine Copeland; P. Wescombe (1965). Inventory of Stone-Age sites in Lebanon, p. 43. Imprimerie Catholique. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
- ^ Cauvin, Jacques. and Cauvin, Marie-Claire., Des ateliers "campigniens" au Liban. pp. 103-116 in M. Maziéres (ed.) La préhistoire probléme et tendances. Hommabge á Raymond Vaufrey. Éditions CNRS, Paris, 1968.
- ^ Fleisch, Henri, Nouvelles stations préhistoriques au Liban, BSPF, vol. 51, pp. 564-565, 1954.
- ^ Fleisch, Henri, Les industries lithiques récentes de la Békaa, République Libanaise, Acts of the 6th C.I.S.E.A., vol. XI, no. 1, Paris, 1960.
- ^ Cauvin, Jacques., Le néolithique de Mouchtara (Liban-Sud), L'Anthropologie, vol. 67, 5-6, p. 509, 1963.
- ^ a b Mellaart, James, Earliest Civilizations in the Near East, p. 46, Thames and Hudson, London, 1965.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84217-132-5. Retrieved 18 January 2012.
- ^ Barkai, Ron., Make my axe: flint axe production and resharpening at EPPNB Nahal Lavan 109. pp. 73-92 in I. Canneva, C. Lemorini, D. Zampetti and P. Biagi (eds.) Beyond tools Proceedings of the Third Workshop on PPN chipped lithic industries. Department of Classical and Near Eastern Studies Ca'Foscari University of Venice, 1-4 November 1998. Studies in Early Near Eastern Production, Subsistence and Environment 9, Ex Oriente : Berlin, 2001
- ^ Taute, W., The Pre-Pottery Neolithic flint mining and workshop activities southwest of the Dead Sea, Israel (Ramat Tamar and Mesad Mazzal). pp. 495-509 in H.G. Gebel and S.K. Kozlowski (eds.) Neolithic chipped stone industries of the Fertile Crescent. Proceedings of the First Workshop on PPN chipped lithic industries. Free University of Berlin, 29 March-2 April 1993. Studies in Early Near Eastern Production, Subsistence and Environment 1. Ex Oriente : Berlin, 1994.
- ^ a b Francis Adrian Joseph Turville-Petre; Dorothea M. A. Bate; Arthur Keith; British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem (1927). Researches in prehistoric Galilee, 1925-1926, p. 108. The Council of the School. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
- ISBN 978-0-86054-203-2. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
- ^ Moore, A.M.T. (1978). The Neolithic of the Levant (Ph.D. thesis). Oxford University. p. 443.
- ^ Moore, A.M.T. (1978). The Neolithic of the Levant (Ph.D. thesis). Oxford University. pp. 465–469.
- ^ a b c L. Copeland; P. Wescombe (1966). Inventory of Stone-Age Sites in Lebanon: North, South and East-Central Lebanon. Impr. Catholique. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
- ^ Moore, A.M.T. (1978). The Neolithic of the Levant (Ph.D. thesis). Oxford University. pp. 444–446.
- ^ Moore, A.M.T. (1978). The Neolithic of the Levant (Ph.D. thesis). Oxford University. pp. 446–447.
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