scholarly journals Towards an understanding of Early Neolithic populations: a flint perspective from Bulgaria

2008 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 111-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Gurova

The evidence from the Bulgarian Early Neolithic chipped stone industry reveals coherent and diagnostic flint assemblages for the vast Karanovo I and II cultural area, characterized by high quality yellow-honey coloured flint, quite long and regular blades, with (bi)lateral semi-abrupt high retouch and sometimes with rounded or pointed ends, as well as highly (re-)used sickle inserts. These assemblages possess many characteristics of so-called ‘formal tools’ (as distinct from expedient ones), the production of which required a special raw material, advanced preparation, anticipated use, and transportability. The wide geographical distribution and circulation of this formal toolkit implies that lithics could be conceived as a factor in identity and social cohesion, and as an important aspect of the Neolithic mentality for ‘doing things’.

2003 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 153-158
Author(s):  
Ivan Gatsov

The papers presents the latest results from the technological and typological analysis of chipped stone assemblages from Ilipinar, Pendik, Fikir tepe, and Mentese in NW Turkey. The stone industry of Ilipinar shows parallels with the chipped stone material from Fikir tepe. At Ilipinar the period of technological and raw material changes in Bulgarian Thrace correspond to the end of phase V-A and to the whole V-B, but the technological and typological features are completely different.


Quaternary ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Üftade Muşkara ◽  
Ayşin Konak

Kendale Hecala is located on the Ambar River in the Upper Tigris Basin, province of Diyarbakır in Southeast Anatolia. Various raw materials, including obsidian, radiolarite, chert, jasper, chalcedony, and quartzite, were used in the lithic industry. Obsidian artefacts constitute an average of 64% of the chipped stone assemblage. Technological analysis reveals that obsidian was brought to the settlement as nodules and chipped into various tools at the settlement. Understanding the operational sequence of the lithic industry, chaîne opératoire, including the distribution of raw material from source to site, is important to demonstrate the socio-cultural organization of the settlement in Southeastern Anatolia during the Ubaid period. In order to identify source varieties, the obsidian artefacts uncovered from Ubaid layers of Kendale Hecala were analyzed by macro-observations, and the characterization of archaeological samples was performed using a handheld XRF. Multivariate analysis of the data indicates the use of obsidian from different resources at the settlement, including Nemrut Dağ, Bingöl B, and Group 3d.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 164-175
Author(s):  
Lyubov L. Kosinskaya

Purpose. The earliest sites with different variants of flat-bottomed ceramics in the forest zone of Trans-Urals and Western Siberia date back to the 7th – the beginning of the 6th millennium BC. To understand the process of neolithization, it is important to ascertain the succession of their lithic industries with previous Mesolithic. Results. A review of the Early Neolithic stone inventory reveals two distinct areas in the forest zone. The northern one (Lower Ob, Surgut Ob and Konda basin) is characterized by three technologies: direct percussion flaking and block-on-block knapping of quartz, with inexpressive rarely retouched tools such as scrapers and scaled pieces; percussion-abrasive technique for polished knives, arrowheads, adzes and axes; punch technique for flint inset bladelets, without any arrowheads. Although investigated Mesolithic sites are not numerous in this area, it is clear that the first two technologies arose in the North since that time, when the microblade technique was the dominant one. Lithic assemblages of Early Neolithic settlements in the southern forest zone (Middle Trans-Urals) are generally analogous to the local Mesolithic. The latter included the microblade industry similar to the northern one but supplemented by polished axes. In the Early Neolithic it was completed by arrowheads (tanged points). The inventory of Early Neolithic sites in the Ob-Irtysh forest-steppe region with similar flat-bottomed ceramics almost exclusively contains the flint blade industry resembling the Mesolithic one of the area. Conclusion. Therefore, it is possible to trace traditions and innovations in stone-processing based on three groups of features. These are the types of available stone raw material and their own appropriate technologies, the preservation degree of microblade industry, the nomenclature and typology of implements. According to these traits, in each of the three districts, the Early Neolithic stone industry inherited traditions of the local Mesolithic, but developed in its own way.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Norbert Faragó

AbstractIn the last few decades, archaeological research has invested more energy into better understanding of past societies than ever before. There are several different factors that have made these changes possible. The development of non-destructive investigating techniques has made it possible to choose more precisely where to collect new data. Furthermore, advances in information technologies and the natural sciences have provided new tools to analyze and evaluate the data. Our project started in 2012 in order to evaluate the enormous amount of archaeological material excavated at Polgár-Csőszhalom, the most significant site of the post-LBK period in North-East Hungary. Our main motivation was to reconstruct the community of this complex site with the application of multilevel statistical methods and spatial information technologies. The investigation of raw material from the chipped stone industry yielded sixteen different activity zones on the flat settlement. The differentiation of these zones was possible through the recognition of the repeated patterns of the raw materials used. The analyses show that whilst individual households, as the elementary building modules of the settlement community, were self-sufficient in tool making, the procurement of raw materials seems to have been communal. The homogenous picture apparent from the distribution of the local raw materials and the lack of accumulation from more distant sources suggest conformity at household level.


1962 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 67-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Perry A. Bialor

The analysis of the chipped stone industry of Çatal Hüyük East presented here is based on a collection of 1,377 pieces, of which only 366 are waste flakes. The collection represents the complete assemblage of chipped stone recovered during six weeks' excavation (17th May to 29th June, 1961) by Mr. James Mellaart at which the author assisted. All stone was saved. The area excavated covers approximately two-thirds of an acre, in which nearly forty houses from the various levels were uncovered. The considerable number of chipped stone implements which we collected from the surface of the mound during our first two days at the site (the presence of which along with an Early Neolithic pottery was initially responsible for Mr. Mellaart's special interest in the site) is not presented here. Except for the pleasure of presenting some beautiful examples of pressure flaked projectile points it would not alter the facts as garnered from the excavated material.


2019 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 352-374
Author(s):  
Sonja Kačar

The lithic assemblages from the principal early Neolithic sites in Northern Dalmatia have been analysed with respect to the technological aspects and principles of schéma and chaîne opératoire, débitage economy and raw material economy. Northern Dalmatia, the most fertile region of the Eastern Adriatic, hosts the most important Neolithic open-air sites. Early Neolithic is associated with the Impressed Ware culture and dates back to c. 6000–5400 cal BC. The Early Neolithic lithic assemblages are characterized by the pressure blade production techniques on high-quality Gargano cherts reflecting important socio-economic and technical mutations that are specific to the Neolithic. Moreover, the almost exclusive reliance on these exogenous cherts emphasizes the social aspects of such networks and reinforces the idea of cultural uniformity of Dalmatian and Apulian Impressed Ware.


2019 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 352-374
Author(s):  
Sonja Kačar

The lithic assemblages from the principal early Neolithic sites in Northern Dalmatia have been analysed with respect to the technological aspects and principles of schéma and chaîne opératoire, débitage economy and raw material economy. Northern Dalmatia, the most fertile region of the Eastern Adriatic, hosts the most important Neolithic open-air sites. Early Neolithic is associated with the Impressed Ware culture and dates back to c. 6000–5400 cal BC. The Early Neolithic lithic assemblages are characterized by the pressure blade production techniques on high-quality Gargano cherts reflecting important socio-economic and technical mutations that are specific to the Neolithic. Moreover, the almost exclusive reliance on these exogenous cherts emphasizes the social aspects of such networks and reinforces the idea of cultural uniformity of Dalmatian and Apulian Impressed Ware.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 939-952
Author(s):  
Elsa Defranould

Abstract In the lower Rhône Valley, many sites are attributed to the Early Neolithic and dated between 5600 and 4800 cal. BC. According to their ceramic production, they are associated with two cultural facies: the Cardial and the Epicardial. The relation between these two entities is still under debate (chronological, cultural or functional distinctions?). However, little is known about the lithic production of the region since the chipped stone industries are rarely evoked in the socioeconomic and cultural understanding of these first agropastoral societies. The objective of this paper is to propose a regional synthesis regarding Early Neolithic lithic industries, based on typo-technological studies of several assemblages in the Rhône Valley: The Montclus rockshelter (layers 5 to 2), the Baume de Ronze rockshelter, Le Taï and the Aigle cave. These sites are considered to be the key sites for understanding the Cardial/Epicardial complex in this area, but their lithic assemblages have never been thoroughly studied. Special attention will be given to the factors of variability or, on the contrary, to the permanence in the “schema opératoire” and we will propose explanations related to geological, functional, chronological and cultural constraints. We will also focus on lithic blade production made from honey flint and the spacialisation of “chaine opératoire” which could highlight circulation of this raw material and specialised distribution network. Finally, this synthesis is based on a renewed corpus of radiocarbon dates in order to understand this evolutionary dynamic as finely as possible.


Author(s):  
I. A. Ilina ◽  
I. A. Machneva ◽  
E. S. Bakun

  The article is devoted to the study of the chemical composition, physical and thermal-pfysical characteristics of damp apple pomaces and the identifying patterns of influence of drying temperature the functional composition and gel-forming ability of pectin. The research is aimed at obtaining initial data for the subsequent calculation of the main technological, hydro-mechanical, thermal, structural and economic characteristics of devices for drying the plant raw materials, ensuring the environmental safety and high quality of pectin-containing raw materials, the reducing heat and energy costs. As a result of the study of the thermal characteristics of apple pomaces, the critical points (temperature conductivity – 16.5 x 10-8 m2/s, thermal conductivity – 0.28 W/m K, heat capacity – 1627 j/(kg K)) at a humidity of 56 % are determined, which characterizing the transition from the extraction of weakly bound moisture to the extraction of moisture with strong bonds (colloidal, adsorption). It was found that the pomaces obtained from apples of late ripening have a higher content of solids (21-23 %), soluble pectin and protopectin (2.5-4.5 %). Dried pomaces obtained from apple varieties of late ripening contain up to 25 % pectin, which allow us to recommend them as a source of raw materials for the production of pectin. The optimum modes of preliminary washing of raw materials are offered, allowing to the remove the ballast substances as much as possible. It is established that when the drying temperature increases, the destructive processes are catalyzed: the strength of the pectin jelly and the uronide component and the degree of pectin esterification are reduced. The optimum drying temperature of damp apple pomaces is 80 0C, at which the quality of pectin extracted from the dried raw materials is maintained as much as possible. It is shown that the most effective for the pectin production is a fraction with a particle size of 3-5 mm, which allow us to extract up to 71 % of pectin from raw materials.


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