Evolution Of Lithic Economies In The Levantine Neolithic

This volume compiles the papers presented at the seventh edition of the Conference on PPN Chipped and Ground Stone Industries of the Fertile Crescent, held in Barcelona from 14 to 17 February 2012. This series of conferences/workshops started nineteen years ago - the first meeting was organised in Berlin in 1993 - and is devoted to the study of the lithic record in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of the Near East and neighbouring regions. The seventh of these conferences was organised by the Institució Milà i Fontanals (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas) and the Prehistory Department (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona). This volume includes a total number of 36 articles, covering a wide range of topics and disciplines related to lithic studies in the Levant over a long chronological time span (from the final stages of the Epipalaeolithic/Natufian to the Halaf period). The publication of the conference proceedings is thus an interesting synthesis of the current state of lithic studies on the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of the Near East, and consolidates this specific series of conferences as a key tool to maintain and stimulate the vitality of high quality research into the Near Eastern lithic record.

This book presents the first attempt to unveil the Neolithisation process in northwest Syria, with the techno-typological studies of the flintstone implements from Tell Ain el-Kerkh in the Rouj basin in Idlib, an important large Neolithic site occupied from the from the 9th to the 7th millennium BC.

Human development is a long and steady process that began with stone tool making. Because of this skill, humans were able to adapt to climate changes, discover new territories, and invent new technologies. "Pressure knapping" is the common term for one method of creating stone tools, where a larger device or blade specifically made for this purpose is use to press out the stone tool. Pressure knapping was invented in different locations and at different points in time, representing the adoption of the Neolithic way of life in the Old world. Recent research on pressure knapping has led for the first time to a global thesis on this technique. The contributors to this seminal work combine research findings on pressure knapping from different cultures around the globe to develope a cohesive theory. This contributions to this volume represents a significant development to research on pressure knapping, as well as the field of lithic studies in general. This work will be an important reference for anyone studying the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods, lithic studies, technologies, and more generally, cultural transmission.

This book surveys the archaeological record for stone tools from the earliest times to 6,500 years ago in the Near East.

Over eighty contributions from leading researchers review 2.5 million years of environmental change and human cultural evolution in the Levant.

Not everyone bought into the Bronze Age right away, and Rosen describes and classifies the stone tools that continued to be made and used in the Middle East for the next two thousand years. He considers subtypes, function, distribution, chronology, the organization of production, styles, the relationship between lithic and metal technology, and other aspects. Over 100 drawings and maps provide archaeologists with a guide to identifying finds. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR