A comparative study of the Initial Neolithic chipped-stone assemblages of Ulucak and Uğurlu

Abstract

This article focuses on the Initial Neolithic (ca 6850–6500 cal. BC) lithic assemblages of Ulucak and Uğurlu in the Aegean region of Turkey. Ulucak and Uğurlu are among the earliest Aegean Neolithic sites, and their lithic industries were managed with specific traditions and skills, quite different from what we know of the industry for other regions such as central Anatolia, Cyprus and the Levant, and even some other areas of the Aegean. This article presents the results of the study of the chipped-stone assemblages of Ulucak and Uğurlu, and aims to demonstrate how they contribute to wider theories about the Neolithisation of the Aegean.

Migration, adaptation, innovation: The spread of Neolithic harvesting technologies in the Mediterranean

“…Similar inserts, bearing parallel gloss on the used edge inserted into straight shafts, were the main type of harvesting tools in use during the PPNA [47,48], while they were substituted by parallel elements inserted into curved shafts in the PPNB. Their appearance (or re-appearance) in the Aegean area after about 2,000-2,5000 years (see also [75]) is most likely an independent innovation that attests the dynamic and changing nature of the Neolithic toolkit during the spread towards the west.…”

“…The use of both backed retouched and unretouched blanks as sickle inserts is common in many other 8th and 7th millennia Neolithic collections. The site of Ulucak VI [75] in Aegean Turkey or, PPNB and Ceramic assemblages in Cyprus, like Shillourokambos (phases B-C) [41], Khirokitia [39] and Paralimni-Nissia [76] can be cited. Blades are more frequently used, but flakes are also used, especially in industries characterised by low technical investment and a relative abundance of flake blanks (i.e.…”

Long and short revolutions towards the Neolithic in western Anatolia and Aegean

“…They all date within the timeframe of 7000 to 6600 cal BC; unfortunately a more precise date cannot be achieved due to a plateau in the current radiocarbon calibration curves. Site-based modelling revealed the most probable date for most of these sites is around 6700 cal BC (Weninger et al 2014;Perlès et al 2013;Horejs et al 2015;Brami, Zanotti 2015;Maniatis 2014;Douka et al 2017; for a different modelling see Guilbeau et al 2019). However, we are currently aware of only a few early Neolithic sites founded before 6600 cal BC, whereas the majority of Neolithic farming sites developed after this.…”

“…2). This pioneer phenomenon, also described as the 'maritime colonization model' (Horejs et al 2015), may over-simplify the initiation of a complex process beginning immediately after the arrival of new groups, involving interactions between the newcomers and indigenous groups, and adaptation to local environmental conditions (recently Guilbeau et al 2019). Further, the process of groups from different origins searching for new land over a period of several centuries can hardly be summarized as a singular event.…”

“…A package of new lithic technologies and distinctive tools is attested at some of the Neolithic pioneer sites (Mili≤ 2018;Mili≤, Horejs 2017;Guilbeau et al 2019). Most important is the use of pressure-flaking technology in producing chipped stone tools, mainly blades and bladelets, which is absent before 6700 BC.…”